This was technically the first insignia I ever designed, and actually 
the credit shouldn't really go to me, but my older brother, who once 
showed me how to crunch all the letters of my name together. M A T T, 
after all, has a lot of nice straight lines and sharp angles that can 
be overlapped (a la Volkswagen).

There are more stylized versions, but somehow I think the handwritten 
version stands out better.

In high school, I started a video production company
called Chapter Eleven Alternative Media, and our intention
was to create 3D films. Unfortunately, the cost of the technology 
at the time (technology the Texas-based VREX had a virtual chokehold 
on) made realizing this dream wholly impractical, so not only did 
we change directions relatively quickly, but we also never had time 
to devise a proper logo. 

Harvest, the 2nd previous incarnation of Crystal Dreams Video
Productions arose out of two--almost three--sources, 
the first being the video game Body Harvest for the 
Nintendo 64, the second being a combination of the 
Star Wars main title font and the original codename 
for Return of the Jedi. 

This was the first Crystal Dreams logo. Actually, it was more of 
a title sequence than anything else; the camera transitioned from 
black and white to color (which was reversed to make white text on 
a black background) andthen back again. The title card was literally 
a card; dissatisfied with the look of ugly, gen-lock title generators, 
I got the idea of simply printing my titles and credits out onto card
stock and then shooting them with a photonegative effect filter. 

What I didn't realize at the time was that incandescent 
light on cardstock actually turns the card a dull yellow, 
which, in photonegative, created the image of white text
against an odd, blueish-grey background (AOT solid black), 
which I actually thought looked very cool once I saw the 
result on a TV screen. 

For the longest time thereafter, the Crystal Dreams logo 
was actually not a logo at all: simply a red, stylized font 
with moody, atmospheric music was all I felt I needed to 
convey the awe and mystery that was...really just me, a 
camera, and some other miscellaneous bits of equipment.

People always ask me where "Crystal Dreams" came from. 
Some thought it was a reference to an Anne McAffrey novel, 
others thought it had to do with Crystal Meth. Actually, 
the name comes from a cancelled N64 game called Robotech: 
Crystal Dreams. 

Suddenly, out of the blue, I was writing down the initials 
of Crystal Dreams (C D V P) and got an idea to try and put 
the letters into some kind of geometric formation. Several 
pencil sketches and forty or fifty-some Powerpoint slides 
later... I still wasn't very happy with it. This is the one 
I ended up finally using in a video. The "V" is red mostly 
to make the logo stand out, but also because V is 5 in Roman 
numerals. My student ID number started 533. C is the third 
letter of the alphabet, so swapping numbers for letters, the 
first three numbers of my student ID spelled VCC, or Venus 
Crystal Company, a reference to the story "In The Walls of 
Eryx" by H.P. Lovecraft and Kenneth Sterling.

I call this "the NASA one" because the image is actually taken 
from a photograph of a sort of "test pattern" used by NASA 
to test the effects of cosmic radiation on color film. 
Unfortunately, the photo's description never really said what 
the original colors of the square were, so they could be faded 
variations on blue, red, yellow, and grey. On the other hand, 
it does make for a very appealing color scheme.

Recently, I've tried integrating my initials into the same 
formation as the Crystal Dreams star logo. Several more 
sketches and powerpoint slides later... this is probably 
the best of them. Maybe if the letters were metallic...?

Anyway, another thing people ask me is the significance of 
the name Crystal Dreams. Is it saying that dreams are like 
delicate crystal and can break easily unless you work hard 
to put the dream into a tangible, accessible medium? Is it 
referring to our clarity of vision as a creative entity? To 
be completely honest, it doesn't really mean anything, I just 
liked the way it sounded...and I still do.

The letters still need to look beveled, but generally I was 
happy with the way the metallic look turned out.

People often seem to forget that metal is fundamentally 
a reflective material, so depicting it in a graphic 
always lends itself to two problems. First of all is 
the issue of a 'camera' which may not seem like a 
problem, but consider the challenge of finding an 
accurate reference. I mean, the metal will always 
be reflecting you when you look into it. The 2nd 
problem is the matter of background. If say your 
metallic surface is the hood of a car driving 
across a desert road during sundown, do you continue 
the background in the reflection and risk making 
the object look like glass instead of metal?

Venus Crystal Company got its own logo after quite a long time 
of simply having yet another stylized font against a plain 
background. The closest thing I ever had to a logo was 
actually the V2 rocket control schematic mentioned in the 
Thomas Pynchon novel "Gravity's Rainbow"--the letters K V 
H E Z arranged in the formation of a joystick--and was used 
to designate the VCC Nuclear Flight Squad, which were from 
a story I was writing set in the same universe as "Eryx."

Messonyx is a play on words of "Masonic" (as in, of or 
pertaining to the Freemasons). It all started on an 
episode of the now, sadly, cancelled "Unscrewed with 
Martin Sargent." Michael Tsarion of taroscopes.com 
was a guest talking about his new book, which dealt 
with the hidden messages in corporate logos. 
Specifically, he talked about the Acura "A" being a 
Masonic compass. Messonyx doesn't actually have any 
hidden meanings. It is simply supposed to be a very 
stylized "smiley face." In figure study, I was always 
fascinated by the shadows created by the brow and 
nose when a face is lit from the side. 

That's where the final design comes from. 

 M-World was a story whose very idea goes back to 
the tender age of four, when all I had was a book cover 
and title. The story would come several years later, during
college (where everyone acts like four-year olds, appropriate, 
isn't it?). The logo, like all the others, is one of several
incarnations. I chose this runt of the litter because I like 
the way the metallic letters turned out.

In case you're wondering...No, M-World does not mean "Matt 
World," "Matsugawa World," or even "Man-World" (though gender 
roles were an integral part of the story), and it certainly is 
not a Star Trek reference! I guess if I really had to come up 
with something, I would say the "M" stands for "Meaningless!"

The Omega III is a fictional video game system that 
used Iomega Zip Disks for storage media. Inspired by systems 
such as the Famicom Disk System and the Fairchild Channel F, 
Omega III's color scheme is a reference to Hong Kong pirated 
versions of famous NES games, which often had loud and flamboyant 
color schemes.

This was the first 'game' published under the VCC 
label for the Omega III. The disk was little more than fancy 
packaging for my portfolio and resume. Unfortunately, no one 
really uses Zip Disks anymore, which really made it perfect to 
have as a storage medium for a bogus game system. Time Wars can 
also be seen in its feature film form (read: the poster) in the 
spec ad section of the site. 

Also, the VCC logo was simplified for size. 

I took a lot of video production courses at UNM, 
and one of the things that was always required was a set of 
color bars at the beginning of our videos. In a desperate 
attempt to break the mold and look at the purely creative 
side of color bars and test patterns, we were all called 
upon to create our own color bars. And, like every other 
logo or pattern I designed, I went through several dozen 
incarnations before deciding that this was the only one 
that was not only different from traditional color bars, 
but was also had practical value and use. All the colors 
are to perfect colorsync specifications and it is entirely 
possible to calibrate your computer or television by them.

Caduceus is an Unreal Mod I've started working on in recent weeks. 
Without giving too much away as to the gameplay mechanics (other 
than it will not be a first-person shooter), Caduceus is story of 
a medical frigate overrun by over-sized mutated leech monsters. 
You play as the renowned Dr. Origin Egress, who has traded in her 
labcoat for a hazard-suit as she tries to solve the mystery that 
has cost the crew their lives. 
Origin Egress was also the protagonist of the interactive video 
exhibit "Fairchild: Aesthetic Perfect." Though it is technically 
the same character, the world of Fairchild is in no way related 
to Caduceus. I simply like to take my characters and put them 
through as many wringers as possible and see which ones make it 
through in one piece. Dr. Egress has survived many turmoils thus 
far, and she always surprises me with her spirit.

Just a little something I whipped up one day when I was bored. 
I just wanted to play with outlines and shadows, make the word 
seem like more than it really is. Also, I was trying to break 
away from the notion that when you make a stylized font, you 
must first create an entire alphabet. This is done, of course, 
because all the letters ideally should be distinct from one 
another. The problem with this is, though, that you end up 
limiting yourself creatively. In the case of "BATTLE" I knew 
exactly which letters I would be using, so I wouldn't have to 
worry about the "T"s looking like lower-case "R"s.

This was an "Identity Idea" for an individual very important to 
me. She helped me to see who I was and what I wanted to do at 
a time when the long-hidden expectations of others around me 
were becoming unbearable. She has a way of seeing the truer 
natures of people without it resulting in cognitive dissonance. 
The "L" flowing into the "M" shows her ability to not only make 
one idea flow into another, but to also bring that idea back 
full circle to the overall point of the lesson she was teaching 
or the observation she was making. If you run your finger from 
the start of the "L" to the last leg of the "M," you are 
ultimately moving in a more-or-less circular fashion.

This logo gets its own row partly for the horizontal length, but mostly for an unusual flaw in Photoshop. 
Apparently, when isosceles triangles are reduced, they get jagged. If only pixels were triangular 
instead of rectangular...? Well, I'm not exactly one to create paradigm shifts in technology 
(that's a job best left to Fujifilm and their genuinely amazing SuperCCD), but I still feel I 
have a right to complain about computer technology, especially in regards to this title. When 
I was simply sketching this out in my book with an ordinary fine-point pen, it looked pretty 
good (even if the geometry was a little off here and there), unfortunately, when I actually set 
about making the triangular font, some of the work's character was lost. I think I'll start work 
on an 'amorphous' version, where the letters are simply lines arranged in triangular shapes, 
rather than simply negative space cut out of solid triangles.

Psygnosis (Video Game Developer & Publisher)
This logo is considered by many, particularly in the computer 
and video games industry, to be one of the most appealing logos ever
conceived. It was, in fact, created by Roger Dean, who not only
did album covers for the Prog-Rock sensation Yes, but also did
box covers for Psygnosis in their early days. Hard to believe
that this was the same publisher/developer that gave us Lemmings!

Lotus (Automobile Manufacturer)
I've you have ever seen either an episode of Patrick MacGoohan's 
The Prisoner or the James Bond feature The Spy Who Loved Me, you
have seen a Lotus. MacGoohan's car seen in the opening credits of 
his popular series is a Lotus Super 7, a very popular formula racer. 
Meanwhile, the car in Spy Who Loved Me, the one that turns into a 
submarine, is a Lotus Esprit. Today they are best known for the 
Elise, reputed to have the best handling of any sports car today.
The initials above "LOTUS" stand for Anthony Colin Bruce Chapman, 
the company's founder. His infamous involvement in the development
of the DMC-12 (namely the 'offshore tax shelter' GPD) led to his
name being removed from the company (and utterly decimated his 
ambition of being knighted). However, fan reaction was extremely 
vocal, and the name was restored after only a few years.  

Knights of Columbus (Charity)
On top of this simply being a very intriguing design, it is also here 
as a tribute to my grandfather, who died of prostate cancer some years ago. 
A lot of people ask, "Who are the K of C?" and all I can ever really think 
to say is that they are the proudest and most dignified people you will 
probably ever meet. When my grandfather died, he even had an honor guard, 
in full uniform, swords raised andall. You should really check out their site, 
they do some great charity work and after all, everybody needs a little K of C.

Pabst Blue Ribbon (Beer)
Of course, I cannot talk about iconography without giving proper
credit to my homeland brew, PBR. This, along with Budweiser's old
label--before they went to that goofy, red-crayon crown symbol--truly
demonstrates a sense of history, something few logos can do without 
coming across as pretentious and stale.

Saab (Automobile Manufacturer)
What's the difference between a Saab and a Porcupine...?" 
Okay, okay, you've heard it! Nevermind! Anyway...

Along with manufacturers like Jaguar, this one has fallen under the General 
Motors Umbrella. Come on, England! What's going on? First, you get rid of 
your double-decker buses, then you start ripping up those lovely red iron 
phone boxes, then start slapping ads on your black cabs, and then you let 
your local pubs get bought out by major chains! For shame!

BMW (automobile manufacturer)
My brother told me that he once asked me, "if I could have any car in 
the world, which one would it be?" He said my answer was "a Geo Storm." 
After a blank stare and a shake of the head, he said, "No, dude...if 
you could have ANY car...in the WORLD...WHAT would it be?" According to 
him, I still said, "Geo Storm." Looking back, I wonder how I could ever 
have said that.

The BMW logo has a very pleasant color scheme and the shape most definitely 
sets it apart from the crests and shields of Chrysler or Porsche. As many 
know, BMW was an aircraft manufacturer before the Treaty of Versailles 
barred them from producing aircraft. The logo depicts propellers spinning 
against the blue sky. It is also the Bavarian Coat of Arms. Coincidence? 
Oddly enough, according to BMW at least, yes!

Alfa Romeo does not distribute in America, so I'm stuck driving 
my Pontiac (a Sunfire), while somewhere else in the world, there's a 
156 GT 5-door waiting for me. Ah, well...someday. In the meantime, I can 
admire their very interesting logo. I wonder if a lot of doctors have 
Alfa Romeos? I mean, if the Honda CRX can be popular among Christians 
(CRX is the latin word for 'cross' with the vowels removed, and have you 
ever seen a CRX that didn't have one of those fish icons on it?), maybe 
the snake and cross can appeal to those in the medical profession. 

Traveller's Tales (video game developer/publisher)
Traveller's Tales doesn't have so much a logo as much as a work of art. It 
sticks out like a sore thumb against the plain white text of most game 
studio logos. Heck, even Konami has abandoned its red and orange waves in 
favor of a simple red flag. Today, the only studios whose logos even 
approach the creativity and imagination of Traveller's Tales are Planet 
Moon, Cattle Call, Falcom, and Neversoft.