Last Gasp Is Holding Their First Ever Logo Design Contest

Design an original Last Gasp skull logo and claim your place in history. Fame and fortune await!

Legendary San Francisco-based underground comic book, art book, and graphic novel publisher Last Gasp is holding their first ever logo design contest. The contest runs from March 1st, 2014 to March 25th. A list of the prizes, contest rules, and information on where to submit your “original designs” can be found on the Last Gasp website.

Last Gasp’s mercurial skull logo has been around since Last Gasp was just a twinkle in Ron Turner’s eye. In 1970, Ron hired underground comix artist Greg Irons to draw the cover of the first Last Gasp publication – Slow Death Funnies #1. Irons came up with the skull and crossbones logo and shortly thereafter, eyeballs and a hanging tongue were also added.

Last Gasp played it fast and loose in those early days of publishing. There was no set logo design. Since each artist drew their own cover for each comic book, they were also tasked with creating their own interpretation of the Last Gasp logo. This goes against all rules of “brand recognition” strictly adhered to by most companies. We here at Last Gasp continue to thumb our nose at convention. The result has been amazing and varied logos from the likes of Robert Crumb, Mark Ryden, Junko Mizuno, Spain Rodriguez, and many others.

original Last Gasp logo by Greg Irons

logo by Mark Ryden

logo by Saeki Toshio

images via Last Gasp