In fact, I just realized, Fendi's logo is like that. Maybe it depends if you're a competitor in the same market. So I guess FontFont can never market fancy handbags.

hhp

Here's an interlocking 'F' logo idea I did about a year ago for a client. I was pretty happy with it, until I noticed that it formed a swastica in the center. I tried a couple of other variations, but couldn't get rid of the swastica without leaving a gap in the middle, so I dropped it.

Just to clarify: a logo is protected by a slightly different branch of intellectual property law -- Trademark, not Copyright. Unlike copyright, which accrues to the creator upon the act of creation (under all copyright laws that I know of anyway), trademark protection is usually only offered after registration and a period of review. Also, the guidelines for determining infringement are specific to trademark law.

If "Satan" has any concerns, he/she should contact a trademark attorney for a professional opinion.

Svastika is a Sanskrit word derived from svasti ("well-being, fortune, luck, success, prosperity"). Svastika can refer in general to any auspicious mark or object, but it is most commonly used to indicate the familiar swastika symbol. Some claim that the direction of the arms has significance, but I suspect this is a post-WWII revisionism designed to distance the original symbol from the Nazi appropriation/corruption of it. Steven Heller wrote an entire book about this.

It's seems like the rotated double F is a pretty common device. Here are a few I found on google:

The whole problem here is branding. Im sure they stole the name "Friction Factory" from obscure 80s pop band "Fiction Factory" famous for their excel "Feels Like Heaven" single.

Why didnt they choose CC (Culture Club) or TT (Tak Talk) i wonder?
I mean, on with the ripp-off trip...

Paul, I would like to think I would have gone ahead with that logo, but, unfortunately, I had to take the cover off Heller's book to get away with reading it in public on the metro.
BTW What country was the client based in?

Matha

HI Matha,

The client is in the U.S. (as I am).

Probably, nobody would ever have noticed the swastica hidden in the center, but once I first noticed it, I always saw it each time I looked at the logo, so it spoiled the idea for me. Also, I didn't want it to possibly cause a problem for my client in the future.

- Paul

I am very interested by the swastika issue.
I can confirm that the clockwise or counterclockwise direction is an after-WW2 assumption, since the symbol has always been used with positive meaning in both directions before the Nazi appropriation.

Actually I had a short discussion with Heller when he wrote an essay on Outwest for my "Letters" book (coming out before the end of.. etc. etc.) and I mostly disagree with his conclusions. I have not read his book, but I have read an article on Baseline and what I actually consider wrong is the preconception against blackletter (raised by Heller in another article). This is all part of a project I intend to develop on the redemption of the blackletter (and maybe the swastika) considering that, as Miles Newlyn pointed out talking about his Ferox typeface, perceptions towards graphic symbols always arise in context.

When I will do it I will ask for the opinion of Typophile members. This tread has proved really interesting.

Well, most people are, but Heller seems to have a strong personal attitude towards the issue. In part I can understand but I just hate the idea of "cursed" graphic symbols or alphabets. And I'm glad Mattel or someone for them used Jon Barnbrook's Manson for Barbie's computer animation feature "Princess Raperonzolo", also on DVD. First Snow White, now this. And I've found also the most banal use of Manson ever, paired with Trajan: for an Italian Shopping center. So "sad" I had to send it to Jon.

What irritates me about Heller's book is his attack on the accidental use of swastikas - which would have been Paul's case if he hadn't noticed it. And this is in a book subtitled Symbol Beyond Redemtion?. He should be honest and leave out the question mark. The swastika might eventually redeem itself if it wasn't for people like Heller attacking football teams and skateboard companies for their choice of logo.

I recently read Heinrich B

"Windy Vavoom", eh?. Are you sure you're not thinking of that dream with the buxom Valkyrie?
;-)

M.

Sorry, Hrant. Don't want to be giving you a bad reputation or anything. I'm just jealous. I cut people up into little pieces in my dreams. No valkyries anywhere. :_(

I'm off to bed to try again, though, so I'll say goodnight.

M.

The email provided at www.frictionfactory.com
is for satan@frictionfactory.com.

Have you ever written a cease and decist to the devil?

Seriously though, before you write a flame to satan,
it's probably best to let the folks at FontFont initiate any
dialogue or action, if that's what they choose to do.

Actually, I am Satan.... well I am the the creator of that logo (which also uses FF's DIN ) and before I go on to finish out the site, I wanted to know if I was in danger of being sued anytime soon.

Does that type of thing happen often? The dimensions are pretty similiar to FontFont's, but that is out of necessity.