The Invention of Logo

History has witnessed a world of famous logos. Some of the logos are so famous that they will be always remembered. This process of highlighting business image is not new. It has been practiced for ages.

The word logo means a name, symbol or trademark, which is designed for easy recognition. It all started with a cipher consisting of a single letter, and later a design or mark consisting of two or more letter intertwined.

Greece is a country of symbols. It is famous for its mythical symbols that war used to describe the history and lives of pharaohs and his decuples. Archeological survey shows that many early Greek and roman coins bear the monograms or logos of rulers. The most famous imprint on the coin is the sacred monogram, which is formed by the conjunction of the first two Greek letters of XR, S, T, O and S, (Christ). Even the hub ages were enormously productive in inventing cipher for religious, creative, and marketable use.

It was in the thirteenth century traders started using designs, which evolve from plain cipher to trademark for trader and merchants. Some of the premature exemplar of logo design are goldsmith’s marks, masons marks, watermarks. Logos were created according to the jobs.

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I've done researches on some of the most popular logos (for me) and their history.

McDonald's
Who would not know this very popular logo? This is one favorite amongst a list of known restaurants.

The McDonald's Golden Arches logo was introduced in 1962. It was created by Jim Schindler to resemble new arch shaped signs on the sides of the restaurants. He merged the two golden arches together to form the famous 'M' now recognized throughout the world. Schindler's work was a development of the stylized 'v' logo sketched by Fred Turner, which was conceived as a more stylish corporate symbol than the Speedee chef character that had previously been used. The McDonald's name was added to the logo in 1968. [source]


Nike
Simple, Fluid and Fast. These are the words used to describe the “Swoosh” in the Nike logo that has become one of the most recognized symbols in the world. The first Nike logo was designed by Carolyn Davidson in 1971 for just $35. Phil Knight, founder of Blue Ribbon Sports, Inc., hired Davidson to design a logo for a shoe stripe. Though the design did not enthrall Knight due to time constraints, the Nike ‘Swoosh’ logo was selected.

The Nike SWOOSH logo represents the wing in the famous statue of the Greek Goddess of victory, Nike, who was the source of inspiration for many great and courageous warriors. According to legends, a Greek would say, "When we go to battle and win, we say it is Nike."

Originally, the mark was referred to as ‘the strip’ but was later changed to ‘Swoosh’ to describe the fibers used in Nike shoes. In the spring of 1972, the first shoe with the Nike SWOOSH Logo was introduced. Later, the Nike logo got registered as a trademark in 1995 and has become the corporate identity of Nike Inc. Apart from that, the Nike logo has been a sole contributor in the overall success of the brand. [source]


Adidas
History of the Adidas logo started in 1972.

New logo was represented in 1994. [source]

Adidas was founded in 1924 in Germany by two bothers Adi and Rudolf Dassler. The company was first named Dassler shoes and later became Adidas. By the Dassler shoes being seen in the Olympics this really helped the company get it’s name known. However, in 1948 Rudolf Dassler leaves to start his own company which is now known as Puma. Once Rudolf left his brother came up with the famous three stripes logo and changed the name to Adidas.The 3 stripes were created to keep the foot stable, but ended up being the logo. Throughout the years Adidas was seen in the Olympics, and it was the leading brand making their shoes highly sought after by Olympic athletes. In 1978, Adi Dassler passed at age 78 and his wife Kathe ran the company. Six years later Kathe passed and the company was left for their son Horst Dassler to run, and three years later Horst passed at age 51. After Horst’s death Adidas ran into some major financial problems, and later Bernard Tapie comes to make an attempt to save the company. [source]


Starbucks
Starbucks Corporation is a coffeehouse chain based in the United States. Named after a character in the novel Moby Dick, it is the largest coffeehouse company in the world, with 7521 self-operated and 5647 licensed stores in 39 countries. The current company logo, modeled after a 15th century Norse woodcut, is a mixoparthenos, or "twin-tailed mermaid, or siren as she's known in Greek mythology. The company and the logo have an interesting history.



Starbucks was founded in Seattle, Washington, in 1971 as a local coffee bean roaster and retailer called Starbucks Coffee, Tea and Spices. Howard Schultz joined the company in 1982 and was inspired on a trip to Italy to develop a similar espresso bar and coffeehouse culture in the United States. To advance the concept, he founded the company Il Giornale three years later. In 1987, Schultz purchased Starbucks, merged it with Il Giornale, and renamed the company Starbucks Corporation. The logo on the left is that of the Il Giornale company. As you can see, the Il Giornale logo is somewhat similar to Starbucks logo i.e being circular and having a band.


The original logo, as seen on the left, the Starbucks siren was topless and had a fully-visible double fish tail. The original logo has raised some controvery because of the bare chest, but the logo continues to appear on some of the products like the Starbucks Anniversary Blend 1 lb coffee bags. Both the original logos seem to be perfect on wooden crates.


In the second version, her chest was covered by her flowing hair, but her navel was still visible, and the fish tail was cropped slightly. The logo also inherited the stars from the Il Giornale logo.



In the current version, her navel and chest are not visible at all, and only vestiges remain of the fish tails.

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