V&A buys original Rolling Stones logo
Image copyright: Max Nash / AFP
The V&A Museum has paid slightly over £50,000 at auction for the original drawings of the Rolling Stones logo, devised by British designer John Pasche in 1970, it announced last night.
Pasche was studying at London’s Royal College of Art when Stones frontman Mick Jagger, disappointed by the designs put forward by record label Decca, began looking for a design student to help create a logo.
The logo was commissioned for £50, but the Rolling Stones were so pleased with the design they gave Pasche a bonus of £200.
Pasche had already decided to sell the drawing at a US auction house when the V&A enquired about borrowing it for an exhibition. On learning the work was for sale, the museum lodged a winning bid of $92,500 on Saturday, half of which was provided by the Art Fund charity.
The inspiration for the eventual logo, which took Pasche around two weeks of work, has never been in doubt.
I wanted something anti-authority, but I suppose the mouth idea came from when I met Jagger for the first time at the Stones’ offices. I went into this sort of wood-panelled boardroom and there he was. Face to face with him, the first thing you were aware of was the size of his lips and his mouth.
Further reading on the Rolling Stones logo sale
- Stones’ tongue sold to V&A, from BBC
- V&A buys original Rolling Stones logo, from The Guardian
- V&A buys Rolling Stones tongue logo for $92,500, from CR Blog
- Stones’ lips logo given permanent spot at V&A, from The Independent
- Rolling Stones’ tongue logo returns to London, from NME
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18 appreciated comments, click here to add one
Aaron Riddle
One of the great logos of our time. It is instantly recognizable and stands strong with other classic logos (nike, mcdonald’s, etc).
Sep 2nd, 2008
Andrew Kelsall
Yeah It’s definitely iconic.
I suppose it’s up there with the ‘I [love] NY’ logo, but this one conveys more emotion and history as it’s for a band, not a cooperation.
Sep 2nd, 2008
Peter Sullivan
You got to love it when your client is so happy with your logo design that they actually pay you more than the initial agreement.
Sep 2nd, 2008
cat
Good on the V&A! I love wandering that museum. Some of it is ‘oh, so boring’. Some is amazing. Now they’ve added yet another amazing item to their shelves. Nice.
cat’s last blog post…Illustratorium
Sep 3rd, 2008
chaitanya vrk
Another reason to visit the V&A Museum…! :)
chaitanya vrk’s last blog post…Google Chrome – New Open Source Browser From Google
Sep 3rd, 2008
David Airey
Aaron, Andrew,
I’m very happy for John Pasche. He’s using the cash for his kids’ college fund, so it’ll mean a lot to him.
Peter,
Absolutely! Sadly, this hasn’t yet happened to me. :)
Cat, Chaitanya,
I’ve not yet visited the V&A, but it’s most definitely on my ‘to-do’. Next time I’m in London I’ll be making a point of going.
Sep 3rd, 2008
Neil
What a great story. I think this is incentive to keep all of my old drawings!
Sep 3rd, 2008
Peter Sullivan
Just once for me. It wasn’t much, but I really appreciated the gesture. It was worth way more than the actual dollar amount.
Peter Sullivan’s last blog post…30 Second Exposure of New Orleans
Sep 7th, 2008
KRISHJOHN
Hei, David,
nice and very useful internet journal You have here. Thanks for all the useful info, discussions and links as well.
I myself write a little blog (though journal sounds better) on branding. Unfortunately it’s in latvian — so You will not be able to read it. Nevertheless, i did an article on Stones logo too, and John Pasche even did answered my email. I just pasted the selected parts of his answer in the article — the quotation is in english — so You can check that out. There are some interesting facts You might be interested in.
chech ‘da link:
http://www.parbrendu.lv/2008/04/29/logo-nav-brends/
thanks,
KKJ
KRISHJOHN’s last blog post…Brends — pārdošanas instruments
Dec 18th, 2008
Trevor Collins
It is good to see that grate pieces of design are being saved by the nation for future generations. After all the creative industrys are one of the cornerstones of the British economy.
Feb 2nd, 2009
Ton Giesbergen
Great! This logo is so famous its not only a sign for a rock and roll band of the sixties but this became a timeless symbol for real life.
Ton Giesbergen
May 15th, 2010
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