Joker is one of the most mysterious characters in the DC Comics Universe. He appeared in the comics in 1940, and was supposed to perish at the same time, but didn’t. The character was originally based both on the image of the Joker playing card and on the image of actor Adrian Veidt, who played the role of Guinplain, the man with the grin frozen on his face, in The Man Who Laughs in 1928.
Joker is Batman’s main enemy, who got his image and name from a playing card depicting a court jester. The creators borrowed the ever-present smile from Paul Leni’s “The Man Who Laughs”, 1928, based on the novel of the same name by Hugo. The role of Guinplen – the son of an English lord, who as a child cut his mouth to his ears, played by Conrad Feydt – was his smile and became the basis for a grimace Joker.
Joker, after his appearance in the comics in the spring of 1940, has long been without the story of becoming, usually inherent in all heroes and villains. His canon was reduced to his appearance: green hair, a purple suit, and a demonic smile on his disguised face. All this was captured even in the very first appearance of the Joker.
When DC tried to resurrect the Batman comics in 1964, the new editor-in-chief hated the Joker so much that he practically took him out of the game and out of the pages. Joker was resurrected as early as the early 1970s, the silver age of comics. A new era demanded new ideas, and instead of a clown, there was a psychotic, impulsive killer.
In 2008, director Christopher Nolan delighted avid moviegoers with The Dark Knight, starring Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Gary Oldman, and Aaron Eckhart. The antagonist, played by Ledger, became a national favorite, and his words went into quotes. The phrase “Why so serious?” became the advertising slogan of the film.
In 2019, a solo film “Joker” in the genre of psychological thriller was released. The role of the mad comedian was played by Joaquin Phoenix. According to the plot, Arthur Fleck suffers from a mental illness that provokes gratuitous laughter.
What is Joker?
Joker is the most famous villain in the DC Comics universe and Batman’s nemesis. His real name and origins are unknown, but one of the most common versions indicates that he fell into a vat of chemicals, causing his skin to turn white and his hair to turn green.
In terms of visual identity, the logo of the Joker movie, released in 2019, looks very dramatic, yet stable and confident. Executed in a dark color palette, the badge evokes a sense of pain and danger.
The Joker logo, designed for the movie 2019, is based only on the lettering, where the uppercase inscription is set in a stylized sans-serif typeface with slightly erased parts of some characters. Set in a black-and-white color palette, this simple composition looks very strong and stylish. For the secondary version of the Joker logo, the bold wordmark is accompanied by an image of two eyes and a scary red smile.
The bold uppercase lettering from the Joker logo is set in a designer typeface, called Gothic Joker and created by Kelge Fonts Agency. However, there are several commercial analogs, which look pretty close to the original type: Obscura Regular, Explorer Condensed Bold, or CA Mystery Girl Regular.
As for the color palette of the Joker’s visual identity, it is based on monochrome, with black looking both strict and dangerous, and evoking a sense of confidence and aggression.