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Star Wars Logo Design, History; Evolution

Star Wars is one of the most successful franchises in film history. When the first film in the series was released with the eponymous film in 1977, no one could have predicted the impact that this film series would have not only on Hollywood and film making, but on culture.

Many terms associated with the Star Wars franchise are now in common parlance, including specific aspects of the film like lightsabers and Jedi knights. Even the Princess Leia hairstyle of the original film is well-known. Here we will discuss the Star Wars logo and the history and impact of the logo in the United States and around the world.

Logos are important for brand marketing and Star Wars is no different. A good logo is immediately recognizable, allowing someone interested in the product to instantly know they are in the right place. Some of the most iconic logos include the golden arches, Starbucks mermaid, the blue oval, and a simple outline of an apple with a bite taken out of it.

The Star Wars logo may be simple but it conveys the message of the films in an effective and succinct fashion. In this regard, the Star Wars logo has all the characteristics of a good logo.

About Star Wars

It is difficult to imagine American film without Star Wars. The Star Wars films have had an enormous cultural impact, which says nothing about the impact Star Wars has had on film making itself. Star Wars took science fiction film making away from a niche industry and catapulted it into the mainstream.

Films today are saturated with the science fiction elements that Star Wars introduced, such as the design of spaceships and weapons, and even character and set design.

George Lucas and the First Three Films

Star Wars was created by George Lucas and the first film was released in 1977. The first Star Wars film, entitled Star Wars: A New Hope (Episode IV) was the first film in one of the most lucrative film franchises in history.

The film was given the designation Episode IV because George Lucas planned even then to create three prequel films to introduce the story and characters he explored in that first film. This film introduced to us such characters as Darth Vader, Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, and Chewbacca, just to name a few.

It is difficult to say why Star Wars has been so popular as a franchise, but it may have to do with striking the right balance between science fiction elements and the typical characteristics of a fun, entertaining film.

Star Wars was followed by The Empire Strikes Back in 1980 and The Return of the Jedi in 1983. These first three films were basically a long entry in the space opera that is Star Wars. They concern the events in the life of Luke Skywalker and his father, (spoiler alert!) Darth Vader. They explore concepts of good and evil in the setting of a galaxy far, far away.

Star Wars Gets a Reboot

The Star Wars franchise did not end with the first three films. George Lucas kept his promise of releasing his prequels to the series when he dropped The Phantom Menace in 1999. The Phantom Menace was Episode I, meaning it was intended to introduce the characters and ideas that were explored in the original three Star Wars films.

The Phantom Menace, like the other, later Star Wars films, continued to use the basic Star Wars logo, although appearing a little differently because the films did not incorporate Star Wars into the name.

Star Wars introduced us to Anakin Skywalker, the boy who would later be known as Darth Vader. The Phantom Menace was followed by Attack of the Clones, which continued to explore the story of Anakin Skywalker’s descent into the dark side. 2002’s Attack of the Clones was followed by Revenge of the Sith, a film which completed Anakin’s transformation from reluctant Jedi knight into servant of the Dark Emperor Palpatine.

Star Wars For a New Audience

Although the prequels have been met with mixed reviews from critics and fans, George Lucas and his team did not stop there. The Star Wars franchise received a vibrant boost with the release of The Force Awakens in 2015, which became Episode VII in the franchise. Like the other films, The Force Awakens also used a basic variation of the Star Wars logo. The Force Awakens was followed by the Last Jedi in 2017, a film which continued the phenomenal box office receipts of all the other Star Wars films.

Outside of the main Skywalker theme of the Star Wars films, George Lucas and his team also forayed into other stories that explored the Star Wars universe. The two main films here are Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and Solo: A Star Wars Story.

These films branched off from the main plot of the episodic Star Wars films although they frequently referenced or even included main characters and plot devices. The success of the films in the Star Wars franchise has meant that more films are in the works, with Episode IX already in development.

Star Wars Logo Logo Design

The design of the Star Wars logo is pretty basic. Although the Star Wars logo with its block-style lettering and 80s flair is recognizable to most movie fans, the original logo was not in place at the time the first film was released.

A review of posters and other memorabilia that surrounded the first film shows that the Star Wars logo underwent somewhat of an evolution. Most variations of the logo followed the theme that moviegoers see in the opening sequence of the films: of letters trailing off into the distance.

The Star Wars logo we recognize today crops up in the titles of all the films that followed the original Star Wars released in 1977. Although the logos of the various films have their distances, the smooth, circular lines around the letters and block-style of the letters is consistent across the films with some exceptions.

As mentioned above, the main theme of the Star Wars logo is almost an 80s science fiction type of Art Nouveau with the sense of movement we associate with the opening narrative sequence of the film.

Although the Star Wars logo may appear fairly simple, this may be a selling point not only for the logo but for the films in general. Star Wars does not strike itself out as a film that attempts to be something it is not.

Although the characters, ideas, and sets are enticing and original, the characters in Star Wars come across as old family friends that just happen to be living very, very far away from Earth (and technically died a long, long time ago). George Lucas does a good job at making Star Wars both something different and something familiar, a trick we even see with the Star Wars logo.

Star Wars Logo History & Evolution

As we touched on earlier, the Star Wars logo was not set in stone at the time the first film was released in 1977. Posters, advertisements, and other memorabilia reveal sometimes subtle variations on the basic theme of the logo.

The logo letters are generally in block-style, but sometimes we see the words Star Wars in stark, jarring text. That is, without the smooth, curving lines we see in the titles of the Star Wars films. This may represent George Lucas and the other names in Star Wars still attempting to figure out what this whole Star Wars thing was about.

What do we mean by that? We live in the age of branding, and a logo is an important part of a brand. By streamlining the logo of Star Wars into a thing of block letters, smooth lines, and sort of upbeat, modern flair, George Lucas did not set Star Wars apart as a dramatic, horror film but the type of lighthearted film that anyone in the family could enjoy.

The films that came after the original Star Wars all had logo designs that were variations of the first film. Some logos used thinner lettering, but the smooth, circular style has been consistent throughout all the films in the franchise.

This is not to say that the logo has not changed it all, but the creators of the many films have stuck to the basic design, usually just changing the colors and thickness of the letters. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it—something other branders can take to heart when branding their products.

Conclusion

Star Wars has a place in the heart of many film enthusiasts because they associate the film with the times in their lives when they first watched them.

In this context, the Star Wars logo is important as it reminds the person looking at the logo of those feelings they feel when they watch the film. Because the logo is smooth, simple, and not jarring, the logo is able to effectively represent and sell the Star Wars franchise.

Minecraft Logo Design, History And Evolution

By Logo Realm Team Leave a Comment

In the olden days, people studied the logos or icons of famous saints in churches. In a tech-based world, however, young people and increasingly adults are spending more and more time worshipping at the altar of their gaming PC’s, which are increasingly taking over consoles (like the old N-64) as their primary gaming machines.

The gaming industry, in turn, is overshadowing Hollywood, with many games becoming even more expensive than first-run movies to produce! Whether you’re a gamer or not, it’s hard to have a discussion about PC gaming without talking Minecraft and the ever evolving Minecraft Logo.

About Minecraft

It’s one of the most iconic games ever made, particularly in the PC realm, and it’s called Minecraft. We thought we should give you a little background for the non-gamers out there wondering why the Minecraft logo is such a big deal.

The original version, affectionately known by Minecraft devotees as “Minecraft Classic,” hit the public as a kind of “soft open.” It’s considered the second stage of the development cycle of Minecraft by some, but serious gamers still enjoy poking around its sandbox world.

It was pretty bare-bones, but still it was a necessary progression toward the versions of it popular today.

Notably, even though it was born as a personal computer game, Minecraft has enjoyed great success crossing over to and adapting to various console systems, making for easy, seamless play without all the hitches that non-gaming-nerds have little patience for resolving.

That said, the availability and compatibility of Minecraft’s array of versions, running the gamut of platforms and consoles, speaks to the popularity of the game.

Long story short, Minecraft is more than “a thing.” It’s a video gaming phenomenon, and it’s built upon a premise that doesn’t just allow for player creativity – it requires players to be creative. But don’t worry, it’s got plenty of outlets for all that gamer aggression with untold legions of opportunities to engage in combat!

Minecraft Logo Design & History

Most logos are designed to reflect a key value or characteristic of the game they represent, and the Minecraft logo is no different.

Precursor to the First Official Minecraft Logo: 2009

Crafted in 2009 by Hayden ‘Dock’ Scott-Baron, the original logo featured all-caps lettering with rounded edges which, when combined, served as a window to a kind of cartoon, concave open horizon. The sky is light blue with clouds within the letters of the word, “MINECRAFT,” and the grass is green; the clouds are slightly pixelated to convey the feel of a low-bit console system.

The First Official Minecraft Logo: 2009 Through 2011

Arguably the first “official version” of the Minecraft logo that would enter the American collective consciousness, the logo used by Minecraft in the game from 2009-2011 featured cobblestone.

This is significant because Minecraft is, if nothing else, a game about craft and creativity. Being a “sandbox” game, there’s not a linear path to success like the old Super Mario games, where each level predicably moves from left to right. In Minecraft, every gamer jumps into the sandbox of the game and builds; hence the cobblestone finish that game historians instantly recognize from the original version.

The Minecraft Logo Today: 2011 Through Present

Making its debut on Minecraft Beta 1.4, the new logo released by Mojang is distinguished from the first official logo by a face comprising the top inside part of the “A.” Compared with the first official logo, the quality of the new graphic sees a bit of an upgrade, receiving some touch-ups that make the stone comprising the letters in “MINECRAFT” appear cracked and thus more realistic.

Alternate Versions of the Logo

In addition to the traditional Minecraft logo, multiple copycat versions have also been released to celebrate each new iteration of the classic on every serious gamer’s hard drive. We’ll highlight some of these variants of the original here.

Microsoft Bedrock Edition

Microsoft has released a new logo version with the Bedrock Edition of Minecraft. The logo does not read, “Minecraft: Bedrock Edition” but rather sticks with the basic “Minecraft” with no subtitle, perhaps because the bedrock edition is a slick marketing way of conveying, “basic” or “foundational” edition. It’s also been called the “Bedrock Version,” the “Bedrock Engine,” or “Bedrock Codebase.”

This Bedrock Edition is merely a minor variation of the Mojang version previously discussed. It’s differentiated from the Mojang-released 2011 version by greater depth of the stones in the shadowy third-dimension mostly in the bottom portion of the logo. Cracks in the stone also get lighter, compared to the borders of the letters, for easier readability.

Java Edition

No discussion about the evolution of the Mindcraft logo is complete without one of the latest additions to the Mindcraft logo family: the “Java Edition” version. The Java Edition version sees the word “MINECRAFT” get proportionally smaller compared with the Bedrock version to make room for the subtitle, “Java Edition” in all caps beneath the title.

The Minecraft Logo in Pop Culture

With every phenomenon as big as Minecraft, there are inevitably copycats. And with every copycat, there’s another fan artist, another fan-coder, another dreamer coming up with their original homage to the Minecraft lifestyle. We’ll examine a few ways that the world at large has paid tribute to this god of modern games and the ubiquitous Minecraft logo.

“MINECON EARTH”

A play on the traditional “MINECRAFT” logo, the “MINECON EARTH” logo is featured on the “splash screen” graphic of the online streaming channel where you can watch MINECON Earth. The logo features a variation of the “MINECON” logo, with “EARTH” beneath it in similar 3D lettering.

Above it, a virtual Rubick’s Cube of the Minecraft world spins its various layers: a compelling animated infographic if there ever was one! Behind it, a twinkling sky flies by.

Blockify Everything!

At Minecon Earth described above, a convention for Minecraft fanatics, attendees often show off their favorite renditions of pop culture icons, blockified Minecraft-style like the letters in the logo. One of these famous scenes, prominently displayed on the Minecon Earth Web site, is the cliff scene from Tim Burton’s Nightmare Before Christmas.

Another blockified Minecon Earth-featured image is that of blockified pandas. Minecon Earth and Microsoft are involved in a collaborative effort related to these images to conserve panda life, where players are encouraged to place bamboo – which pandas eat, in Minecraft.

Minecraft Blockified Brand Penetration and Merchandise Licensing

But the fun doesn’t stop there. Other images pulled directly out of pop culture and blockified in the style of the Minecraft logo include Disney’s Cinderella Castle, the Conan O’Brien Show, and many others you’ll recognize.

Much of these images, blockified just like the Minecraft logo, make their way onto the shelves of huge retailers like Target in the form of tee shirts, plush toys, and lanyards. Someone’s definitely cashing in on Minecraft licensing and merch! One thing is certain; it’s a sure sign that Minecraft is a major cultural phenomenon, inspired by the way the very title is blockified in the iconic logo.

Minecraft Logo Maker

Just to give you an idea of just how obsessed Minecraft fans are, they’re not content to let the original logo be. They want to design their own “Minecraft logos!” Thus, a cottage industry has sprung up of various customizable Minecraft logo-makers for the serious enthusiast. Customers or visitors to the various Minecraft logo maker Web sites have the option of creating various iterations of the logo complete with their own names.

Other variables these superfans of Minecraft culture can set include the color of various elements in the logo, like, for example, the water, resulting in a kind of personalized crest. It’s usually not free to create a customized Minecraft-style logo, so like the merchandise available, these customizable logos will take your money any way you’re willing to give it to them, including via bitcoin and credit card.

Minecraft users are so dedicated to the Minecraft brand that they want the world to know they are Minecraft players: and there’s no better way to do that than by sporting your very own merch with your very own customizable stickers, hats, or you-name-it, all with that classic, Minecraft logo-inspired, “blockify everything!” art that screams “MINECRAFT!”

Conclusion

Minecraft is a brand that is focused on its base of super-fans, and nowhere is this conveyed better than in the famous Minecraft logo. Here, we’ve covered some basics about Minecraft in case you’ve been living under a rock.

We’ve gone into the history of the Minecraft logo, including a pre-release beta version which was never really used, plus the original and its descendant logo. We’ve also covered some variations of the logo used for various purposes and editions.

We’ve covered how the logo’s style has become intermingled with other manner of pop culture. We’ve also covered how even you can make your own Minecraft logo and how legions of block-thirsty Minecraft fans have done just that. The only thing left for you to do is to start blockifying something.

Fortnite Logo Design, History And Evolution

By Logo Realm Team Leave a Comment

What is the Fortnite logo? Well, let’s first explore the game itself. When it comes to video games in the modern world, the possibilities are seemingly endless.

Over the past few decades, two games that broke the mold and became breakaway hits on the market were Grand Theft Auto and Minecraft. Grand Theft Auto Online would further change the landscape of gaming, allowing us to run free in an online world playing against other human competitors, often in heated gunplay or car chases.

Combining the elements

Minecraft allows the player to mine materials from the environment around them and build in three-dimensions. Fortnite combines both elements of these games and has the great Fortnite logo to top it all off.

In this article, we’ll first explore an overview of Fortnite followed by the uniqueness of the game’s logo and a consideration of its history and development.

Fortnite Game Overview

As mentioned above, Fortnite, at its most basic, is Grand Theft Auto Online meets Minecraft. In Fortnite, you are ejected from a party bus floating above an island – an island with a variety of different locations, or towns, each with a unique layout, architecture, and appearance.

Each and every building from within the towns, and even the trees and rocks on the landscape can be smashed down with your mining tool, and harvested for their material, whether brick, wood, or steel. With the materials, the player is able to build structures – weakest being wood and strongest being steel.

Building Your Fortress

The materials that are harvested can be used to build walls around yourself to block incoming bullets or to create cover while you use health-replenishing med-packs or shield potions.

The structures can be as simple as a square box around you with a set of steps to rise up a level to gain some ground over your enemy, or they can be built out into complex and impressive multi-roomed and floored fortresses from where you can gain ground over your opponents.

You can even trap them within a maze of your own making, complete with deadly wall-traps that can be found in the environment and placed in structures.

Maximizing Your Load-Out

In Fortnite, your inventory is referred to as your “load-out”, with the game allowing you to carry up to 5 items of weapons, med-packs, shields, bombs, and porta-fortresses, which are essentially bombs that when ignited, build an immediate fortress around you that can then climbed using bouncing tires.

This gives you ground over your enemies and the ability to bounce off the sides in any direction without damage. Building your load-out is what will determine your success or failure in the game.

Quick Tip!

Additionally, a carefully balanced mix of close-, medium-, and long-range weapons, plus shields keeps you alive.

The load-out that you choose will determine what you are capable of doing in the game. A load-out of only pistols limits your ability to attack your enemies to close-combat, while assault rifles are useful at medium range, and sniper rifles provide long-range ability.

There are also a variety of special weapons that can be found throughout the game, including rocket launchers and grenade launchers. Each weapon has a color with the colors determining the quality of the weapon and damage it does. In ascending order, the colors are gray, green, blue, purple, and gold.

Watch Out for the Storm

In Fortnite, players are prevented from “camping” which is holding up in a single location for the entire game in hopes of out-surviving the other players.

Fortnite has the “storm eye”. Like the concept used in the popular movie series “The Hunger Games”, the players must be in a particular zone at a particular time, and if not, they are damaged and ultimately killed by being outside the zone of play. Outside the zone of play is the storm.

The storm moves about and shrinks during the game, requiring the players to relocate and thus encounter and battle one another.

Play Style

There are a wide variety of styles that can be chosen to employ in Fortnite, ranging from the gatherer who eludes battle and hopes to win by the other players dying in the storm, to the hyper-aggressive hunter who gathers weapons mainly by killing other players and taking their load-outs.

The style of play that you choose is purely personal, and either can be equally effective, but the hunter style of game-play results in your abilities growing at a faster rate as you use them more often. The most enjoyable style of play, however, is personal, so try them all out and determine which style of game-play best suits you.

Logo Design and History

CC 2.0 by Sergey Galyonkin via Wikimedia Commons

The Fortnite logo has varied in its appearance throughout its history, beginning as a relatively simple text logo. In time, the logo would evolve from only letters into a relatively complex image containing a variety of components including the peaks of towers, castles, and even the top of carnival tents.

The logo design is now a graphic that has become closely linked with the game and brand. Each element of the logo communicates to the player an element within the game.

The text “Fortnite” is built within a graphic logo that depicts the gaming content. The center of the Fortnite logo is a tall fort, presumably the leading fort in the game, the one that must be targeted to take the victory royale in the battle royale competition.

Beside the large fort is a satellite dish with various communication posts scattered throughout the playing world to exhibit the coordination of the players in the game. There is a hill topped by an umbrella in the next graphic element of the logo.

Satellite dishes and communication towers scattered throughout the game provide the player with a source of weapons, treasure chests, and advantageous high ground.

Trees are also drawn into the logo which are the source of the wood materials for the players to build their fortresses or quick shields for instant protection.

Two different types of trees are drawn into the logo – pointed pine trees and rounded trees. The round trees can be landed on while the pine trees cannot.

The Fortnite logo is capable of communicating to the player a variety of elements of the game-play that is in place within Fortnite. The lead tower communicates the importance of establishing a sound fortress to defend in the larger game modes.

The trees underline the importance of mining materials and taking cover, with the structures shown in the logo demonstrate what the player can build with their materials.

The hill-like shape of the Fortnite logo is also illustrative of the “king-of-the-hill” concept of the battle royale game mode in which solo, duo, or squad teams of 4 players compete for domination among a total population of 100 players per game.

Fortnite Logo Evolution

Fortnite has undergone a relatively broad revolution in terms of the Fortnite logo design. We’ll consider a few of the main iterations of the logo that we’ve seen that led to the current version we explored above with the hill atop the tall fortress.

The earliest design of the Fortnite logo was simply the text “Fortnite”. This allowed the game to be marketed purely on word-of-mouth by people in the know, but to advertise the game to people who have not played it, the logo would have to evolve a bit into a more representative image that communicates more about the game.

After the text-only logo, Fortnite would then present a logo in which the name of the game is written in planks that have been assembled together to make the letters.

Evolution of games = evolution of logo

This element of the imagery communicated to the viewer that things are built with wood in the game. This was further reinforced by the addition of three words, “Create. Collaborate. Defend”.

This was from an earlier iteration of the game in which players built forts together to fight against hordes of zombies and collaborating on their defense.

As the game evolved and the battle royale mode of player-versus-player emerged, the Fortnite logo again evolved.

The battle royale mode of Fortnite is what most resembles Grand Theft Auto Online, and also received its own logo, which is the text “Fortnite” and the text “Battle Royale”, with a pair of military-style dog tags draped over the lettering for “Battle Royale”.

This logo is for the game mode that has propelled Fortnite to the front of the modern multi-player gaming pack. Outside of the plain text and the wooden text logo, this communicates a mode, while the current and new Fortnite logo communicates the spirit of the game and more of the possibilities that are in store for the player.

Fortnite Logo: Conclusion

Fortnite has grown to become an extremely popular game. Its creative and comprehensive graphic logo communicates the content of the game to potential players. The logo, like the game, has undergone change and evolution to better appeal to its fans and potential fans.

For more information on logos and their evolution, check back to Logo Realm at for ongoing articles and updates.

Delta Airlines Logo Design History and Evolution

By Eric N. Addams Leave a Comment

Delta is easily one of the best-known airlines in the United States. One of the big names left standing after decades of mergers, it has a tradition of high quality and one of the best reputations of all the domestic airlines. While the company has certainly grown over the decades, it has managed to keep a sterling reputation even as it morphed from a local airline into an international giant. This article will detail the history of one of the company’s major assets – the Delta Airlines logo – as it changed and evolved alongside the company itself.

Delta Airlines Logo Design Elements

The current Delta Airlines logo, which the company refers to as the ‘widget’, is a relatively recent creation. Composed of a simple triangular logo alongside the company’s name, it certainly helps to further tie the brand’s image together. It’s simple but easy to identify at a distance, making it a successful bit of branding that sticks in the minds of consumers.

The main element of the logo is certainly the shape. The ‘widget’ is a stylized red triangle (or, appropriately, a delta) atop another triangle. It helps to rope the company’s name back into the logo itself, further eliminating the need for complicated signage at a glance. It’s a simple bit of marketing trickery, but one that works well.

The other element of the logo is the word ‘Delta’ spelled in all-caps. The word is short, simple and easy to read, spelled out so that it’s likewise impossible to get wrong when reading. It’s another simple visual trick that works very well.

Changes and Evolution

1. Shape

The one thing that’s stayed true across most of Delta’s logos is the triangular shape. Actually the Greek letter Delta, it corresponds to the D in the company’s name. As the company has grown, it has continued to keep the same shape with a number of different design elements. From 1930-1934 it emphasized the company’s crop-dusting roots, while from 1934-1951 it grew wings. Until 1959, the company went with a more circular design until introducing the familiar widget in that year. Variations on the widget accompanied by the company name would continue to be a major part of the company’s visual identification, with the widget finally winning out as the sole design element in 1987.

2. Color

Red has largely been Delta’s color since the beginning. It the early years, the company stuck with a simple red and black before moving on to a multi-colored, busier approach in 1930. After 1930, though, red would become dominant – usually alongside blue, all the way through the modern day. Delta’s color changes have largely been part of major marketing changes and mergers with other companies, though Delta has wisely kept the identifying red throughout every shift.

3. Font

Nothing has changed more over the years than Delta’s font. It’s always been simple, though the company has played around with a number of font designs. The original font was Greek-inspired, though that was quickly dropped. The font would remain simple 1930-1945, at which time it would be replaced with a more art deco design. This would last until 1959, when Delta would design on a font that’s essentially the one that’s been in use ever since.

Influences/ Inspiration

Delta’s logo is clearly influenced quite a bit by other airlines. The first logo change, for example, was influenced by Delta’s predecessor company. Many of its changes over the years have been brought about by mergers and acquisitions, initially bringing in elements from other airlines. Today’s logo, though, is one that really stands alone.

If you want to see the influence of the Delta Airlines logo, you just need to go to an airport. American’s logo, for example, draws heavily from Delta’s. So too did a number of now defunct (or purchased) airlines like Continental. Delta was definitely a major factor in encouraging other airlines to adopt simple, easily-identifiable logos for their planes.

Trivia

Delta is the number-one rated airline in the United States.
Delta has its own museum in Atlanta.
Delta was the first airline to ban smoking on all of its flights
Delta started life as the Huff Daland Dusting Company in 1925.
More than 180 million people fly on Delta every year.
Delta began offering access to Wi-Fi on their flights all the way back in 2008.
The name ‘Delta’ almost certainly comes from the Greek letter.

Conclusion

The Delta Airlines logo is one of the company’s best assets. It makes the company easy to identify from a distance, even though the logo itself is fairly simple. It’s changed and evolved over the years that the company has been active, but one thing is for sure – the company’s found something that works.

Cisco Logo Design History and Evolution

By Billy Clarke Leave a Comment

You’ve used Cisco’s products in the past, even if you don’t realize that fact. Cisco makes a number of computer accessories and peripherals, many of which are used in the world of business. You might have used a Cisco modem or router in the past, for example, a product chosen more for its quality than for a flashy logo. Nevertheless, the Cisco logo has become emblematic of a certain type of design aesthetic. It’s subtle, but it works wonders. Studying this logo’s history is actually a great way to learn more about the company itself.

Cisco Logo Design Elements

Cisco’s logo is simple, yet elegant. The basic shape is a series of alternating lines in a waveform, or perhaps in the shape of a bridge. It’s a clear nod to the company’s origins, of course, but it’s more than that – it’s a symbol that screams high-tech without actually having to get in the consumer’s face. Situated above the company name, the shape makes it very easy to determine what the company is about and what it aims to do.

The colors and font are likewise simple but useful. The color scheme is easy on the eyes but stands out, a red and blue that work together to both bring in the customer and stand out on devices. The font is simple and lower-case, helping the company’s logo to stand out in a crowd that has been known to use booming, block letters in order to attract more customers.

Changes and Evolution

1. Shape

Cisco’s original logo debuted in 1985, and in that logo you can already see the core of the current logo. In the original, the bridge was much less stylized – it was a clear Golden Gate bridge, the icon of a city that gave the company both its logo and its name. By 1990, the company moved to a more stylized logo, one that was closer to the current waveform and that included the Cisco Systems name. The logo would change only a bit in 1996 before reaching its current state in 2006, one where branding in the consumer electronics market had become much more important.

2. Color

The 1985 Cisco logo is all red, clearly mimicking the Golden Gate Bridge. By 1990, though, the company would switch to the blue and red it has today. While the former logo was definitely one that worked for a small San Fransisco-based company, the new colors were more appealing to consumers and worked much better in an international marketplace. Even so, Cisco has managed to keep the same shade of red as a part of its logo since the beginning.

3. Font

Cisco’s original logo didn’t include a font at all – just the bridge emblem. In 1990, the font appeared, with a much larger S to help indicate the company’s status in the computer world. By 1995, though, the S would lose its prominence as such logos lost prominence in the overall market. Today’s Cisco logo uses a font that’s in line with other component and electronics manufacturers in the industry.

Influences/ Inspiration

Cisco’s current logo is definitely one that is a trend-follower rather than a trend-setter. It’s the same kind of logo that you see from companies as varied as Brother and Compaq. These logos all have the same vaguely-friendly, vaguely-techy sort of font and shape, showing users exactly what the company is about without getting too aggressive. The move away from the bridge actually helped the company with its identity, though, establishing it firmly alongside other major players in the same market.

If there’s a company that took inspiration from Cisco, it’s probably CSIRO. The logos are incredibly similar, even if the courts don’t agree. Beyond that, though, it’s not likely that many other companies directly copied Cisco. Instead, many companies in the same industry began to converge on the same types of logos at around the same time.

Trivia

Cisco is short for San Francisco – and that’s why the company traditionally spelled its name without capital letters.
Cisco is the creator of StadiumVision.
Cisco has bought over 170 companies since it was founded.
Cisco’s founders sold their shares of the company in 1990 for about $170 million.
Cisco has sites in around 170 countries.

Conclusion

Cisco’s logo sits somewhere between the unique and the generic. It has just enough personality to stand out, but not enough that it looks out of place on store shelves. It’s an example of how moving towards the middle can help to preserve a brand identity, even if most of the nods towards being unique are subtle. While you may not always be drawn towards Cisco’s products, you’ll always be able to identify the company’s logo.