The History Of Famous Logos

Though you see many of them every day, it’s likely that you don’t know the history of some of the world’s most famous logos. Turns out, many of those you’re familiar with have some very interesting backgrounds. Here at Springleap we love to get the lowdown, so here’s some history that will make you look at logos a little differently. First up, the cool story about a pretty humble brand that looks much today like it ever did.   In 1969, a Spanish lollipop company was looking to revamp its logo. With a well-established national market, the company was keen to make use of the colours of the Spanish flag - red and yellow. To create the revamped logo, a famous artist was approached. In one hour, over a cup of coffee with the founder of the company at a small cafe, he sketched out the new logo on newspaper - the company name within a daisy shape. The artist was Salvador Dali, and the brand, Chupa Chups. Take a look at the brand nowadays, and the design has changed slightly, but not much - this is a testament to the power of a simple logo design.     Whilst most major brands have their logos created by design companies, back in the 18th and 19th centuries (before agencies became the go-to for this kind of work), some companies would look to their staff to craft their logo, as they were closest to the company and had a good understanding of the core business. Amongst the world’s most famous logos which were created by ‘amateurs’ are some that are quite surprising.   The world’s most recognised logomark was in fact not created by a designer but by Frank M. Robinson, partner and bookkeeper to the newly-formed Coca-Cola company in 1886. Created out of the Spencerian Script that was commonly used in the USA between the years 1850 to 1925, this is truly a logo that has stood the test of time - with a few small adjustments - for over 120 years.   Little-known fact: because the Coca-Cola logomark was created using a commonly-available script, it’s not possible to copyright it. The logomark is, however, protected by trademarks.   Last up is a logo which we’ve touched on in the past here on the blog, which bears repeating. The rather famous Quiksilver logo that features a wave and mountain wasn’t always thus. In fact, back in 1970 when the company was only a year old, the logo was something different entirely - it was an image of a swan, with the company name in a custom semi-italic font. That logo didn’t last very long at all - it was replaced in the same year by an early version of the wave logo, shown in the middle, below:      The basic Quiksilver design has remained consistent since then, but what’s really interesting is that the inspiration for the Quik logo was one of the most revered prints of all time. ‘Under A Wave, Off Kanagawa’ (shown below) is the work of 18th-century Japanese print master, Hokusai. Once you compare the two - and pay particular attention to the Mount Fuji detail - the resemblance is obvious. For a company that was founded on the love of surf, it was a natural choice.     Thanks for checking in and reading about these three logos’ interesting history - if you have any suggestions or you know of any which have a great background story, please feel free to comment below or send a mail to travis (at) springleap (dot) com - we’d love to hear what you have to say, and would be happy to feature your suggestions. Cheers!  

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