A Logo's Life: Histories of Major Logos

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03Aug

A Logo’s Life: Histories of Major Logos

With time, things naturally progress and the same applies to logos. A company’s logo is its visual identity, but if it has had the same design for years, a logo design can become outdated. Recreating a company logo can sometimes mean re-evaluating the values of the company and assessing the market and current situations going on in the world. A logo can go through many changes during the life of the company it represents, especially if it is a major company that has been in existence for a long time. Here are some great examples of the changing life of logos.

Paramount

Warner Brothers

MGM

Paramount, Warner Brothers and MGM are a few of the larger, more successful film studios and have been around for a long period of time. As you can see, they have also experienced many logo changes throughout their progression. Since the ability to create better graphics is always advancing, film studios, especially, need to keep up with it. Better graphics in their logo can give the impression that there are better graphics in the film and draw a bigger audience. It’s always about selling and the better you sell your company, the better you will sell your product. Sometimes its the little things that make a bigger difference.

Google

It seems that originally, Google had an exclamation point at the end of their logo, much like Yahoo!. It looks like they did away with it in 1999, which is a wise decision for them in my opinion. It is important to stand out among the competition and steer away from similar ideas. No matter who had it first, someone has to break down and give in. It looks like Google was the one to do so, but they became more successful, so it worked out for them in the end.

Motel 6

Apple

NBC

Pepsi

Pepsi has been through many identity changes over the years. For larger companies, it is easier for them to put forth the money for changing branding strategies. Pepsi has definitely kept up with its competition and its newest logo has stirred up so much controversy, that is seems to have skyrocketed them right into the spotlight.

Cadillac

BMW

Car companies also go through a lot of identity changes. BMW seems to have stayed fairly similar, but just made simple updates over the years. Nothing is wrong with that as long as the logo is still suited for the times and the nature of the business. Logo updates are one great way for a business to tell the world that they keep themselves fresh and always have new products or ideas to offer the public. Visual representation is a major way to sell your business and keeping your logo strong is just as important as selling your product.

-Nora Reed

Tags: design past, historic, informative, logo designs, logo history, logo progression