In 1875, Jules Louis Audemars and Edward Auguste Piguet united to form the Audemars Piguet watch company. They quickly became notorious for watches that featured both a perpetual calendar and chronograph. Watchmaking enthusiasts appreciate that Audemars Piguet still makes traditional mechanical watches, and the watches are also loved by fashionistas and celebrities due to their bold, eye catching designs.
Just like the company’s watches, the Audemars Piguet logo also has a very striking design. In this article, we will show you more of the brand’s fascinating history and tell you the inspiration behind this impactful logo.
Audemars Piguet Logo Design Elements
Audemar Piguet’s logo is a bold black rectangle with white font in two horizontal lines. The first line of the logo says “Audemars Piguet,” and the second line says “Le Brassus” in much smaller, italicized letters centered beneath the brand name. A classic Old Style typeface with serifs is used to write the “Le Brassus” line.
In the brand name, the A has an unusual shape that adds some visual interest to the design. Only the left side of the A is diagonal, and the right side of the A is completely vertical. Both the A and the P are slightly larger than the rest of the capitalized letters. The font for the Audemars Piguet brand name is a customized font that is similar in many ways to that of another famous watch brand logo, the A. Lange & Sohne logo. It is characterized by rectangular curves, wide vertical stems, thin horizontal crossbars, and slanted serifs.
Changes and Evolution
1. Shape
Older logos for Audemars Piguet simply said “Audemars Piguet & Co” in a single line of plain text. The brand eventually decided to go with a longer logo that looked more distinguished, so they changed it to a logo that said “Audemars Piguet” on the top line and “Le maître de l’horlogerie depuis 1875” on the bottom line. This logo became even more elaborate when the AP initials were added in a third line along the top of the logo. However, Audemars Piguet began to realize that simpler was probably better, so they removed the motto on the third line. In order to create an even more straightforward logo, Audemars Piguet then removed the extra set of initials.
2. Color
For many years, Audemars Piguet mostly used a logo that had black text on a white background or one with gold text on a white background. However, they now mostly use a logo with white text on a black background because it looks stronger and more noticeable.
3. Font
On the older logos, Audemars Piguet used a simple san-serif font that could easily be engraved or printed in small surface areas. By the time they had switched to the longer logo with the initials, brand name, and brand motto, Audemars Piguet had switched to the fonts that are still in use today. The only difference is that the small, italicized text is used to write a brand location, not a brand motto.
Influences/Inspiration
A custom font is used for the logo to add some interest and style, and the slanted A gives the logo a little more movement. Audemars Piguets dark logo coloring is an intentional choice to make the logo stand out from all the watch companies that have black text logos. This dark color choice also emphasizes the strength and daring of the company. Another thing that makes Audemars Piguet’s logo so unique is the inclusion of Le Brassus as their headquarters. Unlike all the big companies located in Geneva, Audemars Piguet continues to operate out of a tiny village in a Swiss valley. This appeals to customers because it reminds them that of the brands artisan quality and craftsmanship.
Trivia
- One of the most prized watches with the Audemars Piguet logo on it is their 1955 first series of calendar watches that had a leap year indication on it. Only nine of these were ever made.
- Audemars Piguet stands out from many other watchmaking corporations because they are actually still owned by the founding family.
- The Audemars Piguet logo was also one of the first watch logos to appear on watches made from carbon and titanium, which the company popularized as watch building materials.
Conclusion
The dark coloring and the stylistic lettering on the Audemars Piguet logo make it a very visually appealing design. It retains its good looks whether it is printed on a huge billboard or small watchface. Though it is still a somewhat new logo, this design is ideal for conveying the strength, innovation and prominence of the Audemars Piguet brand.
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