Calling all 90’s kids for a taste of nostalgia in the following reading minutes.
There’s no doubt that fashion/ art/ visuals are such a green trend itself when tons of “former styles”, such as the fashion eras, the ’70s, or ’80s seem to rebirth somehow in the modern era. So, and because all eras come back somehow, it’s why today we’ll be living the comeback of 90’s visuals and a bit of 2000’s.
That’s why today, in terms of logos, we’ll see that although minimal logos such as Google, Airbnb, or Spotify are the tops of the last decade, logos are returning to some 90’s colorful vibe.
In this case, we see that some of today’s logos simply aim for simplicity. Think of the sans-serif word marks and flat designs of Google, Airbnb, and Spotify, for example, and you realize that the adage ‘less is more’ is a popular and effective branding approach.
Looking back, we see the 1990s full of bright colors, funky vibes, geometric patterns, and bold, snappy typography. We saw it everywhere, from TV sitcoms to much-loved snack brands, so we’ve picked our top 21 favorite 90s logos to take you back in time with us.
1. MTV
MTV could describe an entire generation, hence its iconic logo. Visually, it consists of these three letters written in a design similar to graffiti art. Indeed, they share the same concepts of freedom and rebellion that define youth. MTV has definitely done a great job in attracting its young audience.
The large size and dominance of the “M” represents the network as an exclusive focus on music, proudly “Music Television”.
2. Cartoon Network
How to forget the Cartoon Network’s seven-by-two-square grid with the company name, which was one of the most recognizable TV logos of the 1990s (the squares have since been reduced to “CN”).
The alternating black-and-white blocks featured a playful yet strong custom typeface, reflecting the network’s fun nature precisely.
3. Nickelodeon
Though a kid channel, Nickelodeon, with a target audience of children aged six to 17, managed to become such a popular logo in the 90s with the bright orange splat on the back of the company’s name—a logo that represents full energy, joy, and youth.
The typo was a rounded sans-serif with some character features (like you can see in the”), making it less strict than a serif typeface.
4. The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
As fresh as the TV show, the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air logo uses this display font, which has a graffiti vibe mixed with a more traditional serif. The wordmark is accentuated by a pink bleed that looks like a spray can effect.
The graffiti feature represents the show’s main character, Will, a streetwise teenager from West Philadelphia, while the serif font represents his wealthy family members. Such a contrast reflects the differences between the two styles.
5. Friends
With just a hint of color, the logo for the hit 90s sitcom works as an all-caps wordmark, separated by these six colored dots (representing each of the show’s main stars or friends, and also the color of the umbrellas held by the cast in the show’s intro).
This typography looks as if handwritten with a Sharpie, reflecting the show’s laid-back personality and the enduring bond between the friends.
6. Seinfeld
With a softly italicized serif font against a slanted yellow oval, the Seinfeld logo is on the other side of the 90s. It is quirky yet mature, following the hilarious (and relatable) situations of its stars, young adults living in New York.
The yellow oval represents a spotlight on Jerry Seinfeld, a stand-up man who shares his stories.
7. Saved by the Bell
Speaking of the 90’s family, we have Saved by the Bell, which follows the lives of six teenagers living in the Pacific Palisades area. The circle logo has multiple fonts in bright colors, communicating the playful nature of the show.
The word “Bell” is yellow, resembling the gold of a hand-held school bell. The letters try to mimic the ringing effect with an overlapping arrangement.
8. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
If you were an adventure kid in the 90s, you probably followed some of the episodes of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the four anthropomorphic turtles named after Italian Renaissance artists. In Typo, we see their presence with green, muscular lettering.
This logo illustrated the franchise’s first mainstream TV appearance. The other logos came later, but this one will always represent the true essence of the characters.
9. Sweet Tarts
Moving on to sweets, we have the Sweet Tarts logo, which consists of a fizzy wordmark with the words “Sweet” and “Tarts” juxtaposed with a split “T,” emphasizing the sweet and tart flavor of Willy Wonka’s famous candy.
We can also see the “tangy candy” in lowercase above, with capital “N”s to show playfulness. Although the current version of this logo doesn’t include the descriptor, the rest of the design is still the same!
10. Bubble Tape
This was the funniest candy, and its logo, Wrigley’s candy logo, represents a bubbly typeface contained in a purple gradient bubble—so funky. The extended “e” on the end of “Tape” wrapped around the logo to look like the famous tape-like bubble gum.
We see the use of multiple bright colors to show off youth and excitement, with the slogan, “It’s six feet of bubble gum–for you–not them” (“them” as in adults). They wanted to highlight their specific audience.
11. Baby Bottle Pop
To bring baby vibes to the brand’s youthful and entertaining logo, Baby Bottle Pop used a bubbly neon font mixed with a baby bottle cap and the word ‘baby’ on a smaller scale. The wordmark has a chalk-like line as if drawn by a child, in keeping with the interests of the brand’s target audience.
The Baby Bottle Pop marketing also taps into the playful, silly spirit of the candy’s “bursting experience.”
12. Hot Wheels
Regarding action logos of the 90s, the Hot Wheels logo stands out with its red and yellow-orange lines that mimic a flame. This logo has remained relatively the same over the years, with a few variations.
We saw “Hot Wheels” in plain white lettering, but in the 90s, the logo featured a custom gradient font.
There wasn’t much hype about 3D then, so the company opted for a flat design with a thin black outline.
13. Barbie
While this brand has made such a powerful comeback to our everyday lives with the recent live-action film, it never stays away and never quite changes—I mean, look at Barbie’s lighthearted logo, created in 1959.
The hot pink echoes the brand’s sweet, feminine, and innocent characteristics. In the ’90s, the wordmark logo featured a bold, custom font with close-set letters and a mix of angular and curved edges.
Today’s Barbie logo retains the same shade of pink but is written in italics.
14. Toys R Us
As a children’s playground, the Toys R Us logo of the 1990s was super colorful and playful, just as it is today, in keeping with the brand’s nature and appealing to its young audience. The backward ‘R’ refers to the free writing of young children and how they communicate their authenticity through the brand.
Today’s logo is similar in layout, with some color changes and adding a star in the center of the ‘R.’
15. Tamagotchi
One of my first pets, and the delight of many 90s kids, was this digital companion, Tamagotchi. Its logo has the essence of the 90s with a custom, scrawled typeface that looks like it was written by a child with chalk in an attractive, sellable hot pink. The lowercase and uppercase letters signify the brand’s freshness and innovation, as Tamagotchi was the first to embrace the digital pet trend.
16. Nerf
The Nerf was also super colorful, with a bright yellow wordmark at the top of a blue circle and a hot pink dot pattern— so 90s. The logo has high energy, reflecting the nature of the product and the brand’s target audience of 8-17-year-olds.
The all-caps typeface emphasizes the brand’s bold personality, and the text leans to the right, giving a sense of movement.
17. Walkman
Returning to music, we have Sony’s Walkman logo, which uses a custom typeface and an abstract shape resembling a ‘W.’ All the letters (minus the ‘L’) are connected, signifying people’s connection to music they can take anywhere.
With a teenage audience in mind, the “L” was deliberately removed to represent the freedom you feel when you plug in your Walkman (and listen to whatever you want, wherever you want!).
18. Microsoft Windows
Microsoft’s Windows logo hasn’t stayed the same and has had its fair share of changes over the years; however, the most memorable was the one they had in the 1990s. This logo was ahead of its time with its instantly recognizable four-color quadrants and pixelated elements.
19. Super Nintendo
On the gaming side, we have Nintendo’s logo, which has undergone several changes over the years. In the 90s, Nintendo had such a vibrant palette scheme of primary colors. We saw the company’s name displayed in bold red and italicized font, which was attractive and ready to stand out.
20. Blockbuster
Oh, VHS movies—a great moment for film. Blockbuster spread a unique tradition for Friday night movies: going to Blockbuster to rent the one you like.
The perfect place for film junkies before the golden age of television, so the logo sticks to us as a simple blue and yellow color pairing, with an iconic show off of its product with a bold and unique shape of the VHS tape.
21. Apple
We can see the evolution in this one because today, Apple’s 90s logo looks markedly different from how we saw it in the 90s.
The company used to have a vibrant, rainbow-colored logo, which stood out amongst many other brands in the industry during the decade.
A year after that, Apple decided to follow the minimalist style with an all-black apple shape.
Highlight features of 90s logo designs
90s vibes were all about fun, so the Logo design of that era was also, yet it always had meaningful and authentic resemblances to the brands that it represented. So, to recreate the 90s aesthetic, you’ll have to use some combination of these features:
- Bright, neon color combinations (any colors, from primary to fluorescent)
- Bold typography
- Characterized display fonts (quirky, funny, something extra)
- Graffiti style or handwritten text (chalk, sketch, spray)
- Round, abstract shapes (geometric but fun)
- Offset or angled text (sense of moving)
With an extra funky visual, the logos of the 1990s always kept up with the brand’s essence, and they’ll always be remembered.
