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nice idea.
Microsoft had tonnes more logos though didn’t they? I’m sure I remember a blue one. It’d be interesting to see the evolution of the windows logo too. And google’s original logo was just colored text – there’s more info on google’s logos here: http://www.google.com/customlogos.html scroll down to the bottom to see their *reeally* old logos!
Diego
This brings me to mind when I was in the first levels of design school, they told us to study the IBM logo (the last one) as one of the best logos ever designed, because of its simplicity and, as the article says “the solid letters with horizontal stripes to suggest “speed and dynamism”". The horizontal stripes also widen from left to right (or viceversa, can’t remember) to emphatyze that.
Aaron Bassett
I think you need to clarify the Firefox entry a little. The actual Firefox logo we all know and love today was a combination of work by Daniel Burka, Stephen Desroches & John Hicks.
From John’s journal entry about it;
“The final chosen design was a concept from Daniel Burka and sketched by Stephen Desroches, which I then rendered using Fireworks MX.”
http://www.hicksdesign.co.uk/journal/branding-firefox
Although it was Steven Garrity who invited John to work on the Mozilla branding team I don’t think he can be credited for the actual logo itself.
Ilari Sani
There was an early version of the striped IBM logo with 13 instead of 8 stripes. Although eight became the standard, the 13-stripe version appeared on many IBM products in the seventies.
NeonCat
Dear Xerox,
Your old logo was fine. Whoever told you you should change it probably has shares in whatever printing company you jobbed out the changeover to.
Thanks,
NeonCat
Dirty Third Streets
What a great post. I tried to digg it, but it’s already done been dugg.
TN
Wow, I really hope Palm stops changing logos. 3 logos in 3 years does them no good for branding.
I’ve personally always wondered about the “o” in the Microsoft logo. It’s so subtle but it really defines that logo I think.
The new Xerox logo sucks. The sphere looks horribly disproportioned. One of my favorites here (and favorites of all time) is the Firefox logo.
Thanks for the article!
Kris
how about the Worldcom, MCI, Verizon evolution. They turned the star and line around between the first two. Not a big change, but more a significant design morphing.
SRINI
Interesting. Good stuff for quiz. As it happens in quizzes, the readers have added or offered a different story in some cases!
Keep it coming. I am always interested in the story behind the logos and their meanings/interpretations (sometimes seemingly contrived!)
Jacob
This article should include the Kodak logo. Its history is interesting, and the logo went through a (kinda lame) change a few years back too.
oscar
I actually liked the pixelated X logo from Xerox, but I can sort of see why they wanted to distance themselves from it.
The beach ball is an abomination, however.
cabooglio
I wish every blog worked this hard to provide good content. Kudos!
Rob Ferguson
Your history of the Microsoft “Save the Blibbet” campaign isn’t quite right; see http://www.exmsft.com/~hanss/pranks.htm
I still have my “Save the Blibbet” button….
Jeremy Pepper
It’s funny about LG – I asked at Comdex in its last year what the LG stood for, and boy did they get pissed.
I guess the memory of Lucky Goldstar as the star of the old KMart must be too hard.
chris
Microsoft briefly had the best logo ever:
http://www.digibarn.com/collections/manuals/microsoft-basic80/Image76. jpg
I have seen it on Xenix manuals and in Creative Computing ads and know they had it in 1980, and I believe 1979 and 1981, but I don’t know for sure…
Vako
What I perceived from that excellent article is that the logos have become less artistic over the years. I guess everyone wants to simplify to make their logos easier to remember.
Cool blue
The rumour concerning Northern Telecom changing the name to “Nortel” is that they wanted to comply with Quebec French language laws.
Northern Telecom is obviously English, however, Nortel could be either English, French, or neither.
Oskar
Nice little walktrough there. Some facts I haven’t read elsewhere before also. And oh how ugly some of the first versions of the logos where. Like the sound of The International Time Recording Company though. It’s just word from being The International Time Travelling Company.
business g
I love looking at the evolution of corporate identities. I think it is interesting how technology “looks” differently than it did in the 80s.
Chris
You think LG are annoyed by being referred to as Lucky Goldstar. I remember the NCR press office being pretty peeved when I continued to refer to them as National Cash Registers, a name they loathed.
Plus
This article feels incomplete, I find it to be a decent introduction to the topic. Nonetheless, thank you.
I agree with commenter Vako, logo design simplification denotes recognizability.
The FedEx logo is the closest to perfection I have seen, from all the modern ones:
http://careers.ucr.edu/NR/rdonlyres/BD6709F5-CF84-4FD3-9109-E144745D92 1E/0/FedExground.jpg
Furthermore, I kinda like the new spherical Xerox logo, but was unaware that Xerox used to be “Haloid”! *Which reminds me of Montyoums Haloid movie (worth seeing) foremost:
http://www.gametrailers.com/player/usermovies/57998.html?id=57998
Paul McKeon
I’m pretty sure the c1972 IBM logo, which is the same one used now and is known internally as the ‘eight bar logo’ was also designed to reflect the company’s evolution in the computer age. The eight bars represent 8 bits.
Nick
I miss the old pixellated Xerox logo. It was simple, distinctive, and represents exactly where Xerox is in the business world. I never understood the, “we’re not a printer/copy company” line. That would like Microsoft saying, “we aren’t an operating system company.” Microsoft does do other things (I loves me XBox), but they’re an OS company.
I’ve never liked the IBM logo. Design authorities who say that the negative space bands imply speed and dynamism are ignoring what the lines actually look like: scan line gaps in an ancient text-only monitor. When I think of a dated logo, the first one that comes to mind is IBM’s.
luma
I think you’ve misunderstood the word “backronym”. “LG” would be a simple acronym – a backronym is where a word is chosen and then the letters it stands for is shoehorned into it. For example, the “USA PATRIOT act” is a backronym for “Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act”. It’s clear that the title “USA PATRIOT” was chosen well before they picked the words for which it would stand, hence a backronym.
Todd W.
The current Mokia logo you show here was actually updated about three years ago to use a sans serif typeface for “Connecting People”. Check their web site for the more recent version.
VonSkippy
Notice how the trend to simplify branding goes hand in hand with the downward spiral of the average Americans IQ?
Keep it shiny, simple, and whenever possible, just use initials, cause you wouldn’t want them to have to remember FULL words – that’s all the last few generations can handle.
Blake Brannon
Great information. Thanks for the post. I think the Nokia original logo is the worst.
Tom F
The Palm history is not quite correct – PalmSource (the software spin-off) was not bought back by Palm. Instead, Palm bought the rights to the Palm brand and the Palm OS software from PalmSource. PalmSource was instead bought by Access, a Japanese company that made a web browser for mobile devices.
Anzo
concerning LG, the “L” is indeed from Lucky brand, but what is “lack hui”? Korean pronunciation for “lucky” is just that, lucky.
i should know. i used their toothpaste since i was a kid living in korea.
stop making things up.
Alex
Wow, thanks for the response, guys! Let me address a few points:
@php captcha: those are fan-made logos, right? I believe the one listed above is the original version made by Sergey.
@Aaron Bassett (and Jacob Morse by email): thank you for the clarification. I’ve updated the post.
@Ilari Sani: Thank you – I didn’t know that, but I think 13 or 8 stripes are almost the same thing when it comes to Big Blue’s logo. I wouldn’t even notice if you didn’t bring it up.
@Kris: can’t do all companies, the article is long enough as it is. I almost included AT&T, but we’ve covered that before on Neatorama.
@anon and luma: LG is not an acronym, because it doesn’t stand for anything. But you guys are right about it also not being a backronym. Fixed.
@Plus: did you find the hidden arrow in the FedEx logo? 
@Anzo: The lak hui bit is from LG itself.
Tiux
Great post!
BTW, the intel logo history can be found here:
http://andieko.web.id/story/intel-logo-history/
Asteriks
Nice post.
Nothing beats this old picture of Microsoft though…which shows a teen Bill Gates with Paul Allen and first Microsoft Employees.
Ron
Wonderful but you left out the grand daddy of them all: HP err I mean Hewlett-Packard, or is it “Hewlett (we don’t need the hyphen anymore) Packard?”
bunhyung
Motorola was derived from a contraction of Motor and Victrola, not just a trendy -ola suffix addition
Romston
Woooaaa Nice article
Lucky chemical ?? Does Lg made some drugs at the time ?? ahahah
Nicolas Dore
Regarding Nortel, you missed a few steps and made a small error: Northern Telecom became Nortel in 1995 (not Nortel Networks), then became Nortel Bay Networks for a few months after it bought Bay Networks in 1998, then became Nortel Networks, and is now, since 2004, Nortel.
None of this helped it in when the dot.com bubble burst, thought… :-/
Toby B.
Nice work Alex!
That was a spectacular article, need more great work like this out there. Kwanon, crazy, never would have guessed.
Venkataramanan S
Sweet. I would rate Apple’s logo between 76 and 98 as the best among the list.
skibum
Whoever designed that “new” Xerox logo should forever be banned from using design programs. Worst logo since Verizon’s blight.
Aramax
The Nokia logo dont impress me much. I bought the Nokia 6265i last year ( may 2007 ) and since then I had to return the phone for repair because the stupid phone bugged while powering on and could not be turned off… and today it did the very same thing.
I didn’t knew much about Nokia before but now you can bet that I wont buy another of their phones anytime soon.
The LG bit scares me a little…
Vadime Kuzmitsky
Thank you for you work!
I translated it, so you can see Russian version of this article:
Name (required)
The Motorola logo that’s labeled 1955 wasn’t designed until 2004… there were about 6 or 7 others in between.
Yeah K
…palmOne then merged with Handspring and then bought PalmSource to coalesce back into … Palm, Inc.!
Access bought PalmSource
Meg
I see that you’ve retracted the backronym thing, but you weren’t so off base. It’s not the LG part that’s the backronym, it’s “Life’s Good”, which is their new tagline.
Bere
“The word “Nokia” in Finnish, by the way, means a dark, furry animal we now call the Pine Marten weasel.”
Actually, it doesn’t. Nokia is a town in Finland.
I should know, being a native finnish speaker.
Good article though, would have been better without disinformation with no facts to back it up.
Alex
@Bere – see: “The Nokianvirta river is named after a dark, furry animal that was locally known as the nokia – a type of marten.”
From Nokia’s website: http://www.nokia.com/A4303003
Marten is a type of weasel.
michperu
Excelente post!
Me sorprendí un poco al ver los primeros logos de Apple, Canon & Nokia.
Jukka-Pekka Keisala
Great post, thanks for sharing.
–clip–
The word “Nokia” in Finnish, by the way, means a dark, furry animal we now call the Pine Marten weasel.
–clip–
Pine Marten in finnish language is ‘Näätä’. Nokia is not an animal. It’s just a small town in Finland.
AZso
The evolution of the logo of Kodak (my previous company) is available here: http://www.kodak.com/global/en/corp/historyOfKodak/evolutionBrandLogo. jhtml
I worked there when the last one started… It was a huge work…
Onur Kb
I didn’t know IBM had such a long history.
BTW thanks for the article.
Lateef X
Best Damn post of the week! Good research…did you do it all on your own? This must’ve taken a lot of time. Great stuff.
RAD
Not exactly a tech company, but FedEx (which of course started life as Federal Express) supposedly paid millions of dollars for the logo that contains an arrow between the E and the x. Check it out. Some people say there are two arrows, but I can’t see it.
K Wright
The word “passion” originally meant “suffering”, as in the “passion” of Christ.
I love to think about Microsoft’s current slogan (Your potential, our passion) this way: “Your potential. Our suffering”
The Turtle
Actually, for a number of years in the 1960s the official spelling of XeroX was, well, “XeroX.” For many years at Xerox Square, that big black monolith you see in downtown Rochester, there was one of the few remaining 914 copiers down in the lobby.
The Turtle
@K Wright, every time I hear “your potential, our passion,” I mentally translate it to “your money, our pocket.”
Tommy
Nokia has redefined the font in the Connecting People slogan in recent years so that is not the current logo.
I’m Finnish and I didn’t even know that Nokia means anything. There is just a town called Nokia in Finland.
Timo Noko
If I remember correctly “Nokia” was one of the many derivatives of “Notko” meaning dale or gully. — I was checking for origins of “Noko”, so I my memory is little vague on this.
Allen Hawthorne
Re: IBM striped logo (8 or 13)created by the late renowned graphic designer, Paul Rand — “Diego”, Feb 7, believes “The horizontal stripes also widen from left to right (or vice versa, can’t remember) to emphasize that.” I think someone’s pulling your leg about tapered stripes, Diego. Mr. Rand designed other enduring logos for clients including Westinghouse, American Broadcasting Company, United Parcel, Cummins Engine Company (and more).
suomiperkele
“Nokia” DOES NOT mean a weasel – it’s just derived from that weasel. It doesn’t mean anything. Nokinäätä is the weasel, and Nokianvirta and Nokia are just derived from it.
I’m also a Finn.
SubGenius
Uh-oh. Somebody better tell XeroX about a little country called Kyrgyzstan (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyrgyzstan). Nice flag, huh? Same thing happened to NBC 30 years ago, when they “unknowingly” ripped off the logo from Nebraska public TV. Ooops (http://www.mentalfloss.com/archives/archive2004-04-20.htm)
paluh
nice article, it’s impresive how people came from nothing to a huge international company
thanks for sharing
paluh
paluh
nice article, it’s impresive how people came from nothing to a huge international company [i love human potential]
thanks for sharing
paluh
Catto
Hey Now Ned,
Great post very interesting. I nevery knew the 1st google doodle was burning man. The images are great too.
thx 4 the info,
Catto
Dottie
Great post. It’s fun to see the evolution of all these logos. Some additional info re: Microsoft logos. I was personally involved in the blibbett logo creation; it was introduced in 1981. There was at least one other corporate logo between 1975 and the blibbett logo. The “best ever” logo that Chris mentions was the Microsoft Consumer Products logo. MCP was a short-lived division of Microsoft created in 1979 and responsible for creating/marketing products through retail.
georue
If you want a combination of logos and company mergers + spinoffs, I would vote for Standard Oil and AT&T.
Here is an att site to get started:
http://www.mattsapundit.com/2006/01/09/att-gets-new-logo-still-wont-se ll-me-a-telegraph/
and standard oil (only the history, no logos):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard_Oil
http://www.trademarks-logos.com/lgs_pet.htm
bogdanovi?
????????? ?? ???. ??? ??? ???? ???? ???????? ?? ????? ?? ????????. ?????: ???? ?? ?? ?????? ??????? ?????? ???? ????????. ‘?? ??? ?? ??? ?????.
bogdanovic
What about this: evolution of flags? Sounds much better.
Pozdrav svima iako ne razumete.
Stuart Steel
Great article. I love the way that the logos evolve with the business – this common theme of simplification. some of the early logos, particularly apple’s, are beautiful but way too intricate.
I sometimes wonder about the relationship between marketing and business growth. you rarely see successful companies that don’t have good marketing materials. what’s the relationship? Way to simplistic I know, but which comes first??
Friedbeef
Thanks for sharing – I can’t believe how horribly ugly some of those old logos were!!!
Holly
Thanks for the tech logo evolutions. Logos can make or break a brand, and the original Apple logo, wow, no wonder they didn’t sell much back then. This is definitely food for thought as I contemplate a logo for my new website.
Keith
I always joked about the old thunderbird logo and called it “Thunder Duck”.
Eugene
Thanks for this article.
Didn’t knew about the first Apple & Nokia logos…
Liza
I was rather concerned about the new Xerox logo–seems very similar to that of LexisNexis (at lexis.com), also in the office services business.
iCalvyn
this is call history class, i gain some knowledge after this class …haha 
Outi
Bere Says:
““The word “Nokia” in Finnish, by the way, means a dark, furry animal we now call the Pine Marten weasel.”
Actually, it doesn’t. Nokia is a town in Finland.
I should know, being a native finnish speaker.”
# Jukka-Pekka Keisala Says:
“Pine Marten in finnish language is ‘Näätä’. Nokia is not an animal. It’s just a small town in Finland.”
Actually we don’t know what it means. The etymologists suppose it to be derived from the same word root as this animal.
Outi
I forgot to say: thank you for the nice article. I just love all of those Kwanon/Canon logos. (Well ok, the very first one is not graphically very interesting…)
Also the Globe logo of IBM is nice, actually the best of the company’s logos!
Patrick
Re: Xerox
“xerography” is from the Greek meaning ‘dry writing’ but how do you make a name out of ‘xero’? HQ were in Rochester NY, also Kodak’s head office. KodaK – XeroX was what they came up with in the end.
Marvellous article by the way!
Kamaal Mustafa Sikander
Thanks for posting this, it made interesting reading.
I never liked the IBM logo but after going through their earlier ones, atleast this is the best of them all. Apple’s is the most shocking one I must have seen.
Jamhuri
Great article.. i think the Fire Fox logo’s is one of the most creative onces out there.
Mike Grunzke
Never change a “winning” brand suddenly completly!! Take time and maybe change slightly over a time of 10 to 20 Years. Coke did it very well, but Palm breaks any rules!
Teemu
About the word Nokia:
Noki means “soot” in finnish.
“a” as suffix means passive plural in this case, wich can not be used in case of “soot”.
If we play with words a little bit, nokia could be understood as “soots” in finnish. “There is soots in the chimney!”.
The animal “Soopeli” (Martes zibellina) wich is called “nokinäätä” in Finland or has been called possibly “nois” centuries ago, could be the origin of the word Nokia. It is questionable that these animals have ever lived in Finland, so it is more probable that the word “nois” is used to mean beavers. So if the word Nokia has ever meaned anything, it has probably meaned “Beavers”. Just imagine a map with a little town printed “BEAVERS” on it…
In modern finnish Nokia or Nois does not mean anything.
If we want to make Nokia mean something, then we must change Nokia to Nokea, wich is the partitive case of the word “Soot”. In dialect this can be pronounced Nokia. Is there any Nokia in your chimney?
Do you think I’m bored in the office… Yes.
I’m not going to annoy you anymore with my clumsy english. I think I will spend the rest of my working time drinking coffee.
8IronBob
Huh… Interesting that Canon’s original name was Kwanon. However, I’m wondering where Intel is in this logo evolution? I know that’s another tech company that changes logos all the time. I’m surprised they aren’t on the list.
Alex
I never knew there are so many Finnish readers here on Neatorama!
Re: intel. I can’t find anything too interesting on the evolution of their logo…
Tommy
Very interesting article. I can’t stop myself reading from the beginning till the end. I really like the evolution in the logo designs of both IBM and Canon.
Does anyone has any recommendations on online sites offering logo design services? I need one which provides affordable and quality logo designs. I’ve heard about sites like LogoLoft, LogoDesignCreation, MyCustomogo, etc. Are they any good? Thanks in advance.
nepalsites
some interesting ones there. didn’t know about the apple bite thing. as with the name Apple itself, i hear the founder named the company apple just because his team couldn’t come up with a better name!
gpxl
Very interesting article, I love it…
I love logos and I’m very fun, I spend hours every day looking into them…I only
wanna make you see something in the Microsoft logo “because this logo was payed so
muche” and I don’t find it funny this so-called “Pac-Man Logo” story with no sens,
I don’t think that this talented designer “Scott Baker” has sold this funny Pac-
Man to Microsoft
The slash on the ‘O’ of Microsoft logo is the half part of a triangle “simple 2D
presentation of a micro pyramide ” the ultime symbole of the Illuminati secret
society “also present on the one dollr bille as the great seal of the united
states of america”. see the logo of Microsoft and find it by your self
exemple of logos with the same triangle “pyramide” : CAT ERRPILLAR, SEB, Marlboro,
BASS, AOL, Airwalk, FEMA seal, Fidelity, Suunto…
Quan Nguyen
It seems to me that logo works with it’s simple. “Keep it simple stupid.” Great blog!
Dave moose
If you get a chance, take a look into the history of Unisys. They go back quite a way in the various names, companies that merged to form the 2 founding companies of Unisys – Sperry and Boroughs.
Rob
For the entry on Nortel, you may want to add the 1998-2003 incarnation “Nortel Networks” which started with the acquisition of Bay Networks in 1997 and ended in a litany of stock woes and accounting scandals six years later.
Kirsten Wright
After looking through the changes, I think that all of the newest ones look the best (mostly because they are the cleanest, and easiest on your eyes). However, the 2003 Palm logo is much better than the newest one. They definitely stepped backwards while trying to move ahead…
???????????? ??????-????
Canon and Moto logos aren’t getting older. And that’s right. Company makes logo, not vise versa.
Buttons by Billy
Neat post. I spent quite a bit of time studying the logos that you provided. Thanks!
Digital Revolutions
Neat article. It is very interesting to see this type of progression, and the absolutely horrible (by today’s standards) logos from the past.
Joshua Goodwin
I seem to remember coming across a version of the IBM logo with the I and B replaced by a picture of an eye and a bee. See http://www.flickr.com/photos/pp33pp22/524612700/
Jim
I always thought the Apple logo was a biblical thing – Adam and Eve and the bite from the Apple of knowledge… Surely no coincidence?
Ricardo Braz
Joshua Goodwin, u’re right. IBM also has that logo.
It’s a funny logotype.
Mike009875
> In 1976, Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs (“the two Steves”) designed and built a homemade computer
That’s not at all true. Steve Wozniak is responsible for building every early Apple computer. Steve Jobs just went out and sold them. Jobs has never been a tech person. He’s basically just a salesman.
angrykeyboarder
Actually, the third time wasn’t quite the charm for Firefox.
The name is a registered trademark of the Charlton Company (see Help–>About in the menu).
Mozilla struck a deal with them.
raj
Wow! Good one there. Googled it and found this link. Thanks a Bunch to the author for such useful details…
Tim
Sweet – anyone here want to try making me a new set of 2008 logos for my site and my different ventures? Check out: http://timothysykes.com/
anonymouse graphic design professional
Great article. Unfortunately it’s all ruined by your use of the horrendous phrase “graphics designer”.
Gpxl
what designers think about Xerox new logo
Bob Wolf: Is there an apparent concept? Not to me. Is it distinctive and memorable? Not to me. Can I look at it and say ‘I wish I did that’? You know my answer to that one.
Michael Bierut: I wish I was dead.
Greg
Never knew the history behind the Apple logo – kind of morbid if you look at it, with all that stuff about giving a nod to the way the founder of computer science supposedly died (eating a cyanide laced apple).
live soccer commentary
I can still remember using Goldstar diskettes, if my memory serves me right. Did not realise that they were affiliated to the LG of today.
WhizKidz
Great article ….. it’s amazing how the logos have changed over the years.
Scratch
So – how long for the youtube logo to be included in this list. I’d love to see the analysis.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2339/2433565569_b7e06189c6_o.jpg
Scratch
Actually – I’m sure this is an ‘Earth Day’ logo change – but they didn’t mention it.
z-man
amazing that Canon’s 1956 logo has not only lasted until today, but still looks so fresh and so good: http://www.canon.com/
always thought that cut in current microsoft is so ill…
Nortel’s 1976 logo arguably looks more futuristic and “warp records” than their current version.
Palm just LOOKS like a cheap brand.
I thought Xerox went out of business? i guess the brand just exchanged hands and hoping for a re-birth…
but i think there is a big ass book which deals with this subject exclusively… forget what it’s called though. would be nice to have around for sure.
Márcia
Hi,
I´m looking for the TNT (channel) logo evolution. Can you help me?
Thanks
Márcia
Christopher
The post above about tapering stripes in the IBM logo isn’t right, but it’s close.
The stripes (aside from bringing “speed and dynamism”) were in part Paul Rand’s solution to a design problem.
The three letters I-B-M vary a lot in width, from left to right, and without the stripes, the logo looks unbalanced–too heavy on the right side. The stripes emphasize the I, because of the big serifs at top and bottom, and lighten the M, because the white areas remove some of its bulk. Very clever.
Wonen in Duitsland
I just read that yahoo and google are going to working togehter on serveral items.
Mobde3
good article about logo history! my best logo is an Apple Company.
thank you for your post.
Jobs In Pakistan
What I perceived from that excellent article is that the logos have become less artistic over the years. I guess everyone wants to simplify to make their logos easier to remember.
Diseño web
Good article. For me the second Adobe logo is better than the current.
Logo designer
Simplicity. The withstanding principle in the creation of logos
Darren Bebo
Simplicity works wonders I guess, good article, very interesting. Gotta say I like the middle apple logo the best very simple but rememberable, retro design also.
sierra
I think that IBm should go back to their logo from 1891..
It is WAY cooler that it is today..
Palm should stop changing their logo because it is coolest riht now and they will probably screw it up if they change it..
sierra
kybrfffdffndrfffboomhorrrgghgghhddhgghhjj
Nice Websyt,
i neva knew bout any of these logos
well done neatorama!
Driver Man
Wow! Good one there. Googled it and found this link. Thanks a Bunch to the author for such useful details…
SEO Professional
I think Google’s logo always great and they updating always according to any big event. like on new year it’s different than normal logo.
An Ex-Nortel Guy
On Nortel:
They went from “Northern Telecom” to “Nortel” initially, but were (as I heard the story) threatened with a lawsuit by a company called Ortel (a fiber optics company later acquired by Lucent–another subject for logo historians). So they added the “Networks” to the logo. This happened a few years before the Bay Networks (nee Synoptics) acquisition. Then sometime in the last few years, they went back to Nortel.
Not part of the logo story, but in the mid-90′s there was often confusion when reading tech headlines that referred to “NT”–Nortel’s stock symbol but more widely known as Microsoft’s then-latest OS.
DEDUCCION Diseño
EEEE en fin al dimencionar las marcas sibn duda la evolucion de lo simplsta y pregnante de las marcas
Saludos desde CHILE America Latina
Alejandro Ruiz Z.
Mimor
Wow,
I see these logo’s every day and I never even got to think about where they come from.
I’ve had some fun reading this article, and linked it on my blog.
It’s strange that some logo’s from those big company’s have such a simple but yet funny history.
Thanks for the enlightment!
bzyan
Pô da hora este artigo ein?:!,é muito legal ver a adaptaçao das empresas ao tempo e como a mídia da uma significaçao nova ao que é visual ditando,assim,um padrao que torna uma marca única em cada espaço temporal e só é reconhecida nele.
DataBank
This is a great reference to see the evolution of these top logos. Well done on the collection.
Monavie
The best logos need just small, incremental changes. Look at Nike, McDonalds and FedEx as examples.
Jonathan Cowles
To php captcha
The Windows logo is an interesting story, too bad it’s not mentioned here. I have seen it published that The I was the designer of the second windows logo the infamous digital flag. There was a previous version prior to 1990 by Art Director John Fortune but it was very different and involved a graduated fade from top to bottom inside a grid of 4 squares. This version always ‘flooded’ on press and a new design was commissioned in 1991 which is still the same one they use now withouot the black bars around the Green, Blue, Yellow and Red colors (PMS G 369, B 279, Y 123, R 172).
Technetium
Actually, in 1995, Northern Telecom simply became Nortel, celebrating 100 years in business. It didn’t change to Northern Telecom until 1998, around the same time they acquired Bay Networks.
I remember it, too. My dad was a mechanical engineer at one of the Santa Clara offices at the time.
inregistrare domenii
very interesting post, especially to see old versions )
Stella
This is great! Interesting facts indeed- the evolution of consumerism! Logos, logos, logos… all this emphasis on differentiation, but in my opinion a classic logo would attract more attention in the midst of all the modern ones. How interesting wouldn’t Apple’s (first) logo seem if put together with IBM and Microsoft’s blocky text? It’ll come back. Just like the skinny jeans and platform-heels, and (screaming silently); the mullet.
Anyways, I’m loving this. I’ve bookmarked it, so if ya ever find any more facts… don’t hesitate to put it up
hobby
keep it simple, that’s all about!
your product,your logo,your cash flow…
talking about Apple i would add here with: Keep It Thin!
Santa Maria
Hmmmm….
Nice research done on the history of logos.
I remember an old program called “LOGO” through which you can learn to create new logos using command line.
The first apple logo looks nice…. a good idea of “newton sitting under an apple tree” as a logo.
Logo Creation
its nice to know that they have all te history of all Logo Creation like in conversionbay.
zouhair saab
firefox logois meaningful&profound,nice to look at,simple,not scrachy to the eye yet great like its engine
John the blogger
Canon 1934 was really cool. Why dont they make logos like that any more?
Logotipo
Very interesting blog….nice text an good informations…
Thanks
Fred from Brazil
just a thought
is this page the original or a near copy of
http://www.instantshift.com/2009/01/29/20-corporate-brand-logo-evoluti on/
???
Zanuha
“The word “Nokia” in Finnish, by the way, means a dark, furry animal we now call the Pine Marten weasel.”
Actually, it doesn’t. Nokia is a town in Finland.
I should know, being a native finnish speaker.
Good article though, would have been better without disinformation with no facts to back it up.”
forgot your history classes? nokia used to mean a place where you can buy these weasel skins. and yes, i am finnish too.
ray jacobs
When I was asked to update the CBS Network logo in the 80′s, I went through the very same due diligence. When I presented to CBS, I only updated the typeface. The eye remained the way it had been since William Goldman designed it. I worked with Lou Dorfsman for many years as an outside consultant. If you look in the index of his book, Dorfsman on CBS, I’m very proud to say you’ll find my name there, along with my ex-partner, Stefan Gerber, and Bob Klein, a pioneer in broadcast advertising and promotion, who was my partner at Klein &. Stefan and I formed another pioneering entertainment agency, Jacobs & Gerber,Inc.
perry
Fast turnaround delivery with high quality products and only $3 for 1000 stitches
jessica
firefox logois meaningful&profound,nice to look at,simple, resimler not scrachy to the eye yet great like its engine
Digital Graphics
I’m new in the internet business field. I’m skilled in the graphics side, but I need info to learn about this business. I was going through your post and got a few pointers.
Yacht rental
my teacher did the same thing with me in third grade.
It was a pretty neat experiment. Everything went as planned. Something I won’t forget.
Alquiler de yates
I’m skilled in the graphics side, but I need info to learn about this business. I was going through your post and got a few pointers.
goletas
Your old logo was fine. Whoever told you you should change it probably has shares in whatever printing company you jobbed out the changeover to.
Thanks,
rids
very informative information but y dont you also list about more companies like Sony ericcson and many more????
Loretta
Great information. Thanks for the post. That was a spectacular article, need more great work like this out there.
Sergey
Look here, greatest archive of trademark evolution! http://bigadvenc.ru/evolution
dumas
Sir… can i take your this articel and i put in my blog. tks for ur permission…
brandthropologist
New term to describe this process: “Brandthropology.” There’s a game about brand’s evolution at http://www.brandthropology.com/domestic/game
Logo
Extremely educational article!
Google logo is chief & good to give the impression of being at, simple and easy to search.
Google is one of the best search engine as well as best search engine logo, Nice. It is American Public Corporation and providing some free service like free advertising, free Internet search, free e-mail, free online mapping, free office productivity, free social networking, and free video sharing and around 19,700 employees working right now. Click here http://www.companylogos.ws/googlelogo.html
We are glad to see this post, great services by Google and best logo as well in search engine world.
seks izle
my teacher did the same thing with me in third grade.
It was a pretty neat experiment. Everything went as planned. Something I won’t forget.
Optimum
Very very nice and important tools for translation.
many thanks to the creator of this site.
By Optimum.
brandfantom
Microsoft shoud have stay with there original 1975 logo. That typeface is so uniqe and strong. I just think there new logo just shows why they’ll aventuly be taken over by Mac or Googles.
CantonaX
This is such a useful post.Thank you very much for the information.
Real Estate
wow! its nice to know that they have all te history of all Logo Creation like in conversionbay. thanks
BalonStar
Of course the change logo has a lot to do with their business. Making themselves like new.
Bill
Interesting Posts, I like the ecolution…keep updating this topic, I would love to see more.. thanks
Mark Ballantyne
Great article – I love historical pieces on logo design and their evolution.
kidlazy
That was an interested read!!Cant believe Nokia Having making phones for so long
46 Inch HDTV
wow! That’s very interesting to know the history. The first logo of nokia is so funny.
Thai Social Bookmark
Great information. Thanks for the post. I think the Nokia original logo is the worst.
thaidigg
The first apple logo looks nice…;)
I think Google’s logo always great and they updating always according to any big event. like on new year it’s different than normal logo.
dofollow
Nice Website,
I hv never knew about any of these logos
Well done!!
YorTz
Great article. Unfortunately it’s all ruined by your use of the horrendous phrase “graphics designer”.
Felixx
Really great and nice find! The old Firefox logo is like a fire duck, not a fire bird. LoL
Jenny Lee
The company’s logo is always part of the branding of the company.
With these examples, it reflects the growth and changes that the company goes through over time. Perfect example is IBM. And Canon, who would ever thought their name used to Kwanon?
diseño web mallorca
Good retro post. But the best diference is the quality of images.
hothit
For the first impression of the customer, i think, they will be remember the logo. Some time the logo will reate with the horoscope.
Raj Abhyanker
Seeing old logos of companies here is interesting, but not really fully complete. I am
leading a new venture that I think readers of Neatorama might be interested in. The
site launched recently on Monday September 14, 2009, and has been
featured on TechCrunch (see:
http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/09/27/from-the-tc50-demopit-trademarkia -tm-simplifies-trademark-search/)
and more than 3000 blogs in the past two weeks.
Trademarkia (www.trademarkia.com) has built the first and largest library of 5.7 million
logos, names, and slogans anywhere on the Internet by leveraging public information. There are a lot more old logos to see on Trademarkia.
ndesigns
Great post your research is very interesting! thanks for sharing.
Crystal
Wow that was an awesome post! I love how the Google logo really hasn’t changed all that much but looks so good now!
However, I think the Palm Pilot people just have kept to the second logo!
Paul with portable water purifier
cool post.. thank you for sharing it.. now i know the logo evolution of the greatest companies in the planet..
World
Great information.
I think the Nokia original logo is the worst.
Thanks Alex, I really enjoyed this little history lesson!
Alquiler de Yates en Ibiza
I really like the development of the microsoft logo, looks great. Nice, thx for publishing.
Greats – Amoyachts
izdelava spletnih strani
Some logo’s are really quite opposite of the original idea. I guess if the biggest companies can afford to completely change its logo, minor companies can also do it. Must break this idea to my boss.
Luke Southwell
The evolution of the logos of the different companies is like telling a story. It is so creative, it can capture the attention of the people.
Raffaele Fontanella
Ciao.
I have published a book “The way logos change” in 2003 written in italian and english; it is about restyling of 60 italian best known logos. Editor is Ikon Editrice of Milan.
John Foy
Great post and lots of information but you really missed the Intuit logo!
Logo Design Monster
I had not seen the early Canon logo designs before so this was really interesting to see but the Apple logo has to be one of the most radical of all the changes. Thank you for sharing these.
Mohammad Danish
This is really nice post i have also use design this is post with more brands
http://almubdi.com/blog/2010/02/corporate-bran…o-evolution-ii/
Steve Todd
Best logo ever?
American Broadcasting Corporation’s. Yes, it’s one of Paul Rand’s designs, and it’s persisted since 1961. It’s gorgeous in its minimalism and wonderful repetition and balance of circular forms.
Rand’s design for IBM — still used today — is 5 years older than the ABC logo, but I’ve never liked it as much as I do ABC’s.
Alquiler de yates en Ibiza
I´m Marc There was a time when bold logos were in now a days simple logo is the name of the game.
Alquiler de yates en Ibiza
When bold logos were in now a days simple logo is the name of the game.
Subhendu Pattnaik
Wow!! Nice compilation and more than that.. It felt great counting the comments!! So I am the 339th one!
su.wei
anon
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Java
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Smou
hyperizer
Lio
JM
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a
Demetri
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Johnny
Muki Funpan
Navegante
Bubba!
