Videoland: A Visual Catalog of American Video Store Logos 1980-1995 Zine

Before home video, if you wanted to see Star Wars, you had to wait for it to pop up on TV. In the era before the studios discovered the value of the direct-to-consumer video market, Video rental stores were an unavoidable part of the retail landscape. Dozens of mom-and-pop shops thrived in every city, town, remote ski lodge, sketchy resort boardwalk, and beyond. These small businesses codified a surprisingly unified visual identity that includes unique text treatments, outsider-art mascots, and subliminal bits of local history baked into each logotype. Most of these businesses existed pre-internet and never operated websites, causing much of this material to be lost to memory until now. This zine was assembled by Andy Sturdevant, primarily from local newspaper advertisements. It includes over 100 logos spanning the entire United States, keep an eye out for your old favorites. 28 pages, black and white laser print, edition of 100.

• 28 pages, black and white laser print
• limited edition of 100
• press: Birchwood Palace Industries 2019

reviewed by VIDEO GALAXY 10/2019