“Behind every successful brand there is a logo designer”.

1. Saul Bass

SAUL BASS (1920-1996) was a renowned graphic designer of the 20th century. He was well known for designing film titles. His corporate logo designing included very successful brand identities like Bell Telephone System Communications, United Airlines, AT&T, Minolta, and Warner.

2. Paul Rand

Paul Rand (1914–1996) was an eminent graphic designer of American origin. He was best recognized for his famous corporate logo designs. Some of his corporate identities include the logo designs for ABC, IBM and UPS.  

3. Alan Fletcher

Alan Gerard Fletcher (1931- 2006) was a British graphic designer. The Daily Telegraph described him as "the most highly regarded graphic designer of his generation, and probably one of the most prolific". Some of his corporate work that is known to many is the logo for Reuters in 1965, comprising of 84 dots. His "V&A" logo for Victoria and Albert Museum, designed in 1989 his "IoD" logo for the Institute of Directors are still in use today.  

4. Sagi Haviv

Sagi Haviv, who is a partner at Chermayeff & Geismar, is a 34 year old designer. Among his various corporate identity projects are the logo designs for the National Parks of New York Harbor, Radio Free Europe, Library of Congress, and the famous fashion brand Armani Exchange.  

5. Walter Landor

Walter Landor (1913-1995) was a German graphic designer belonging to Munich. Landor was most popular for his creative Fedex logo design. The meticulous use of negative space ‘arrow’ was a brilliant masterpiece of Landor. His FedEx logo design is considered as one of the best logo designs in the world.  

6. Herb Lubalin

Herbert F. Lubalin (1918 –1981) was a famous graphic designer of USA. Herb’s most prominent logo designs are the Marriage logo created in 1965 and the Families logo designed in 1980.

7. Chermayeff & Geismar:

Ivan Chermayeff and Tom Geismar were two students at Yale in the mid 1950s. Chermayeff & Geismar Inc are the creators of numerous famous trademarks and corporate identities. Some of the most prestigious of their works is for large corporations such as Mobil, Time Warner, Viacom, and Xerox.  

8. Wally Olins

Wikipedia claims Wally Olins to be recognized as the world’s most experienced practitioner of corporate identity and branding. Wally was nominated for the Prince Philip Designers Prize in 1999 and received the Royal Society of Arts’ Bicentenary Medal for his tireless efforts in the design industry.  

9. Gerard Huerta

Gerard Huerta is a designer with one of the most versatile design portfolio. Not many graphic designers get the opportunity to apply their design skills in such vast areas as Gerard Huerta has done. His famous corporate logo designs include Swiss Army Brands, Calvin Klein’s Eternity, MSG Network, CBS Records Masterworks logo, The Atlantic Monthly and PC Magazine.  

10. Raymond Loewy

Raymond Loewy (1893 – 1986) is recognized as one of the best industrial designers of the 20th century. The 1971 Shell logo, which is still used today, was designed by Loewy. He also created old logos for British Petroleum (Shield logo) and Exxon.

As a student of design theory, typography, and art history, Rand offered organizations a deeper branding solution. Logical and witty designs allowed Rand to express a company’s image in a manner that made sense. New trends seem to be moving farther away from these practices however. Designs are no longer so strongly based on simplicity and logic, but often feature the personality of the company in which they represent.

Young entrepreneurs and organizations have begun to focus on the ever growing and prominent youth market. The teen generations of today are a far greater consumer group than that of the past. Clothing, jewelry, and video games are no longer just presents, but regular purchases for youthful buyers. This emphasis on reaching a more sporadic and random group of people has changed some branding strategies.

This change comes in the form of new and edgy styles that will catch the eye of this already over stimulated generation. With the amount of media young adults are exposed to daily, companies need more than just a logical pattern or clean color scheme to reach them. The logos of today are increasingly complicated and colorful.

Some say this is just a popular trend that in time will pass. Even Paul Rand went through a period of more elaborate logos that challenged design standards. But it is hard to imagine that the youth market will eventually be less stimulated than it is today. What will companies be forced to do to stand out in the future? Which do you like, “old school” simple and logical designs, or the ever increasing number of “new school” edgy graphics?

Old School

New School