Megafaun was an American psychedelic folk band from Durham, North Carolina, active from roughly 2008 to 2012. The band’s most prominent visual identity was created for their 2011 self-titled album, designed by Aaron Draplin of Draplin Design Co. in collaboration with the Hometapes record label.
Design and History
In July 2011, Draplin Design Co. announced that they had worked with Hometapes’ Sara and Adam to create a logo for the new Megafaun record, as well as building out the full album package. The project was one of several music-related collaborations for Draplin, who had previously worked with the label on the All Tiny Creatures Harbors record. Draplin described the Megafaun project as a “blast” and noted that Hometapes connected him to the band after the earlier collaboration. [1] [2]
The album, released on September 20, 2011, as catalog number HT047 on Hometapes, featured the new logo prominently. Draplin’s own blog post from August 2011 highlighted the physical production of the cover, describing the “super crisp black plate logo” and the embossing on the reverse board paper as “incredible.” [3] [2]
The design was widely noted for its stark, minimal appearance. A German music review at the time remarked that the logo on a white background looked like it might belong to a pharmaceutical company or insurance firm, a striking departure from the band’s folk-rock roots. [4]
Meaning and Symbolism
The logo’s visual language was described in a typography-focused article as a “bold graphic” featuring a stylised capital “M” rendered in primary colours with a heavy black outline. The same article noted that the geometric shapes of the lettering echoed the design of the Kabel Black typeface, pointing to the triangular ear on the lowercase “g” as a specific shared detail. [5]
Draplin himself did not publicly elaborate on deeper symbolic meaning behind the mark, and the design appears to have been conceived primarily as a bold, graphic identity for the album rather than a narrative-driven emblem. The logo was also used on band posters, as noted by a fan blog that praised the design and credited Draplin as “the mastermind” behind it. [6]
Typography and Design
The typographic treatment of the Megafaun logo drew specific attention from design commentators. The Fontke article identified the album cover’s lettering as reflecting the “clear geometric shapes of Kabel Black,” a geometric sans-serif typeface originally designed in the 1920s. The article specifically pointed to the “perky triangular ear on the ‘g'” as evidence of this connection. [5]
The logo’s construction was noted for its heavy black outline and primary colour palette, a stark, graphic approach that stood in contrast to the band’s organic, rootsy musical style. The design was applied across the album’s physical formats, including LP, CD, and a 20-page booklet, with the embossed cover treatment on the vinyl release receiving particular praise from Draplin. [3] [7]
Logo Index is an independent educational archive covering logos, visual identities and graphic design history. All trademarks and brand assets remain the property of their respective owners.
