How many logos can you name? Macdonalds? Nike? Apple? All huge multinational corporations with millions to spend on building brand recognition. Have a look at logos and see how they work – pay attention to the colour schemes and simple designs. You will probably also find that, although you couldn’t recall them immediately when you see them you immediately recognise them – banks, shops and products. Can you immediately recall the OCA logo?
If I think about the most recognisable logos, they are companies you are surrounded by every day life. Some of them seen so many times, that they become a part of yourself much more, so services that are provided by some of the business goes straight into association with a logo brand. A logo is like the front door of a business. It’s a first impression. It’s a greeting. It’s got an energy. The world’s most iconic and famous logos have this down. If you think about delivery services, that is Fedex, Amazon, DHL, if you think about fast-food that is KFC, McDonald’s , Starbucks, also most iconic logos for drinks that I remember as long as I remember myself CocaCola and Pepsi, for technologies Samsung, Apple, and Nokia, and so may others more.
I would like to analyse some of the logos most iconic based on book Logo life: life histories of 100 famous logos.
Lego
The red, white, yellow, and black LEGO logo is synonymous with one of the world’s largest toy manufacturers, but it didn’t always look so familiar. The story began in 1932, when the carpenter and joiner Ole Kirk Kristiansen established his business in the village of Billund, Denmark. The word LEGO in translation from Danish “leg godt” means meaning “play well”. From the history of the logo creation could be seen how the logo from Black and white serif font transformed to the decorative and recognisable unique font with extra colour variations such as red, yellow and white with some black outline. The classic dog bone logo from late 1955 was the first time the logo was standardised in design and colour. From the logo transformation still can be seen that if we compare logos of 1973 and present time only minor change has been done, as extra thickness for the black outline.
British Petroleum
Another interesting logo example is the logo for the global chains of the petrol station BP, which as far as I know temped to be one of the most expensive logos ever made. A new marketing campaign costed BP a staggering 20 million dollars. BP was named among the most environmentally friendly oil businesses in the industry, that’s why they tend to keep fresh green palette in their logo. As it could be seen from the logo development it went from the very standard logo ideas into the complicated flower with symmetrical lines around it, where was applied the golden ratio. The oil titan cut its name to BP and launched an ad slogan “Beyond petroleum”. On top of that, the company started investing into the development of alternative energy sources. Inspired by Helios, the Greek god of Sun, the new logo supported the company philosophy.
KFC
The company name “Kentucky Fried Chicken” was altered to the abbreviation “KFC” from the early 1990s an attempt to retreat from the fatty connotation of the word “fried”. The KFC logo signifies the founder of KFC, Colonel Sanders. The company has maintained an outstandingly consistent visual identity by using Colonel’s face on the branding. On the earliest logo can be seen that they made the portrait much bigger and more prominent, with some extra black outline, which helps logo to stand out.
McDonald’s
The McDonald’s logo is symbolic of the arches that were the substance of the newly-constructed architecture of the first franchised restaurant in 1952 McDonald’s uses the Golden and Red as primary colours in its logo design. The Golden colour represents the famous arches of its first franchised restaurant, while the red colour represents the food industry of this company. The synergy of both of these colours creates a great brand identity of McDonald’s. The McDonald’s logo uses the McLawsuit font in its name. It is the simplicity of the fonts that make the name of McDonald’s look appealing to the eyes. I’m not a big fun of the fast-food, but in terms of graphic design whether it is the use of imagery or the colours, everything fits perfect in this emblem without making it look complicated. From my point of view both KFC and McDonald’s logos are one of the most iconic fast-food logos ever made.
Coca Cola
Coca Cola’s logo has changed over time with several historical examples that are nicely dated and frequently the designer or design company is named. Many of the designs run over onto the next spread with graphics of them in use. It’s a lovely jam-packed logo book of company logo history and inspiration. For one year only, the Coke logo gets a dramatic, swirly makeover, then we can see the progress of changing, where the company returned to their 1887 logo idea with calligraphic font. It’s easy recognisable and iconic logo example, however it was quite common scenario when others companies tried to borrow that calligraphic scrip for their logo, and after they could risk of getting the name of Coca Cola’s type of logo.
Another interesting example when not only the logo had been changed but the name of the company as well. The very first name for the Google was “BackRub”, as the engine’s main function was to search through the internet’s back links. Luckily, by 1997 they’d changed the company’s name to the much less creepy “Google”. However the design itself was not the best one, first logo ideas looked like there were made in Microsoft Word text style. Later from 1998 could be see that the font for the logo had improved to the more recognisable one, but the developers still wanted to keep that bright all colours pallet in one logo. The modern version of the Google’s logo went from the serif font to the san serif with bolder writing.
Apple
Another significant logo in the logo’s history is Apple logo. I assume it is an important logo ideas for many designers, as the main purpose of this brand was to push design and modern outbids of the brand forward. So to start with, let’s look at the original apple logo from 1976. It featured a hand drawn image of Isaac Newton under the tree where the apple fell and was designed by co-founder Ronald Wayne. It also featured the copy: ‘A Mind Forever Voyaging Through Strange Seas of Thought – Alone’. From the progress of the logo can bee seen who the rainbow logo went to the strict dark shades and after to the 3-D type of logos. Now, apple has gone even more minimal with the simplistic mono logo which is usually used. It is sometimes used on other products in various other flat colours as well. It goes to show the importance of simplicity in logo design as the same form has been reinvented with such success over so many years.
Starbucks Coffee
Starbucks legendary logo design is the brainchild of Terry Heckler, who pored over old marine books until he came up with a logo based on an old 16th-century Norse woodcut: a two-tailed mermaid. What everyone has noticed that the logo has changed with the years of becoming bigger, and coming closer to the edges, which looks like it has been completely stripped from the details. The Starbucks logo is circular in shape. The design also features the brand name in wordmark inside the circles with two stars on either sides. The newest logo design features an enlarged Siren with no stars and wordmark.
OCA
In regards to the UCA logo I can say that it is made in contrasting colour pallet, with painted letter “A” like by a piece of chalk on the red background, which is quite catching. It’s hard for me to say what is my impression on the additional information placed on the black square, but if I will try to recall the logo, it will be letter “A” coming as a main object.
Sources
- https://www.designboom.com/design/logo-life-life-histories-of-100-famous-logos/
- Logo life: life histories of 100 famous logos
- https://www.logodesignlove.com/lego-logo
- https://www.logaster.co.uk/blog/bp-logo/
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