Evolution of logos, all of them have been ironed

Have you ever wondered how the logos of Apple, Microsoft and Google looked like 30 years ago? Did they look the same as they look now? How did they change and most importantly why did they change?

Logo identifies the brand. They are the fundamental to building the company's brand and communicating the audience they target. A company’s brand is a succinct but comprehensive embodiment of everything the company stands for. The best logos are recognizable, memorable and let you know what the company is about with just a glance. But even the biggest companies in the world have to change with the times and grow as their brand grows. While re-branding is an expensive (and sometimes risky) undertaking, these companies have thrown caution to the wind and changed up their logos – and most of them have done it over and over.


Most of the logo now has evolved so much that the evolution has led to a logo with no trace of the original. Some have removed the text moving on, with the sign or symbol they adopted. Some have made it flat with mono-chromatic colors as if they have been ironed like Windows and Chrome. Today, let's take a look at the interesting stories behind the logos of some of the popular brands in the world that we see around.


Apple has an interesting story since they launched. It has one of the most recognizable logos in the world, but the company’s first logo was a complicated mess featuring Isaac Newton sitting under a tree, apple dangling above his head. The too-complex logo was scrapped after less than a year in favor of the iconic rainbow apple with a bite missing. When Steve Jobs returned to the helm of the company in 1997, the old rainbow was ditched in favor of a sleek, stylish monochrome apple which now features prominently on every product the company sells.

Shell back in 1900, when the company was started the logo was a realistic and simple shell which lies flat on the ground. This was a pectin or scallop shell, but today the company has a logo which is bold, colorful and much more simplistic. This has helped the company because this logo is more memorable and recognizable, accountable to the simplicity of the logo. The 1971 logo is still used by the company albeit with minor changes, but it has become so recognizable that it often appears without the company name now.

The logo of BMW or Bayerische Motoren Werke AG (Bavarian Motor Works) itself hasn’t changed a lot during the years, but now has a more stylish look due to the different gradients. The unchanged logo has made it easier for people to remember and has given the company more recognition.

NIKE. As the brand gained recognition, the company name was dropped from the logo, which made it more simplistic and memorable.

IBM or International Business Machines has perhaps simplified the most complex logo over the years.

Cannon. The first camera launched by the company in 1934, was named as Kwanon, after the Buddhist goddess of mercy. The logo included the wordings and a picture of the goddess with 1000 arms and flames. As the years went by, like all other logos we have seen above, the company strived to make the logo as simple and memorable as possible.

Google. The clarity of thought is visible in the company’s logo right from the very beginning.The exclamation mark were added after sometime after getting inspired by the exclamation mark of Yahoo. The name of the search engine is derived from Googol (meaning one followed by 100 zeros). The company now uses the same logo after removing that exclamation.

Chrome. The web browser of Google has also gone a big transformation in the recent years. The different glare and shine has been removed and the logo has been flattened out. The colors are taken from the colors in Google logo.

Microsoft didn't change over the years. The tagline changed after getting mocked by people. The look of the logo has remained pretty much the same. Basically, the company is so well renowned already, that I don’t think the logo needs to change, since people already recognize and connect with it worldwide.

Windows
The operating system of Microsoft had a total makeover once the Windows 8 version was released. Previously it had windows with a floating feel such that it looks like a moving forward and now it is simply a window featured in blue color.

Pepsi has transformed their logo very much over the years. From only the script to crown-script to bottle-cap-script to globe-script. Their current logo have done away with  the script altogether and the globe gained prominence.

LG was formed from two different companies named Lucky (chemical cosmetic company, 1947) and Goldstar (radio manufacturing plant, 1958). Actually, LG is a chaebol (a South Korean conglomerate). These companies all adopted the “Life is Good” tagline you often see alongside its logo. LG denies that their name now stands for Lucky Goldstar. They’re just “LG.”

Mercedes. In 1902, the logo for Mercedes was nothing more than the simple company name. However, it was changed to a 3 pointed star in 1909. The 3 pointed star which represented ‘making vehicles in land water and sky’. Over the years, the symbol has been improved vastly in design and simplicity. It has been recognized as a symbol representing luxury and top tier cars.

‘Nokia’ in Finnish means means a dark, furry animal we now call the Pine Marten weasel. However, this has little to do with the current business and brand image.

Wallmart. The company has tried out various colors and variation of the word Walmart over the years. In 1962, when Sam Walton started, the company, the logo had simply the word spelled in a very basic design. Walmart is probably one of the few companies, who have tried so many logos, but their current logo is more like the original logo, other than any other intermediate logo. The font differs a little from the original and is indeed more stylish, but the ‘Walmart’ word without a break appears for the first time after 1962. They have kept the star from 1992, but moved it to the end.

Audi is a German brand which produces cars and is a part of the Volkswagen Group. In 2009, Audi introduced new logo which is also the current one. The modern Audi logo shows a three-dimensional texture and shadowing, resulting in a polished chrome look. The Audi name is now smaller, has moved away from the center to the bottom left corner, while the font has changed as well.

source - internet - instantshift.com