AC/DC wasn't fair to the designer of the band's multimillion-dollar logo

Gerard Huerta is a basic man in the history of AC/DC.

Thanks to his work, the legendary rock group has amassed a lot of money.

However, no member of the band has ever contacted him, as the artist confirms to this newspaper.

Huerta (Los Angeles, California, 71 years old) designed the group's logo when he was 25 years old, those intimidating four letters split by a lightning bolt.

An angular, Prussian typeface that has since been used in dozens of brands as a synonym for toughness.

According to a study by the consulting firm Rush Order Tees, the most popular music t-shirt of all time is the one that shows the logo that Huerta designed for the Australian group.

Below are names like Queen, Pink Floyd, The Beatles, Bob Marley or the more current Ariana Grande.

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Where have the 'heavies' gone?

A very lucrative business, without a doubt.

But Huerta assures that he has never charged for the thousands of products that have been sold with his printed creation: key chains, baby

bodysuits

, adult underwear, mugs, toy guitars, jackets, T-shirts... To know the full story you have to look closely. in 1977. “I had worked for CBS Records for a while and had built a reputation with designs for albums by Ted Nugent or Blue Öyster Cult.

Bob Defrin, creative director of Atlantic Records [AC/DC's label], followed my work and liked it.

So he hired me to design the group's logo.

When he asked me to do it, I was already established as a freelancer in an apartment in New York,” says Huerta from his studio in Southport, Connecticut.

Cover of the album 'Let There Be Rock', the first to feature the AC/DC logo designed by Gerard Huerta.

Today it is still used.

Explains the creation of the logo: “The shapes of the letters are inspired by the Gutenberg Bible, which is the first printed book.

“I then gave it a bevel and produced it in straight lines for a blunt effect.”

And those letters came out with a jagged and pointed perimeter.

AC/DC's first albums were released with a thin letter design and a slash in the center.

It was in

Let There Be Rock

(1977), the fourth album by Angus Young's band, when Huerta's strong logo entered.

For the next album,

Powerage

(1978), it was changed to a design that was a mix of the first albums and Huerta's.

“I guess it wasn't that successful, so they took mine back for the next albums,” says the artist.

The agreement with Huerta was for a single album

, Let There Be Rock,

an important work in the band's career with songs that they still have in their repertoire today, such as

Whole Lotta Rosie

, Dog Eat Dog,

Hell Ain't a Bad Place to Be

or the one that gives the album its title.

The group, however, decided without consulting Huerta to continue using the logo.

Since 1979, only the one by the Californian artist has been printed:

Highway To Hell

(1979),

Back In Black

(1980),

For Those About To Rock

(

We Salute You)

(1981)… and until the last one,

Power Up (

2020).

Of the group's 17 works, 13 carry Huerta's design.

Nobody from AC/DC's circle has denied Huerta's version.

The Californian artist only received payment for that work on the

Let There Be Rock album,

as he himself confirms to EL PAÍS.

The designer handed in the work, forgot about it and moved on to other commissions, including the design of the emblems for

Time

magazine and later for HBO and Calvin Klein Eternity.

The contract also did not specify that the design could be printed on t-shirts and marketing products.

Huerta did not want to involve lawyers at the time, and today his vision is conciliatory.

“They paid me a fair price at that time and I have received many commissions for having produced that work.

So it has paid off, in its own way,” he says.

We asked him how much he charged for the design and he responded: “I never talk about fees.”

The designer of the AC/DC logo, Californian Gerard Huerta, in a current image provided by him.

This is how the British writer and journalist Jesse Fink talks about this episode in the book

The Young.

The brothers who created AC/DC

: “For being a man who has contributed such an important element to AC/DC as a brand, and who could therefore be considered as someone who notably helped the Youngs make a fortune with commercial promotion, You'd think Huerta would receive royalties, especially when the logo was designed for an album and not something AC/DC would use in perpetuity.

But not".

The designer points out the keys to a good badge: “It should be simple and adjusted to what the company or person represents.

And, very important, it must be well exposed.

You can have the best design, but if no one sees it, it is of little use.”

Huerta is still active and working on assignments from large and small companies.

“I like to think that I always do the best job I can for a client, as I believe you are only as good as the last job you did.

But I think the exposure of AC/DC's work has probably given him a higher place in design than he probably should have,” he explains modestly.

Although he does not listen to the songs of Angus Young and company (“I prefer music from the sixties and seventies; I am a big fan of The Wrecking Crew, a collective of musicians who played on many recordings of this era”), the artist is aware of the news of the Australian band, whose European tour will pass through Seville on May 29 and June 1.

“Well, like all the bands from that era that are still playing, they have really become a cover band, since there are few original members.

The same thing happens to Foreigner, The Rolling Stones, The Beach Boys... Even The Eagles have only one original member.”

He makes a stop and emphasizes: “But the result is quite good since the quality of the musicians who have replaced the originals are exceptional.”

A good guy Gerard Huerta.

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