A Brief History Of Logos

What Are Logos and When Did They First Appear?

A logo is a visual representation of a product, organization, business, or person. They are repeated pictures used specifically for brand recognition. There are factors that have an impact on whether or not you have a successful logo.

A logo can use simplicity to convey what it is representing, or it can be rather complex, with a variety of symbols, colors, and textures woven into a distinctive emblem.

Either way, a logo must be easily recognizable to people.

Logos need to work on any scale, large or small. Colors also play a significant role in attracting an audience. A logo helps push a brand and is a necessary tool to connect to an audience and consumers.

The use of symbols by primitive people laid the foundation for the creation of logos. Artwork held meaning beyond visual appeal. Ideas, stories, and information were told through symbols on rock faces as far back as 70,000 BC.

Pottery later became the medium of choice in projecting thoughts via symbols and pictures. Hieroglyphics and Chinese symbols may be two of the more recognizable historical uses of symbols to represent words or sounds.

At least one aspect of the evolution of logos can be attributed to the Chinese creation of paper. There are samples of ancient paper dating around 200 BC discovered in the dry climates of the Silk Road cities of Dunhuang and Khotan, and in Tibet. Some of the paper even had ink marks on it.

Logos in Mass Produced Print

After the printing press was invented by Johannes Gutenberg in 1440, printed material became extremely relevant and able to be mass produced. Print advertising was thrust into the world on a larger scale as newspapers became a new way to communicate information to the public. Logos would appear daily, especially as selling products and services became more and more prevalent during the Industrial Revolution.

Poor families were starting to make more money, and some were able to spend a part of their earnings on the products that were being cranked out by factories. Logos were popping up everywhere as more products needed to be sold. Printing allowed businesses to show logos on posters that could be made visible to consumers by displaying them around towns and cities.

Color printing through a process called chromolithography was also introduced and brought to the United States in 1840. Colorful logos were easier to notice.

The Invention of Television and Streaming

With the invention of the electric television in the early 20th Century, advertising became even more prevalent in homes. Commercials and product placement in television shows were ways logos could be put in front of the consumer.

The first television stations appeared in the 1920’s. There are thousands of television stations now, whether they are network, cable, satellite, or streaming. Each of these stations has its own logo.

Think about your local stations. What kind of logos do they have? In 1963, television surpassed newspapers as an information source. Infomercials are segments of airtime devoted solely to a specific product. In 1992, growth in infomercials was enormous, with sales of $750 million generated.

Television has changed significantly in the 21st Century. Seeing advertising and logo insertion has become more of an option for consumers rather than required viewing. Streaming content has also become a common practice.

There are still commercials, but often there is the option to bypass them. For instance, Digital Video Recording has allowed viewers to fast forward through commercials. Companies have even gone the route of showing Super Bowl commercials online before the Super Bowl takes place.

Streaming services like Netflix have made it difficult to show any logo but their own with no commercial platform. That being said, these types of services also have distinct logos.

Social Media and Apps

There are so many social media outlets and applications available now. And, each of these platforms has a logo. It is vital for the continued success of their products that their logo is ultra recognizable and intriguing to their audience. It’s fair to say most people would immediately recognize the Facebook logo. Often, especially in the ever-changing realm of online content, brands need to re-invent themselves to stay ahead of the consumer.

Rebranding includes the recreation or tweaking of a current logo.In 2016, Instagram rebranded itself complete with a new logo. The switch to a more simplified logo did not go over well with users initially, but over time the logo became well received once the reason for the change was communicated to users. The logo was more of an inclusive representation of what the Instagram app had evolved into. With the improvement of a product, sometimes a logo needs to be adjusted.

Logos within social media and apps have become more common as advertisers try to find the most efficient ways to project their clients’ logos into the minds of consumers.

Although print and television are still viable options, they are becoming less and less available for wide spans of audiences. Magazines are often geared toward specific groups of people. Newspapers are dying out, despite the effort to move to online subscriptions. Television is evolving into an experience without commercials. So, what do most people have and use daily? Their smartphones. Pushing brands has moved online, and with it has gone advertising and logos.

Corporate Identity

The first logo to be trademarked was the Bass red triangle in 1876. There are many famous trademarked logos, but Coca-Cola may be the most widely known product logo around the world. In the 1950’s, the corporate identity design was created alongside the modernist movement in the United States.

Since then, many famous logos have been produced. Logos for organizations such as Mobil Oil, NBC, the Library of Congress, IBM, UPS, United Way, and National Geographic came out of that movement.

The Future of Logos

Who knows what the next big medium will be for advertising and branding? Will newspapers make a comeback? What will become of television commercials? Whatever the new medium is, it is safe to say that logos will stick around. They may be changed and updated, but the idea of symbols as a representation is consistent throughout thousands of years of history.

Branding will not likely go away anytime soon, and logos will continue to be a part of that world. Businesses, services, and organizations will continue to use their logos to make their mark on their communities and the world around them.

Just about anything we come in contact with has a logo. Quite possibly the next iteration of logos will be symbols created to represent individuals.

Maybe Prince was ahead of his time.