Hollywood Undead is an American band from playing rap-rock. The band doesn’t have a long history; it was formed in the middle of 2005 in Los Angeles, California. Three years later they issued their first album Swan Songs. By now, they have released five successful albums sold in more than 10 million copies all over the world. All of the group members have their stage names, some of which are connected to their real names and some just reflect their likings and dislikes or simply the sense of humour. During their performances or photo sessions, the musicians wear masks, strictly personified and all based on the design of a mere hockey goaltender’s mask.
Meaning and history
2008 – 2013
The initial logotype of the Hollywood Undead band was its name made in a custom black serif typeface. The curious feature is that all the letters are divided in at least two parts by the gaps. Also there were the arrow-styled lines for H, Y, U and N characters.
2013 – Today
From the very beginning of their career, HU had as a trademark and the principle emblem their well-known dove holding a grenade in his paws. It makes think of a paradox, the dove being the established and generally accepted emblem of peace and hope, while the grenade makes think of chaos and war. This emblem perfectly fits into the musicians’ philosophy of musical anarchy, shocking their audience with masks, which they wear at performances and the overall idea in their songs about how they are fed up with their dull life, that they want changes.
Strange enough, the logo never raised any direct questions from the mass media, they never have been asked about the meaning on any of their numerous press-conferences. Neither have any member of the group felt like explaining it to their follower. Just once, Johnny 3 Tears mentioned that the dove carrying a grenade meant that in any situation you have a choice for which we will be held responsible afterwards. The musicians also underline that the dove, standing for peace the grenade which brings war to the people are like two sides of the group, this symbol comes out of their music.
Strange enough, the logo never raised any direct questions from the mass media, they never have been asked about the meaning on any of their numerous press-conferences. Neither have any member of the group felt like explaining it to their follower. Just once, Johnny 3 Tears mentioned that the dove carrying a grenade meant that in any situation you have a choice for which we will be held responsible afterwards. The musicians also underline that the dove, standing for peace the grenade which brings war to the people are like two sides of the group, this symbol comes out of their music.
Next to the emblem, the band’s logo has a black wordmark with their name, “Hollywood Undead” written in an industrial-looking font very close to the commercial Mondawmin JNL, the letters of which are parted by white strips as if they have been spray-painted using a stencil. This wordmark first appeared on the cover of the album Notes from the Underground in 2013 and is used until now.