Randomly: I want to talk about the Hamilton logo! And how, like every single element of this show, it is just so great. (Can you believe this is the first meta post on Hamilton I wrote in my head? Cause I was thinking about it before I had listened to the album, when I kept seeing stuff about it on my dash and had listened to maybe a song or two… or maybe just watched that minute-long promo clip to part of "My Shot," I think.) ANYWAY.
Hamilton pointing up into the sky. It looks, just visually, like it connotes ambition - let's go, this way! - rise up! - (I was aiming for the sky ;___;). Or it could be disco dancing from a profile angle, who knows XD. Shooting at the sky, specifically, could be the signal to start off a race (such a relevant image re: the war), or it could be, couldn't it, a funeral salute. (I had been listening to "21 Guns" from American Idiot around this time.) And of course, according to wikipedia, it wasn't the standard way to delope (that would be pointing at the ground), but it is, still, in fact what Hamilton did.
Of course most of us probably don't know that until we've seen Hamilton. But a logo that's cool and intriguing even without context, but means so much more with, is not only preferable in general, but definitely fits the show, which has so much goodness you'll only catch on repeated listens.
(I feel so ridiculous writing so much just about the logo, and only being maybe half done, but hey - this disproporitionate sort of reaction is what fandom is. To me. And I do love loving things.)
So! Then there's the background color to the black star (and sillhouettes and text), the gold or yellow and brown texture thing. Simple, but I love even it, cause… the gold association is with money (lol Hamilton, but that plus duel is all anyone knows about him), and the brown/sepia tones connote history, maybe recovery of records, and then either way you read the color of course it looks ~classic.~ And a gorgeous amount of variation to give visual interest even when it's functionally all one color.
(I am sorry I care too much about colors and visual design okay.)
And then the final element! The star. I think this is actually the most important part. Of course the star itself has vaguely patriotic and even period connotations. (The Stars and Stripes.) It also has vague connections to themes relevant to the show, the whole ambition thing again, reaching for the stars. And these associations probably work all the better for not being too on-the-nose.
But the best part is… how the star (the whole shape but the top point) is used as a platform. An iconic stage, for a person to stand on. And if you try to follow the shape of where that fifth point should be… Hamilton's outstretched hand and arm is taller than the star allows. But his body - his stance doesn't fill the width of the point of the star. Of course this is just geometry, but it's also perfect. Hamilton the man - or anyone who makes history - is both bigger and smaller than the symbol they become. Their legacy is so much more than person could ever be. But it doesn't fit all of them, who they are, what they do - there will be so much left out. Hamilton shows all of this (and other things too) (but this is something that describes what the show is and does).
