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We are well accquainted with world famous brands and their renowned logo designs but some interesting facts about these brands/logos are not known. Being at the pinnacle of the corporate world, we continuosly get to read the bizzare history of these famous logo designs. However, their past holds some amazing facts that you will be surprised to learn.
Today, I share the unknown tales about the most recognized corporate logos of the modern world.
These brands have faced the test of times to reach where they are at present. Their story revolves around some astonishing realities that most of us never heed.
So go ahead and start reading the unbelievable truths about these famous brands: |
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1) Nike – From Cheap to Famous:
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| The all famous logo design “Nike Swoosh”, the basis of a multi-million dollar empire, was created for a paltry $35. Amazingly, the brainchild behind this renowned logo design was a graphic design student at Portland State University, Carolyn Davidson. Previously named Blue |
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| Ribbon Sports, David was asked by his teacher to do some work for the company. Due to a deadline on his head, his Swoosh was accepted in desperation |
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2) DreamWorks SKG – The Mysterious Kid:
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| The well-acclaimed Hollywood studio was established in 1994 by Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg, and David Geffen (SKG). Its logo design has a very interesting tale. Initially, the project was assigned to a company named Industrial Light and Magic with an idea of a man fishing on the moon. But Dennis Muren, the Visual Effects Supervisor, suggested a handmade logo would look better. For this purpose Robert Hunt was hired who came |
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| up with the present historical logo, featuring his own son, William. This logo design became the face of DreamWorks SKG. |
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3) Coca-Cola – The Drug turned Cola:
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| Ever thought the beverage you love the most was first sold as a drug? That’s the case of Coca Cola. The Billion dollar company was originated by John Pemberton as a drugstore in 1885. He introduced a drug called French Wine Coca, which was targeted for people with extreme mental exertion. But then the tables turned for Coca Cola in 1886 when the prohibition law was passed banning alcohol. Hence Coca Cola, a non-alcoholic version of |
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| French Wine Coca was introduced to suffice the prohibition laws. That is how a world renowned beverage “Coca-Cola” came into existence. |
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4) Hugo Boss – Nazi sponsor:
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| Hugo Boss, the well-acclaimed fashion designer brand, began as a clothing company in 1924 in Metzingen. However, due to the adverse financial conditions in Germany, Boss went into bankruptcy in 1930. But this did not stop Hugo as he set up a new business and in 1931 became an active member of the Nazi party. With the arrival of Adolf Hitler in 1933, Hugo Boss’s fortunes began to flourish as he became an official supplier of all German uniforms. The all-black uniform of the Nazi Schutzstaffel(SS), was jointly designed by Prof. Dr. Karl Diebitsch and graphic designer Walter Heck. Hugo Boss also produced the brown SA shirts and the black |
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| -and-brown uniforms of the Hitler Youth. After the Nazi regime was trounced in 1945, Boss was indicted for Nazism and use of forced labor and was ordered to pay a fine. He died in 1948 but his business survived and grew into what is now the pioneer in fashion designing. |
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5) Marlboro Cigarettes – For Females Smokers:
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| Marlboro cigarette, known for its “manly” orientation, began as a female brand cigarette. The campaign was targeted to female smokers and the brand was projected as a mild cigarette. But these efforts failed and finally the brand was taken off the market. Then in the 1950’s, Marlboro was re-introduced as a filtered cigarette, an attempt to win over the health conscious audience and also claimed to be a men cigarette brand. The official symbol used was the “tattooed man”. This gave way for Marlboro to grow into most popular cigarette brand. |
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6) Sharp – Aftermath of an Earthquake:
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| No one could have imagined that an earthquake could result in the formation of a world class electronics corporation. Tokuji Hayakawa owned a metal workshop in Tokyo in 1912 where he invented a mechanical pencil called “Ever-Ready Sharp”. Gradually as things were starting to look good for Hayakawa, the Great Kanto Earthquake hit Tokyo in 1923. That destroyed Kayakawa’s workshop. With nothing left, the pencil inventor sold his patent and moved to Osaka where he tried out something new. This is when Kayakawa turned |
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| his pencil making business into an electronics business. So now we know that there was never a person named Sharp. It was just the pencils that the multi-million dollar corporation was named after. |
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7) Siemens – Facilitated Hitler Propaganda:
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| Siemens, the Germany based conglomerate, is the leading engineering corporation. Although the company is famous worldwide, but it has a notorious past that many of you might not have heard of. Prior to the start of World War II, Siemens was involved in financially supporting the Nazi Party. During the Second World War, Siemens supported the Hitler regime, and played a part |
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| in spreading the "Nazi" doctrine. Siemens owned many factories near the infamous concentration camps and built electric switches for military uses. The Siemens logo can still be seen on the gas chambers at Buchenwald camp. |
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I am sure these are just some of the many brands that have a curious tale. If you happen to know any interesting and peculiar facts related to other famous brands, do come and share with us.
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April 21st, 2010 at 12:10 pm
wait, only the first two of these are actually stories behind the logos… the rest are just bits of trivia from the early days of the company… in fact, a bunch of these aren’t even famous logo designs at all (the companies are more famous than the logos).
April 21st, 2010 at 4:08 pm
I’m not quite sure how I feel about the post showing not one but 2 German companies that, during their history, supported the Nazis. You could say the same for IBM who designed cataloging system for the Nazis which used them to track and catalog Jews in ghettos and ultimately concentration camps, or you could talk about Henry Ford’s famous antisemitism.
I’m not saying you had an agenda in this post, but 2 of the 7 are “these guys supported the Nazis” sort of leans that direction, if you see what I mean.
Regardless, this was a fascinating post!
April 21st, 2010 at 8:13 pm
I think you meant to say:
Davidson was asked by her teacher, Phil Knight, to do some work for the company.