How did GTA's developers create the Rockstar Games logo?

Rockstar Games' black and yellow logo is among the most recognizable symbols in the video game industry, especially among GTA and Red Dead Redemption fans. The logo has been in the franchise since its beginning and has gained a cult following.

While most fans can recognize the logo, not much thought was given to the story behind it. However, Karen Scott, one of the logo creators, shared the backstory of the enduring symbol with Time Extension, explaining how the American gaming studio got the iconic marker that later became associated with the GTA franchise.

---

Rockstar Games logo was the brainchild of two artists who helped the studio to promote the GTA franchise

On April 14, 2023, Jack Yarwood, an author at Time Extension, published a report titled “The Untold Story Behind Rockstar's Iconic Logo” where they interviewed Karen Scott regarding the inception of the Rockstar logo.

Karen was a former employee at Rockstar Games when it was merely a startup. She and Jeremy Blake, who died in 2007, were the original creators of the iconic logo that helped shape the fortunes of the GTA franchise. Blake introduced her to the founders of Rockstar and helped her join the company.

According to the report, Karen and Blake joined the studio in 1998. At the time, Rockstar had no proper studio and had to work in a closet-sized office. Interestingly, the name Rockstar Games did not emerge prior to their involvement. Once the name was decided, both of them were tasked with creating a flashy logo that could be used as a sticker.

According to Scott, Rockstar’s marketing plan was to put the logo in public places to promote the brand name and their upcoming GTA games. She further stated,

“That was the first thought: okay, it has to become a sticker…and it has to have the glue you can’t unpeel at all. Even if you tried. The kind that when you’re a kid in the seventies once you put it on your bedframe, it never comes off.”

This sticker-themed form factor greatly influenced the rounded corner shape of the logo. The R in the logo is written in the Helvetica Neue font, and the yellowish-gold color, according to Karen Scott, is a nod to the 1970s, similar to the early Kodak brand logos or anything resembling "early Rockabilly rock music."

Although both artists designed the logo, Scott dedicated the idea to Jeremy Blake by stating:

"When I look at the logo, it is very much Jeremy to me. In terms of the execution and the medium, that would have more been me…But in terms of the simplicity and the design, I can’t say it’s my aesthetic. It definitely feels very much like Jeremy when I look at it.”

She also recalled times when the artists and GTA creators went to restaurants and were asked to leave due to their craziness. This was all part of the logo's development and how Rockstar Games became known as the creators of the popular GTA games.

---

Both Scott and Blake left the company in 2000, but the iconic design they created hasn't changed. The developers used to include the logo in the open world of previous GTA games, but it has been discontinued since the HD Universe.