Riverdale is a teen drama television series made in the US. Riverdale was inspired by the heroes of Archie, a comic book series featuring Archie Andrews. The series was adapted for The CW by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa and is produced by Warner Bros.
According to the comics, Riverdale is a fictional town in one of the Midwestern states of the United States, home to the characters of the legendary Archie Comics series, teenager Archie Andrews, and his high school friends. The character of Archie first appeared in comic books in 1941 and quickly became one of the main faces of the publishing house MLJ Magazines.
Archie was the most popular guy in his town. He played in a music band, played sports, and had no shortage of female fans. Seemed like the perfect picture. But in fact, Andrews had a kind of depression, he constantly doubted himself and to dull his inner pain often hurt others. According to the plot of the comics, in 2016, Archie died. However, the story of the character did not end there, and Archie appeared again in 2017, only now as the main character of the series Riverdale.
Riverdale is called a version of “Twin Peaks” for teenagers – it is a drama with elements of thriller and horror, the main characters of which are young people 16-17 years old. In the epicenter of strange and frightening events. Archie Together with his friends Betty Cooper and Veronica Lodge, Archie explores the dark and dangerous side of city life, hidden from view behind an idyllic facade.
The Riverdale logo is as simple as just the name of the series. The designers decided it would be well enough, taking into consideration that the wordmark would have to be placed in various visual contexts. In this case, the lack of pictorial elements on the logo works well as it doesn’t overload the whole design.
Yet, the authors of the logo faced another problem: how to make the design memorable using only typography. They chose a legible yet unusual serif type. The name of the series is given in block capitals. The shape of the glyphs is somewhat similar to the typefaces used in sports logos (note, for instance, the “cut” angles on the “R’s” and “D”).
The wordmark is often given in white letters with colored trim, which is also a popular approach in sports logos.
In other words, this could have easily been the wordmark of a sports team. The designers wanted to emphasize the link with one of the most interesting spheres of life for teens as well as to add the excitement and adrenaline rush involved in sports competitions.
While the overall structure of the wordmark is always the same, the details can be slightly modified. The most common version is probably the one featuring the white glyphs with light blue trim. This version is flat.
Also, there is a 3D alternative wordmark where the trim has a brighter and darker hue. There is also plenty of light blue and white highlights leaving the impression that the letters are not only dimensional but also wet. In this version, the glyphs look somewhat bolder.
You can come across a black wordmark with a blue border. Here, the shade of blue appears warmer than on the main logo.
The Title card showcases the name of the series in dark blue with a “wet” light blue trim.
The fact that the Riverdale logo has always experimented with various shades of blue seems to have been inspired by the name of the place, as blue has always had “water” connotations.