The Volkswagen Logo: The Story Behind the VW Badge
The Volkswagen badge is a V stacked on a W inside a circle, and it has been that since the 1930s. It has been cleaned, chromed and flattened, but it has never been replaced.
A journal of iconic marks
Where logos tell stories
The history, design choices and meaning behind the world’s most famous logos, plus ideas for designing your own.
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The Adidas Logo: How Three Stripes Became a Global Brand
Adidas started with stripes that had a job. Adi Dassler stitched leather bands along the sides of his running shoes to hold the foot steady, and only later did anyone think of them as a logo.
The PlayStation Logo: History, Design and Influence
The PlayStation logo was drawn in 1994 by Manabu Sakamoto, for a company that made televisions and Walkmans and had never sold a games console. His answer was two letters, a P and an S, arranged so they seem to stand in three-dimensional space, which was exactly what the console was promising to do with games.
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The Versace Logo: Medusa, Gold and Greek Keys
Most luxury houses sign their goods with initials. Versace chose the face of a monster from Greek myth, the Medusa, whose gaze turned men to stone. It is one of the strangest logos in fashion and one of the most effective.
The Jeep Logo: How a Plain Wordmark Became an Icon
The Jeep logo has no animal, no crest and no shield. It is four letters in a sturdy sans-serif, and it has carried one of the best-known names in the car business since the vehicle came out of World War II.
The American Express Logo: Blue Box, Centurion and History
American Express started in 1850 as a freight company, hauling goods across the American West, and its first logo looked like it: a bold, plain “American Express Co.” with nothing to suggest luxury. The blue box and the Roman Centurion came much later, once the business had moved from shipping parcels to traveler’s checks and charge cards.
The Bacardi Logo: How a Bat Became a Rum Brand
Bacardi’s bat goes back to 1862, when Don Facundo Bacardí Massó found a colony of fruit bats roosting in the rafters of his Cuban distillery and decided they were a good omen. More than 160 years later, the same animal still sits above the name on every bottle.
The Baskin Robbins Logo and Its Hidden 31
Look at the pink parts of the Baskin Robbins “BR” and you will find a 31, the number of flavors the founders promised, one for every day of the month. That small trick has done more for the brand than any color change.
The Manchester United Logo: How the Red Devil Got on the Crest
The devil on Manchester United’s crest is borrowed from a rugby league team. Salford’s players were nicknamed the Red Devils, United took the name, and by the 1970s a pitchfork-carrying imp sat in the middle of the club’s red, gold and black shield.
The Uniqlo Logo: History and Design of the Red Square
Uniqlo’s logo is two red squares, one with the name in Japanese katakana and one in Roman letters, and it is close to the plainest mark any big fashion brand uses. That plainness is the whole strategy.
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