The Halo logo contains something inhuman, appearing in our reality from the otherworldly distant world. From the emblem breathes cold. The sign warns: beware, do not let the monsters enter; they do not wish us well.
Halo: Brand overview
Founded: | November 15, 2001 |
Founder: | Xbox Game Studios |
Meaning and History
Microsoft Studios published all Halo shooters (and one strategy game). With which the company is affiliated, Microsoft owns the rights to the media franchise and its logos. And there are quite a few of them because new versions appear as video games are released. Moreover, they all depict the name of the series written in the same font.
What is Halo?
Halo is the highest-grossing media franchise in video game history. It is based on a series of twisted shooters where users get the chance to take part in an interstellar war.
2001 – 2004
The first two parts used an emblem with an uneven inscription “HALO.” The letters had shadows and a gradient, with the white top blending into the blue bottom. All symbols had unusual serifs, and inside the open “O” was a small circle with a dash.
2004 – 2007
This logo was seen in the second part of Halo. As in all other cases, it contained the franchise’s name, written in a special thin font. The letters were asymmetrical: the right vertical line “H” was missing the top, while “A” and “O” fragments were removed in different parts. At the same time, all glyphs were decorated with serifs – even “O,” from which a short and thin line stretched sideways. For the inscription, blue color with a gradient and dark shadows was used. Light contours created a feeling of “icing.”
2007 – 2010
When Halo 3 came out, the logo changed. The word turned blue, but the designers again used the gradient effect to create a transition between several shades.
2009
In the spin-off of the game Halo Wars, the logo has become very pale and has lost the brightness of colors. At the same time, a gradient was used in it: a translucent and blurry white bottom turned into a faded blue top. As for the font, it hasn’t changed much. Only in this version, unlike the Halo 3 emblem, do the light outlines make the protrusions appear thinner.
2010 – 2012
For the shooter Halo: Reach, a black graphic was developed, in which the roughness and angularity disappeared – only the “L” has one sharp serif. The shape of the letter “A” has changed.
2010 – 2013
In 2010, the designers returned to the original design, making “A” much the same as it was initially. The “O” has the edge jagging again, and the “L” has smoothed corners, and the serifs disappeared. The lettering has turned blue with a gradient again.
2013
In 2013, the logo for the game Halo: Spartan Assault was introduced for Windows Phone and Windows 8. It did not have the usual gradient because the designers used only two shades of gray: light for the main part of the letters and dark for the shadow areas. The boundaries between them were even and geometrically clear. The emblem’s font has not changed despite the move to a flat 2D format.
2014
The Halo: The Master Chief Collection, which was released in 2014, also featured the logo, but it was light blue with a gradient and flecks of different shades. Light highlights created the effect of a glossy sheen as if the surface of the letters was perfectly smooth and glowing from within.
2014 – 2016
In 2014, another redesign of the Halo logo took place. As before, the main and only element was the title of the video game series. The font has practically not changed: the media franchise has retained the usual design of the inscription. The developers experimented a little with the palette, choosing a different blue shade and adding a gray gradient.
2015 – today
In 2015, the Halo logo was introduced, which is still used on most franchise-related merchandise and can be found on its official website. This is one of the most neutral versions when judged by the color scheme. Here, each letter is outlined in a clear gray outline. The upper half of the inscription is predominantly white, while the lower half shows a transition to a light gray gradient. There are also blackouts that enhance the 3D effect.
2016 – 2019
Halo Wars 2 and Halo Infinite PC games have a new emblem with a cleaner design. This time, the creators of the graphic sign combined two colors: white and silver. Each letter has an individual black outline that resembles a shadow due to its uneven thickness. The three-dimensional effect did not disappear but rather intensified.
2019 – 2021
Halo: The Master Chief Collection had a new logo in 2019. The old blue inscription was replaced by the same inscription but in gold. The designers combined several different shades to make the symbol look voluminous. This time, the top was darker, and the bottom and right sides of the letters were lighter. As before, the “O” had a circle in the center.
2021 – today
With the release of the game Halo Infinite within the franchise, a new logo was introduced with an inscription that is designed in a traditional style. It uses the same font as before and the already familiar blue palette with a gradient. We can say that this is a modern rethinking of the classics. The colors here are very delicate, and the transition of shades is not sharp but smooth, although there are separate shadows with clearly defined boundaries.
Font and Colors
The Halo video game emblem consists of single lettering, so the design is based on typography. Due to the specific design, the text does not appear printed but drawn: each letter looks like a self-sufficient symbol by which you can easily recognize Halo among other shooters.
The logo was created from scratch, and only then Will Turnbow developed the Halo font family based on it – two styles of 113 characters each. He did this after he couldn’t find the original typeface to add his name to the game title.
The color scheme is varied: the graphic sign managed to be black, gray, blue, light blue, silver. Almost every version has a gradient that gives the lettering a three-dimensional effect.
Halo color codes
Silver | Hex color: | #bcc3c6 |
---|---|---|
RGB: | 188 195 198 | |
CMYK: | 5 2 0 22 | |
Pantone: | PMS 428 C |
Light Gray | Hex color: | #c9d4d8 |
---|---|---|
RGB: | 201 212 216 | |
CMYK: | 7 2 0 16 | |
Pantone: | PMS 5455 C |
Onyx | Hex color: | #35373d |
---|---|---|
RGB: | 53 55 61 | |
CMYK: | 13 10 0 76 | |
Pantone: | PMS 432 C |
Rosy Brown | Hex color: | #ac858b |
---|---|---|
RGB: | 172 133 139 | |
CMYK: | 0 23 19 33 | |
Pantone: | PMS 5005 C |
What does the Halo logo mean?
The Halo logo does not have a deep meaning, as it only contains the name of the video game series. Except that the O with a dot inside is very reminiscent of a sight, hinting at the military-fiction subgenre of the shooter.
What the color of the Halo logo?
Since 2016, the Halo logo has been dominated by three colors: white, silver, and pink. The latter is used primarily for the lower contours of the letters. And the upper part of the edging is dark gray, almost black.
Who designed the Halo logo?
The Bungie, Inc. development team created the original Halo logo when the company was still part of Microsoft.