Street Fighter II arcade machine in LA, photo by Marti Bug Catcher via Shutterstock

Street Fighter’s logo debacle shows people want design at its messy best

Games publisher Capcom has been roasted for its minimal new Street Fighter 6 logo. Perhaps instead it needs to embrace the kind of bold, maximalist design people crave?

Earlier this week, games publisher Capcom unveiled the teaser for the sixth incarnation of its long-running Street Fighter series, surprising fans at the same time with a new hexagonal monogram that appears to have replaced the longstanding brushstroke wordmark.

The original logo has been used, in various iterations, since 1987 when the button mashing beat ‘em up first came out – to the delight of bleary-eyed teenagers everywhere, staying up late to perfect combos for special attacks.

Capcom continued to develop and publish sequels to the game throughout the 90s. Street Fighter V was released in 2016, and the newest Street Fighter 6 is currently in development. The game series also spawned several live action interpretations, including a memorable 1994 film starring Jean-Claude Van Damme, which has since passed into legend.

Part of the charm of Street Fighter has always been its brash appearance. The characters are ridiculous, the moves are wildly over the top, and all of the supporting graphic design is the same.