Speculative Identities
Research & Project
2017–Present
Speculative Identities is a collaborative side project I came up with, inspired by my professional interests in visual identity design, and my personal affinities for science fiction and future thinking.
At present, only the Research portion of the site is up and running, where I am cataloguing and examining symbols, logos, and visual identities that have appeared in science fiction storytelling. Beyond that, there is an Exploration section of the site in the works, which will experiment with creating new logos and identities for science fiction that is yet to exist.
Visit the site: speculativeidentities.com
Designer, Researcher and Author: Roger Strunk
Website Developer: Rich Bachman
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The Research
With the site’s research section, my aim is to assemble a comprehensive searchable and sortable survey of logos and other identifying marks that have appeared in science fiction—no small task, once you dig in and realize just how many marks are created for the genre, so this will be an ongoing effort. But not stopping there, I’m also going to do my best to analyze these marks and tease out whatever information I can about their design and meaning, their place in the context of their scenarios, as well as their context alongside other identity designs both real and imagined. And wherever possible, to credit the creators of these identities and share their stories.
What follows is an explainer from the site that describes the sorting and filtering that is possible within the index. You can also find it here.
Analysis, Commentary and Reference Material
Each individual logo or visual identity system receives its own entry in the Research section. At the top of the page, are written details about the identity to give it some quick context, followed by an overview section that covers the visuals. From there, depending on the nature of the mark and its source material, I devote sections of the page to source images, analysis and commentary. Some of these are very in-depth, others are brief — especially if the mark gets limited use or visibility in the source material. At the bottom of a Research entry, I link out to additional sources referenced in my analysis and offer downloads associated with the identity.
