Design Notes

 When coming up with elements to include for the hero it is important to keep the branding correct to the hero, so that it's in line with any other events that happen with the person, so that it seems official.

Including a Signature

So, not only do I need to ensure that Gonzo himself looks accurate and recognisable in all of the advertising and merchandising, but if I include his signature that also needs to be accurate. From my research I've found two main sources of a signature for Gonzo, one by Gonzo's original puppeteer and voice, Dave Goelz; as well as two from the official muppet wiki, another physical signed autograph as well as a digital recreation inspired by Dave Goelz's signature for Gonzo.

Official Signatures:

(Muppet Wiki, 2018)

This signature from the wiki is stated to be based off of the signature's by Dave Goelz but is a lot simpler then the ones he draws, making it clearer with what it says compared to the signatures he gives out. It also makes it easier to recreate and who it has been signed by.


(Muppet Wiki, 2018)

This signature is also hosted on the official wiki, showing the style that Dave Goelz signs for Gonzo. It's clear who it's from, but not necessarily clear over what is says with all of the swirls and flair that it has, the circle around it and the stars that help distract they eye, but it's very in character.



(Franklin, 2022)


This signature was uploaded by a different fan, however you can tell how accurate and consistent Gonzo's signature is when hand drawn. The main difference is the location of the extra stars, but that more depends on the space that the signature has to fill in.




When it comes to creating a signature for the my Hero project, I do sort of want to combine the two styles of signature, as I really like the flair that the hand made one has, especially with that massive G for Gonzo that goes around the rest of the signature, but the official digital one is far clearer over who it is. 
Creating it digitally will also mean that I can go more complex as I can create it as a vector and not have to worry about trying to replicate it myself multiple times.


Gonzo Themselves

When it comes to including Gonzo themselves on any of the graphical media, I need to make sure that I stylise him correctly, so that he doesn't look out of character or like some sort of odd rip-off.
The main decision I have to make, is if I include drawn elements, [I know I want a photo of him on the main billboard] how do I draw him exactly. This is because there are some slight design differences between how Gonzo himself (as a puppet) looks compared to him in drawn media and even the younger version of Gonzo. 
The main difference is his nose colour, having a sort of two-tone shift in his adult muppet form with blue around the edge, compared to younger and drawn Gonzo having a clearly light blue nose. This is something that happens even within the universe of the Muppets, specifically in Muppets from Space, the film centring around Gonzo and a potential origin story of him as an alien, has the normal gonzo puppet, but all drawn images of him that appear give him this pale blue nose. 


I will go with using the light blue nose in Gonzo's drawn media, to keep in in line with how it is done in the rest of the franchise, it is also easier then trying to replicate the affect he has on his puppet nose in a simplified 2D why, which is why I believe they originally did it as well.
For some reason some media now also gives him a more pink-purple tone nose, I don't really like this as colour wise it doesn't look as cohesive to the puppet then the light blue one does, so I'm going to go with the light blue as that colour is still also used in some merchandise. The colour used really seems to be up to the company producing the merchandise, as some released at very similar times have the different colours.


Sources:

Muppet Wiki (2018) Muppet autographs [Online]. Available at https://muppet.fandom.com/wiki/Muppet_autographs?file=Gonzo_sig.png (Accessed 1 February 2022).

Franklin, T. (2022) Flickr [Online]. Available at https://www.flickr.com/photos/neatocoolville/6391491419 (Accessed 1 February 2022).

Fandom (2015) Gonzo [Online]. Available at https://muppet.fandom.com/wiki/Gonzo (Accessed 4 February 2022).

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