Ares - Logo Design

Here’s my wordmark and icon design for ARES: the greek god of war, courage and battle lust.

My inspiration for the lettering style of this logo comes from war paint. The paint ritually applied to the face and/or body prior to going into a battle. Or for a more contemporary use: protest marches! And for that reason I thought it appropriate that the letters were formed by simple strokes. As if drawn with a finger.

Though historically, there is actually no evidence that war paint was ever used by the ancient Greeks.

The oldest reference to war paint that was found is in Julius Caesar's 'The Conquest of Gaul', where he mentioned that the Britons dyed their bodies with woad making them look more terrifying in battle. Think of the blue war paint the Picts are often depicted in more modern art and fiction! Yet that may not be entirely accurate.

We can be sure of one culture's use of war paint: the Native American tribes. Who have used body paint from their first appearance in North America in about 10,000 b.c., both to psychologically prepare for war, as well as for other visual purposes.

Ares’ main symbol was a peaked warrior’s helmet. And he was always depicted either wearing it, or holding it in his hands. Even in domestic scenes. Which is why I chose a design inspired by a Corinthian Helmet as Ares’ icon for this series. Corinthian helmets are the most iconic of the many different types of helmets used in ancient Greece.

And regarding my color choice:


There is the blood that flows over the battlefields. And in Sparta, a city with a strong militaristic culture, hoplites and other residents were known to wear red clothing.

The first three images a from the films:

- ‘300’ (2007) Warner Bros. Pictures

- ‘Dances with Wolves’ (1990) Orion Pictures

- ‘Centurion’ (2010) Warner Bros. Pictures

This logo is part of my design exercise to create wordmarks for each of the twelve Olympians from ancient Greek mythology.