Most Iconic Brand Logos of All Time
The visual identity of a logo can make or break a brand in the eyes of a discerning consumer. Throughout a single company’s history, various logos serve as indicators of values, loyalty, and togetherness.
Oftentimes, a logo signifies the presence of a product or movement we know all too while. When you see a McDonald’s golden arch, you think of big macs and french fries. When you see the BMW logo, you think of a slick car. When you see the Google logo, you think of searching for answers online. Beyond that, though, seeing a logo triggers how you feel about a company and what they provide.
It wasn’t easy, but we picked what we believe are The 50 Most Iconic Brand Logos and have provided histories for each. In some cases, the designer is undisclosed, and in other cases, there are multiple designers and founders. For some, we couldn’t include every single logo they’ve had throughout their existence, but we gave highlights. Nuances aside, the history of your favorite brand’s logo is an adventure in a much greater visual history that we are all involuntarily a part of. Enjoy.
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50. Goodyear
50. Goodyear
Year Company Founded: 1898
Year Logo Introduced: 1901
Logo Designer: Undisclosed
Company Founder: Frank Seiberling
In 1900, the Wingfoot symbol for the Goodyear company was chosen after the founder, Frank Seiberling, was inspired by a statue of the Greek god, Hermes. The idea of speed had a lot to do with Goodyear’s selection of the symbol, as well as the embodiment of many of the characteristics that Goodwill would be known for. The logo remains the same throughout the years, with the occasional color or font change.
49. Mastercard
49. Mastercard
Year Company Founded: 1966
Year Logo Introduced: 1966
Logo Designer: Future Brand (2005)
Company Founders: United California Bank, Wells Fargo, Crocker National Bank, Bank of California
Born in 1966 as Master Charge, the first MasterCard logo featured a logotype of “We Honor Master Charge: The Interbank Card” layered over two overlapping circles, one bright orange and the other a burnt orange. In 1979, Master Charge: the Interbank Card was renamed MasterCard, and the change was accompanied by a new logo for the company that featured brighter colors and a bolder logotype. In 1996, the logo was redesigned into the now iconic logo, which features a 3D logotype. The overlaying circles are depicted through stripes of each color rather than a third orange color.
48. Michelin
48. Michelin
Year Company Founded: 1888
Year Logo Introduced: 1888
Logo Designer: Undisclosed
Company Founders: Edouard and Andre Michelin
The logo for the Michelin company has always been the Michelin tire man, who’s shape, level of intensity, and size originated from the company’s early days. The tire man was inspired by a pile of tires that Édouard Michelin imagined to be a man when they were attending the Lyon Universal Exhibition. In 1989, the Michelin man was created by O’Galop.
47. Mobil
47. Mobil
Year Company Founded: 1911
Year Logo Introduced: 1911
Logo Designer: Chermayeff & Geismar (1965)
Company Founder: Vacuum Oil
Mobil Oil company began in 1911 but has roots in several oil companies that preceded it, such as Aladdin Standard Oil Co. and Gargoyle, a Mobil product line of lubricants for industrial refrigeration systems. In 1911, the pegasus was introduced with the founding of the company and has been modified slightly over time, until 1964, when Mobil simplified the logo to only include the company name with the signature red “O.”
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46. Volvo
46. Volvo
Year Company Founded: 1927
Year Logo Introduced: 1927
Logo Designer: Karl-Erik Forsberg (1950)
Company Founders: Assar Gabrielsson, Gustaf Larson
When Volvo was reactivated by financial backer Svenska Kullagerfabriken in 1927, the company adopted the ancient chemical symbol for iron—a circle with an arrow pointing diagonally upwards to the right. The logotype was updated in 1959 by Karl-Erik Forsberg and is the same logo used today.
45. Target
45. Target
Year Company Founded: 1902
Year Logo Introduced: 1962
Logo Designer: Undisclosed
Company Founder: George Dayton
The logo for Target has always been a red target, but when the store was just a small retail store in Minneapolis, the design was a bit more pronounced. The iconic red target logo is recognized almost everywhere, but in the earlier days of the brand, it had a bolded black “Target” across the entirely of the circle, to create a distinctive image in customers’ minds. The next logo introduced in 1980 consisted of a single ring and inner core, still in red, and the design on stores today is basically the same, with the retail chain’s name under it.
44. Fisher-Price
44. Fisher-Price
Year Company Founded: 1930
Year Logo Introduced: 1931
Logo Designer: Undisclosed
Company Founders: Herman Guy Fisher, Irving R. Price, Margaret Evans Price, Helen M. Schelle
Fisher-Price was founded in 1930 following a successful reception to their products at the American International Toy Fair in 1931. The first logo, which had text within an orange box with the company’s location, was used until 1955. In 1956, The FP was added (Fisher Price Toys shortened to Fisher Price), and the FP lasted until 1984, when the full name was brought back inside of a red banner.
43. Bayer
43. Bayer
Year Company Founded: 1863
Year Logo Introduced: 1881
Logo Designer: Hans Schneider (1904)
Company Founders: Friedrich Bayer, Johann Friedrich Weskott
With humble beginnings as a company manufacturing synthetic dyestuffs, Bayer did not develop a logo until 1881 when it became a joint stock company with greater distribution. The first Bayer logo centered around an illustration of a lion and was based off of the coat of arms of Elberfeld, the city where the company was headquartered at the time. After a series of revisionings from 1886 to 1895, the Bayer logo became an intricate drawing of a winged lion half-perched on a globe. However, after Bayer’s invention of synthetically-produced aspirin, and the introduction of the “drug of the century” onto the world market in 1899, Bayer had to simplify its logo in order to achieve recognizability around the world. Thus, in 1904, Bayer introduced the now iconic “Bayer Cross” logo. Designed by a Bayer employee, Hans Schneider, the logo of “Bayer” was written horizontally and vertically with an intersection at the “Y.” Initially, the logo was only imprinted on the aspirin tablets produced by the company, rather than being used in marketing or packaging, but it remains in use to this day and is still a key element in the brand’s image.
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42. 3M
42. 3M
Year Company Founded: 1902
Year Logo Introduced: 1906
Logo Designer: Gerald Stahl & Associates (1961), Siegel &Gale (1978)
Company Founders: Henry S. Bryan, Harmon W. Cable, John Dawn, William A. McGonagle, J. Danley Budd
The first 3M logo was introduced in 1906, and it featured a black diamond shape inside two rings. The outer band read “Minnesota Mining and MFG Co.” while the black diamond shape had “3M co” written diagonally and horizontally. The next evolution of the 3M logo occured in 1950, when it was reduced to a logotype of “3M Company.” The 1950 design kept the black-on-white design and the circular outline around the brand name, but this logo was much more distinctive and pushed the 3M brand name as the focus.
In 1961, 3M hired Gerald Stahl Associates to modernize their logo. The lettering became more angular, a common approach to modernization, but the company moved away from the black to a light blue. The brand name stayed distinctive, but the design was updated. In 1978, 3M introduced the red bold logo which remains in use to this day. “Company” was removed, and only “3M” remained to represent the brand. Developed by Siegel & Gale, the 1978 design is the most distinctive, with no elements distracting from the brand which plays a part in the iconic nature of the logo.
41. AT&T
41. AT&T
Year Company Founded: 1877
Year Logo Introduced: 1889
Logo Designer: Saul Bass (1969, 1983), Interbrand (2005)
Company Founder: Gardiner Greene Hubbard
AT&T originated as the Bell Telephone Company in 1877, becoming American Telephone & Telegraph in 1885 after a number of mergers. Nonetheless, the telephone service covering the United States was known as the Bell system and was operated by a number of companies collectively known as the Bell Operating Companies. Thus, from 1889 to 1964, the AT&T logo incorporated an illustration of a bell. When the Bell system was broken up in 1983, the AT&T bell logo was replaced with an illustration of a layered globe by Saul Bass. The globe went through another transoformation in 2000 before becoming the current iconic 3D transparent globe with the accompanying lowercase “at&t” in 2005.
40. Audi
40. Audi
Year Company Founded: 1909
Year Logo Introduced: 1909
Logo Designer: Lucian Bernhard (1919), Prof. Arno Dresscher (1923), Meta Design (1994, 2009)
Company Founder: August Horch
Audi’s first logo was designed in the Art Nouveau style and has remained in use from the company’s foundation to 1919, when Lucian Bernhard re-invisioned the logo. Bernhard’s modern design went on to define the brand through 2009, when the company again updated the print of its name. The iconic four interlaced rings, which are now symbolic of Audi, did not come into existence until 1932, when Audi merges with DKW, Horch, and Wanderer to cut costs in reaction to the depression. The rings were meant to symbolize the unity of the companies, which also comprised the new Auto Union AG. In 1965, the company was rebranded under the name Audi, following an acquisition by the Volkswagen Group. Even though between 1978 and 1992 the rings were removed from the logo, they were still featured on the front grill of all Audi cars. For its centennial celebration in 2009, Audi redesigned its logotype for the first time in 90 years for a sleeker, more modern image.
39. Barbie
39. Barbie
Year Company Founded: 1959 (Barbie is a subset of Mattel, Inc. which was founded in 1945)
Year Logo Introduced: 1959
Logo Designer: Undisclosed
Company Founder: Ruth Handler
This is the doll that has sold over a billion units and continues to sell three units every second. Such success has brought the Barbie logo recognizability worldwide. The Barbie logo was introduced alongside the doll in March 1959 at the New York Toy Show and gets its name from Ruth Handler’s daughter, whose name is Barbara. Barbie was marketed as a “teenage fashion model,” filling in the gap of adult-aged dolls for kids. The bright pink Barbie logo has never strayed far from its original design, with only slight alterations to shading and shape in the past 50 years to adjust to trends. In 2009, Barbie returned to its original logo in celebration of its 50 year anniversary, adding a roundel incorporating the profile of Barbie with a ponytail.
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38. BMW
38. BMW
Year Company Founded: 1916
Year Logo Introduced: 1917
Logo Designer: Franz Josef Popp (1917)
Company Founder: Franz Josef Popp
Bayerische Motoren Werke GmbH (Bavarian Motor Works, aka BMW) came to be as a result of a merge between the aircraft engine manufacturer Gustav Flugmaschinenfabrik and Rapp-Motorenwerke in 1916. The iconic BMW roundel developed from a combination of the Rapp-Motor roundel, which featured a black silhouette of a horse and the Bovarian state flag, which has a characteristic checkered blue and white design. Thus, the BMW logo emerged as a roundel of a black circle enclosing white and blue quadrants. After World War I, following the Treaty of Versailles, BMW discontinued the production of aircraft engines and shifted to motorcycles and automobiles. The BMW roundel has not changed drastically since its first appearance in 1917, though the most defining alteration occured in 2000 when the design was reinvisioned to give a 3D effect to the logo.
37. Chiquita
37. Chiquita
Year Company Founded: 1899
Year Logo Introduced: 1944
Logo Designer: Dik Browne (1944)
Company Founders: Minor C. Keith, Boston Fruit Company
Miss Chiquita was introduced as the logo and mascot for the banana company in 1944 and was drawn by artist Dik Browne. In the early years, Miss Chiquita appeared on radio shows and made many guest appearances in movies, commercials, and even the Boston Pops Symphony Orchestra. The banana, Miss Chiquita, was changed into a woman with a fruit hat in 1987. The current logo features a rough rendering of the woman above the brand name on a blue seal.
36. Canon
36. Canon
Year Company Founded: 1937
Year Logo Introduced: 1934
Logo Designer: Undisclosed
Company Founders: Takeshi Mitarai, Goro Yoshida, Saburo Uchida, Takeo Maeda
The original logo for the Japanese camera company, Seiki Kogaku Kenyudho, was a rendering of the Buddhist goddess of mercy, Kannon, that was then simplified to a stylized text for the name of their first camera, Kwanon. After commercial success in 1935, the company began full-scale production and changed the brand name to Canon and decided to create a more modern logo. In 1956, the logo was redesigned to the one we all know today.
35. Dunkin’ Donuts
35. Dunkin’ Donuts
Year Company Founded: 1950
Year Logo Introduced: 1950
Logo Designer: Lucia N. DeRespinis, Sangren & Murtha (1980), Design Forum (2002)
Company Founder: William Rosenberg
The initial Dunkin’ Donuts logo was a script version of the company name, which held until 1955, when the doughnut man became a figure with a doughnut for a head holding a slice of pizza and wearing a coffee cup with the company name written on it. A new logo was introduced in 1960, featuring a text donut being dunked into a coffee cup, and one year later the coffee cup was removed and a circlular text logo was implemented. From 1970-1976, Dunkin’ combined the older coffee cup text logo and a simple text logo. In 1976, the modern-looking logo was created and has been used ever since, with slight color improvements over the years.
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34. FedEx
34. FedEx
Year Company Founded: 1973
Year Logo Introduced: 1973
Logo Designer: Richard Runyan (1973), Lindon Leader, Landor Associates (1994), Landor Associates (2000, 2006)
Company Founder: Fredrick W. Smith
In 1971, the FedEx logo was the full name of the company, “Federal Express,” in blue and red at a slant, meant to be intentionally patriotic and associate the company with the U.S. government. The initial logo helped FedEx become successful, and in 1994, the current logo was created. If you look closely at the space between the E and the X, you will notice a small arrow hidden in between, meant to symbolize FedEx’s speed and accuracy.
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33. GAP
33. Gap
Year Company Founded: 1969
Year Logo Introduced: 1969
Logo Designer: Laird & Partners (2010)
Company Founders: Donald Fisher, Doris Fisher
The original logo of the Gap was simply the name in text and was in use from 1969 and 1986. It was then switched to the iconic blue box. The Gap attempted a modern logo change in 2010, by adding a small blue box behind Helvetica text, causing outrage via social media. Gap eventually reverted back to the blue box logo.
32. HP
32. Hewlett-Packard Company (HP)
Year Company Founded: 1939
Year Logo Introduced: 1939
Logo Designer: Landor Associates (1999), Liquid Agency (2008)
Company Founders: Bill Hewlett, David Packard
The Hewlett-Packard logo was born in 1939 and remains virtually unchanged to this day. There was talk in 2011 of simplifying and modernizing the logo with angular lines placed at angles mirroring the “h” and “p,” but nothing came of it. So, to this day, Hewlett-Packard uses the rounded logotype of “h” and “p,” but maybe “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it;” there is a reason the logo became so iconic to begin with.
31. Intel
31. Intel
Year Company Founded: 1968
Year Logo Introduced: 1969
Logo Designer: Rober Noyce and Gordon Moore (1969), Future Brand (2005)
Company Founders: Gordon Moore, Robert Noyce
The first logo for Intel was created by founders Robert Noyce and Gordon Moore in 1968. The Intel logo shifted from the company name with a dropped “e” to the current logo comprised of a swoosh surrounding the company’s name with a “Leap Ahead” slogan.
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30. Kodak
30. Kodak
Year Company Founded: 1888
Year Logo Introduced: 1907
Logo Designer: Peter J. Oestrich (1971), Brand Integration Group,Ogily NY (2006)
Company Founder: George Eastman
The Kodak logo introduced in 1907 claims to be the first integration of a company’s name and look into a symbol. In 1935, Kodak unveiled a logo which features its now iconic red and yellow color scheme and a logotype of the brand name that went on to be used by the company until an image reinvention in 1987. In 1960, Kodak introduced the Corner Curl design, which was followed by the introduction of the Box K design in 1971. The 1971 design unveiled the now iconic “K” cut out from a rounded red square, with the brand name also cut out in yellow. With only a logotype update in 1987, the 1971 design essentially remained in use until 2006, when the company eliminated the sqaure altogether, leaving a rounded logotype of red on a white background.
29. LEGO
29. LEGO
Year Company Founded: 1932
Year Logo Introduced: 1934
Logo Designer: Undisclosed
Company Founder: Ole Kirk Christiansen
The 1932 logo was introduced simply as a logotype of “LEGO.” In 1946, the company paid homage to its hometown of Billund, Denmark, which also employed a simple logotype. In 1936, LEGO added color to its logo, representing the company’s name and looking almost like one of their boxed toys. In 1950, LEGO turned to a simpler logo, which integrated the company’s name within a circle and featured “Billund Danmark” in an outer ring.
Three years later, in 1953, LEGO unveiled the white bubble lettered logo which has become iconic of the brand and remained in use by the company since 1953. In 1959, the word “System” was added below the brand name in yellow logotype, while “LEGO” recieved a bolder black outline to draw attention. In 1973, “System” was dropped and “LEGO” got a yellow border outside the black outline. The current LEGO logo has been in use since 1998, and is an image bringing happiness to millions of children worldwide.
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28. Shell
28. Shell
Year Company Founded: 1907
Year Logo Introduced: 1900
Logo Designer: Raymond Loewy (1971)
Company Founders: Royal Dutch Petroleum Company, “Shell” Transport & Tranding Company Ltd.
The logo for Shell has always, in fact, been a shell, becoming less realistic with each redesign. In 1900, the design was simply a black and white image of a shell, which lasted until 1948, when the red and yellow colors were added. The design hasn’t strayed far from the original color logo, with the name of the company moving around and inside the logo as the years progress. The final logo omits the company name, but it’s no longer necessary.
27. Toyota
27. Toyota
Year Company Founded: 1937
Year Logo Introduced: 1930s
Logo Designer: Undisclosed
Company Founder: Kiichiro Toyoda
The 1937 (current) Toyota logo was chosen from 27,000 entries that were submitted to a public competition. The winner of the 1937 competition was a design incorporating the three Japanese katakana letters for “Toyoda” in a circle. Toyoda was the original name of the company, taken from the last name of the founder, Kiichiro Toyoda. Even though the company was renamed to “Toyota Motor Company” that same year, the logo remains inspired by “Toyoda.”
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26. Visa
26. Visa
Year Company Founded: 1970
Year Logo Introduced: 1958
Logo Designer: Greg Silveria (2006)
Company Founders: Dee Hock, Bank of America
The first logo appeared in the same year as the company’s founding, with the word VISA typed in the middle of two lines (blue on the top and a corn yellow on the bottom). The original design lasted until 1982 when the company chose a more visible and recognizable font and color scheme, with the “Visa” in the same blue and a small check of yellow on the left side of the “V.” The new logo was phased into the company in 2006, and by 2011, all of the company’s cards, marketing, promo materials, and other services carried this new logo.
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25. Volkswagen
25. Volkswagen
Year Company Founded: 1937
Year Logo Introduced: 1938
Logo Designer: Franz Xaver Reimspiess (1938), Meta Design (2007)
Company Founder: German Labour Front
The logo for Volkswagen was the result of a Porsche office competition to see who could come up with a good one, and the winner and designer was Franz Reimspiess, who perfected the engine for the Beetle in the 1930s. The initial black and white logo strategically contained the VW for Volkswagen, as well as the swastika, in accordance with Hitler’s regime. The second logo was also black and white yet didn’t contain the swastika and looked more like a wheel than a fan or radar. Post-WWII, the British took over the car company and renamed it the Beetle, and naturally, the logo changed as well. They kept the VW but got rid of the design of the circle, which was inspired by the Nazi flag. No other car company wanted to take over the Volkswagen factory, so the company was returned to the German government. The most recent logo is embossed in blue and grey contrasting the black and white logos of the company’s past.
24. WWF
24. WWF
Year Company Founded: 1961
Year Logo Introduced: 1961
Logo Designer: Sir Peter Scott (1961), Lans Bouthillier (1978), Landor Associates (1986), Asha (2010)
Company Founders: Max Nicholson, Julian Huxley, Peter Scott, Guy Mountfort, Godfrey A. Rockefeller, Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands
Perhaps the company logo with the most “cute” in it, the WWF logo was first introduced in 1961 with only the iconic panda and no logotype. The 1961 panda bear was created by founding chairman Sir Peter Scott, and it remains a key branding element for the company. In 1978, the panda illustration was simplified, eliminating some of the fur texture, but the design does not stray far from the original. In 1986, the WWF was added below the further simplified panda design. The final change to the WWF logo occured in 2000, when the font of “WWF” was slightly altered, though no noticable changes were made to the panda illustration.
23. UPS
23. UPS
Year Company Founded: 1907
Year Logo Introduced: 1919
Logo Designer: Paul Rand (1961)
Company Founders: Jim Casey, Claude Ryan
The first UPS “shield” logo was created in 1916 when founder Jim Casey merged the company with a local rival delivery service, and the shield shape stuck (it is still being used today), with the exception of a few font and design changes. UPS’ second logo, introduced in 1937, was the first logo that had the letters “UPS” on it, and in 1961, Paul Rand designed the third UPS logo which featured a bow-tied package above the shield. In 2003, UPS switched to a glossy brown version of logo with the company name contained within the shield.
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22. Starbucks
22. Starbucks
Year Company Founded: 1971
Year Logo Introduced: 1971
Logo Designer: Terry Heckler (1971, 1987, 1992), Lippincott and Starbucks Global Creative Team (2011)
Company Founders: Jerry Baldwin, Gordon Bowker, Zev Siegl
In 1971, while in search of inspiration for a logo, the founders of Starbucks stumbled upon a Norse 16th century woodcut which featured the now famous two-tailed mermaid or siren. Terry Heckler was recruited to design the logo for what was then “Starbucks Coffee, Tea, and Spices,” which incorporated the bare-chested siren with an intricate crown and tail. Heckler was invited back to update and censor the design in 1987, at the time of the II Giornale and Starbucks merger. In 1992, Heckler returned to revise the logo into the now iconic and further censored version, which features a demure and smiling mermaid with a simple crown and tails. Drawing on Heckler’s 1992 design, the latest revisioning occured in 2011. The design team removed the outer circle of the logo, keeping only the mermaid illustration, while changing the black to the trademark Starbucks green. The bold move to rely only on the siren’s image reflects the iconic status of the brand, achieved through 40 years of foundation work.
21. Rolex
21. Rolex
Year Company Founded: 1905
Year Logo Introduced: 1908
Logo Designer: Undisclosed
Company Founders: Hans Wilsdorf, Alfred Davis
The iconic Rolex logo, comprised of a pointed crown above the company name, symbolizes prestige, victory, and perfectionism, and has remained generally the same throughout the years. The company’s slogan is “A Crown for every Achievement”, further explaining the crown in the logo.
20. NBC
20. The National Broadcasting Company (NBC)
Year Company Founded: 1926
Year Logo Introduced: 1926
Logo Designer: Chermayeff & Geismar (1986)
Company Founder: Radio Corporation of America (RCA)
At the company’s founding, the logo was a blue rectangle with a broadcasting microphone over America and NBC above it in bold letters. The logo was simplified to black and white in 1930, removing the color as well as the image of the microphone over America. In 1942, the logo became more stylized, with an NBC-labeled microphone amidst red colored sound waves. For three years, from 1953 to 1956, a xylophone and mallet with the letters NBC became the logo until the infamous peacock was introduced. The “NBC snake,” a brown box with a styled “NBC,” was the logo for 16 years. A new logo with an abstract capital “N” letter appeared in 1976 and was estimated to cost between $750,000 and $1 million but only lasted four years. In 1979, the peacock made its return as the logo, with a contemporary spin that inspired a new take on the design by Chermayeff & Geismar. The final logo we see today is widely known as the NBC peacock; the company name is no longer necessary.
19. Adidas
19. adidas
Year Company Founded: 1920
Year Logo Introduced: 1949
Logo Designer: Adi Dassler (1949), Käthe and Adi Dassler (1971), Peter Moore (1997)
Company Founder: Adi Dassler
The adidas logo was designed and created by founder, Adi Dassler, who first used the three stripes on adidas footwear, making the company instantly recognizable. The stripes haven’t changed over the years; they’ve only changed in form. In the ’60s, Käthe and Adi Dassler created the Trefoil logo as an additional mark of the adidas brand, to be used on apparel. It later became the company’s corporate symbol. In 1997, Adidas introduced the slanted three bars as an integrated corporate design, and it was made to look like the shape of a mountain to symbolize challenges to be faced and goals to be achieved.
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18. 7-Eleven
18. 7-Eleven
Year Company Founded: 1927
Year Logo Introduced: 1946
Logo Designer: Fran Gianninoto & Associates (1969)
Company Founders: Joe C. Thompson Jr., John Jefferson Green
The company was started pre-depression by John Jefferson Green when he started selling bread, milk, and eggs out of the ice houses of the Southland Ice Company. He eventually bought the Southland Ice Company and continued operations, despite going bankrupt during the depression. In 1946, as part of the post-war effort, the stores’ names were changed to 7-Eleven, and the logo became the company name written a cup inside of a green circle. This design was used until 1970, when it was modernized to become the logo we see today.
17. Microsoft
17. Microsoft
Year Company Founded: 1975
Year Logo Introduced: 1976
Logo Designer: Scott Baker (1987)
Company Founders: Bill Gates, Paul Allen
Microsoft first introduced a logo in 1975, and it’s one that would remain in use until 1979. The 1975 logo was designed following contemporary trends and is a logotype which has been described as “groovy.” In 1980, Microsoft stepped away from the more complex logo to become an angular, sleek logotype that read “Microsoft” and which placed the entire word on a straight line. 1982 saw the rise of the “blibbet,” Microsoft’s logo which featured an intricate “O,” a feature that would gain a cult following and one that was mourned when it was retired in 1987. The now iconic Microsoft logo came to replace the blibbet in 1987 and remains in use to this day. The simple “Pacman Logo” of 1987 was designed by Scott Baker with one defining slash between the “o” and “s” that is supposed to symbolize speed. Microsoft conquered the technology industry in the 1990s and early 2000s, allowing the simple, not very distinctive logotype to acheive iconic status.
16. MTV
16. MTV
Year Company Founded: 1981
Year Logo Introduced: 1981
Logo Designer: Manhattan Design (Frank Olinsky, Patty Rogoff) (1981, 1981-2009), Popkern (2009)
Company Founders: Robert Warren Pittman, Warner Communications
First designed in 1981 by Manhattan Design, the MTV logo was the collaborative effort of Frank Olinsky and Patty Rogoff, overseen by original creative director, Fred Seibert. From the very beginning, the MTV logo has been constantly changing in color, patterns, and images, that filled the block “M” on which “tv” is scrolled. During the 1990s and 2000s, MTV opted for a simpler white logo, while maintaining the original design of a bold “M” and scrolled “tv.” A 2009 rebranding overseen by Popkern reintroduced the idea of filling the “M” with various images, with the “tv” becoming a non-disruptive white.
15. NASA
15. NASA
Year Company Founded: 1958
Year Logo Introduced: 1958
Logo Designer: James Modarelli (1959, 1992), Danne & Blackburn (1974)
Company Founder: Government of the USA
NASA’s first logo dates back to 1959 when the National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics became NASA, which has three logos: the NASA insignia (the “meatball”), the NASA logotype ( the “worm”), and the NASA seal. The seal was approved by President Eisenhower and later modified by President Kennedy.
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14. American Airlines
14. American Airlines
Year Company Founded: 1930
Year Logo Introduced: 1930
Logo Designer: Massimo Vignelli (1967)
Company Founder: AMR Corporation
In 1934, American Airlines unveiled a logo which featured an eagle flying over the globe with two bright red “As” flanking it on both sides. The two As of American Airlines remained an important element of the company’s image until 2013. In 1945, the logo was simplified to an illustration of an eagle in blue, with the Two As on both sides. The same element of “Eagle and Two As” was used in the new logo in 1962, with the addition of the logotype “American” below the illustration, and a bold red ring encompassing the logo. In 1968, American Airlines introduced a logo which would become symbolic of the company over the next 45 years. The 1968 logo maintains the “Eagle and Two As” elements and the red and blue color scheme, which have been synonymous with the company since 1934. “American Airlines” boldly underlines the illustration of the eagle, highlighting the brand name in addition to the Two As.
In the aftermath of bankruptcy, American Airlines unveiled a new logo on January 27, 2013. The company did not abandon the “Eagle and Two As” completely, although they downplayed it to a small stripe on the side of “American Airlines,” which is written in a grey simple font. The stripe is said to symbolize a stylized “A” morphed with an eagle in flight.
13. IBM
13. IBM
Year Company Founded: 1911
Year Logo Introduced: 1888
Logo Designer: Paul Rand (1956, 1972)
Company Founder: Charles R. Flint
The IBM logo was first introduced in 1924 when the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company was renamed as International Business Machines. The renaming of CTR to IBM was the company’s attempt to modernize; following this, the IBM logo introduced in 1924 was an updated version of the 1911 CTR logo used by the company. The intricate, entwined design of CTR was replaced by bold lettering of “International Business Machines,” configured to mimic a globe, emphasizing the “International” in IBM. In 1947, with the modernization of the company’s technology, the globe logo was replaced with a simplistic “IBM,” which remains the symbol of the company. In 1956, Paul Rand transformed the outlined logo into a solid black “IBM” to impress stability and balance. In 1972, Rand returned to update the image of the company from solidity and stability to “speed and dynamism” (that was supposed to be implied by the striped logo).
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12. Warner Bros.
12. Warner Bros.
Year Company Founded: 1918
Year Logo Introduced: 1923
Logo Designer: Saul Bass (1972)
Company Founders: Albert Warner, Harry Warner, Sam Warner, Jack Warner
The now iconic Warner Bros. shield logo has been there from the very beginning, in some form or another. The Warner Bros. Shield logo was first introduced in 1923 and featured a photo of the studio above “WB” which curved to the shape of the shield. The picture of the studio remained until 1929, when the logo became just the “WB” curved to fit the shape of the shield with the words “Warner Bros. Pictures Inc.” curved above and “Presents” curved below. Briefly, from 1936 to 1937, Warner Bros. introduced the “Zooming Shield” which eliminated all words from the logo and simply kept the shield. In 1937, the logo was updated into a 3D rendition of the WB-Shield, and was kept until 1948, following the introduction of color to the screen.
The 1937 logo also introduced a banner across the WB-Shield, reading “Warner Bros. Pictures Inc.” with the word “Presents” below the shield. The banner remained a key design element of the company’s logo and is in use to this day. From 1948 to 1967, Warner Bros. used a golden yellow 3D “WB” over a blue shield with a golden rim. The shield was widened, and the colors were brightened to best showcase the new color films. 1967 saw a dramatic change to the company’s logo, following the acquistion of a controlling interest by Seven Arts productions. That logo was used from 1967 to 1970, and the WB-Shield became contrastingly angular and simple, with the words “Seven Arts” added below.
In 1970, Kinney National Company acquried Warner Bros – Seven Arts, and again re-invisioned the logo, this time with “A Kinney National Company” boldly written over the WB-Shield. Briefly in the 1972, Warner Bros. used a logo very similiar to the 1948 Shield logo. Nonetheless, a radically different logo by graphic designer, Saul Bass, was unveiled in the same year, and went on to be used by the company until 1984. Bass’ stylized “W” resembled three rounded lines and was drastically simpler than previous Warner Bros. logos. 1984 saw the return of the 1948 gold and blue WB-Shield, though with bolder colors and a more slick, polished finish than before. Between 1984 and 2013, the Warner Bros. logo was polished some more, though the company did not stray far from the 1984 design. During recent years, the logo underwent the trend of tweaking production company logos with each movie, so there have been many variations on color and animation, but the original shape of the gold and blue 1948 WB-Shield remains.
11. Walmart
11. Walmart
Year Company Founded: 1962
Year Logo Introduced: 1962
Logo Designer: Don Watt (1992), Lippincott (2008)
Company Founders: Sam Walton
From the introduction of their first logo, Walmart has not strayed beyond a simple and appealing logotype. The 1962 logo was “Walmart” written with stretched out, angular, and simple letters—a font chosen randomly by a printer. It follows that soon after, in 1964, Walmart unveiled a new logo. For the 1964 logo, the company selected the “Frontier Font Logo,” a departure from the previous simple logo. The Frontier Font Logo may have inspired thoughts of the Wild Wild West, but it remained the company’s logo until 1981. In 1918, Walmart went back to its roots with a simpler design in brown. In 1992, the company replaced the dash in between “Wal” and “Mart” with a star, and changed the font to a dark blue from the brown. In 2008, Walmart introduced the now iconic logo which eliminates the break in the company’s name and incorporates a yellow “Spark” for a much-needed splash of color and design.
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10. Google
10. Google
Year Company Founded: 1998
Year Logo Introduced: 1998
Logo Designer: Sergey Brin (1998, 1998), Ruth Kedar (1999, 2010)
Company Founders: Larry Page, Sergey Brin
The Google logo was first envisioned in 1988 by Sergey Brin, one of the the founders of the company, using the graphics program GIMP. It was an unpolished rendition of the now iconic logo, with an added exclamation mark meant to mimic the Yahoo! logo. Introduced in 1999, Ruth Kedar’s polished Google logo (with no exclamation mark) stayed in use by the company until 2010. Kedar’s logo gained instant recognizability over the 11 years it was in use, making it one of the most iconic logos of all time. On May 6, 2010, Google launched its latest, updated logo featuring a slightly more orange “O” with more subtle shadows, but the end result did not stray far from Ruth Kedar’s original design.
9. Burger King
9. Burger King
Year Company Founded: 1954
Year Logo Introduced: 1954
Logo Designer: Sterling Brands (1998)
Company Founders: James McLamore, David R. Edgerton
As the second largest hamburger fast food chain in the world, the Burger King logo has developed a recognizability second only to that of the McDonald’s “Golden Arch.” Starting with a simple logotype of “Burger King” in 1954, the company introduced the complex logo of the Burger King character sitting atop a burger the following year. The character of the King remains in use to this day in the brand’s advertising, though the logo faced a monumental evolution in 1969 with the introduction of the “Bun Halves” design. Now instantly recongnizable, the Bun Halves design of 1969 remains a key element in the Burger King brand image. Going through two updates in the 1990s, the “Bun Halves” logo of 1998 incorporated an encompassing blue ring and added dimensionality to the one still used by the brand today.
8. Levi’s
8. Levi’s
Year Company Founded: 1850
Year Logo Introduced: 1890’s
Logo Designer: Landor Associates (1967, 1969)
Company Founder: Levi Strauss
The Levi’s logo today exists in two forms: the simple white logotype on a red background and the Two Horses logo, which dates back to the foundation of the company in 1886. The Two Horses logo is, to this day, used on the patches of Levi’s jeans, in its original form, which was supposed to demonstrate the strength of Levi’s jeans. However, the now equally iconic red label of Levi’s came to be only in 1936, when the brand tried to distinguish their jeans. In 1967, Levi’s introduced the Batwing logo, which was designed by Walter Landor & Associates, and has, over the years, become symbolic of the brand itself. 2011, Levi’s removed the white brand name from the red logo of their Curve ID line.
7. McDonald’s
7. McDonald’s
Year Company Founded: 1940
Year Logo Introduced: 1940
Logo Designer: Jim Schindler (1962)
Company Founders: Richard McDoland, Maurice McDonald
When McDonald’s first emerged, the company was known as “McDonald’s Famous Barbeque,” hence the 1940 logo that fittingly featured the name of the company with two parallel lines emphasizing the “Famous.” In 1948, the company was renamed “McDonald’s Famous Hamburgers,” and from 1948 to 1953, the company logo featured a slightly creepy animation of a cook. In 1953, McDonald’s introduced Speedee as the mascot for the franchise, and he remained until 1960 when the Golden Arches were born. Stanley Meston, the man behind the Golden Arches, drew on the architecture of the McDonald’s restaurants at the time for his design of the two arches forming an “M” with a dash cutting across.
In 1968, the company simplified the “M” and turned the “McDonald’s” logotype black, creating an almost Halloween-like color scheme, which would stay in use until 1983. In 1983, the logo was transformed into what is now associated with the world’s largest chain of hamburger fast food restaurants. Atop a red background, the logotype became white, and the arches went back to being golden. In 2003, “i’m lovin’ it’ was added below the golden “M,” a slogan that was translated into various languages and went on to be splattered all over the company’s packaging and restaurants. Part of a “Forever Young” redesign in 2006, McDonalds introduced its most simplified logo of all time, a plain and iconic golden “M” that suffices as a symbol for the company world-wide to present day.
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6. Mercedes-Benz
6. Mercedes-Benz
Year Company Founded: 1926
Year Logo Introduced: 1902
Logo Designer: Gottlieb Daimler (1909), Henrion Ludlow Schmidt (1989)
Company Founders: Karl Benz, Gottlieb Daimler
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