Okay, so this was supposed to be sent out there into the world weeks ago, and I have become completely swamped in my ever-growing pile of paper. I'd been obsessed with the transformation of the celebrity face for some time, scrounging online for before and after photos. New York Magazine wrote an article pertaining to this topic (with a few reference images), though it touched on the edges of my idea (title of entry is a link to such article). More than anything, the writing spurred me to make this post. Because of my intrigue with the new facial likeness of the writer's friend being comparable to Madonna, I will give Madge as my main example. It occurred to me a bit ago that she—along with many other infamous pop icons—is no longer (and hasn't been for some time) the face that was implanted in my head years ago. Rather, she is merely the essence of what Madonna used to look like, slightly tweaked here and there over the years. But it's so subtle really, besides that her face has been seemingly frozen in time. One doesn't realize just how unlike Madonna this new Madonna (entertainer) has become, until one compares photos from different years.From here I began researcing the faces of other celebrities: Cher, Meg Ryan, Katie Holmes (I'm proud to say I called that one before I observed it was on the covers of cheesy mags at the grocery check-out), Nicole Kidman...the list goes on. I started thinking that this facial transformation was much like the life cycle of the logos of well known brands. Over years and years of slight changes here and there, the eye never really quite notices that those hard, once square-edged letter forms have become a little more rounded. Or that the spacing between forms has opened, or even that the name has now become an abbreviation (see Kentucky Fried Chicken). Oh, don't forget that hint of perfect shadow and highlight. Wait, was that always there?
Check out this great page for great examples of the evolution for many car manufactures' logos, as well as other interesting info: http://www.neatorama.com/2008/02/18/evolution-of-car-logos/
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