Ghostbusters logo creator, Michael Gross, dies at 70

The Ghostbusters logo is still instantly recognisable 30 years on

The creator of two of the most iconic pop culture images of the 20th century, Michael Gross, has died aged 70.

The artist and illustrator designed the enduring Ghostbusters logo and a dog with a gun to its head for the cover of National Lampoon magazine.

Gross was diagnosed with terminal cancer in 2014 and died on Monday at his home in California.

Prior to his death he launched Flip Cancer, a darkly comic anti-cancer campaign.

Gross's Ghostbusters logo, designed for the first Ghostbusters film in 1984, features a slightly-shocked looking spirit caught in the middle of a slashed red circle.

It placed first, beating out the Chrysler Building, when the Pratt Institute ran a survey for their thoughts on the 125 most admired icons created by its alumni and faculty.

The National Lampoon image showed a photograph of a dog with a gun to its head and the words: "If You Don't Buy This Magazine, We'll Kill This Dog".

In 2005, it was rated one of the 40 greatest covers of all time by the American Society of Magazine Editors.

Gross's charity art project Flip Cancer saw Gross, and others, drawing raised middle fingers in protest against the disease with the words 'Flip Cancer' written beneath.

The works were put on display at a gallery exhibition last year and at the time of his death, he was making plans to auction them in aid of research for cancer.

He is survived by his son, daughter and three grandchildren.