The Boeing corporation is the largest aircraft manufacturer in the world. They got their start in 1910 making wooden biplanes, but Boeing is responsible for creating commercial airplanes, rockets, satellites, and military aircraft. Due to the company’s impressive range of products, the Boeing logo is visible at almost every airport. This logo manages to reference the company’s proud past, while highlighting their reputation for innovation. We will look at the history of this logo to see how the Boeing logo was created, and what its inspiration was.
Boeing Logo Design Elements
Boeing’s logo clearly states the name of the company on the right side of the logo. The word “Boeing” is slanted to the right, and it is in a medium blue shade. A sans-serif font is used for the logo, and it is characterized by squared curves and blunt edges.
On the left side of the logo is an emblem used to represent Boeing. This emblem is a few lines in the same shade of blue as the Boeing wordmark. At the center, there is a thin, circular line. Another thin line curves around the circle from the upper right corner to the lower left corner. In the lower right side of the emblem, a thicker line is shaped into a stylized triangle or arrow shape.
Changes and Evolution
1. Shape
The original logo said Boeing in a horizontal line with a bird flying underneath. They then tried a few different variants of this design, like a logo with “Boeing” in a horizontal line between two wings, or “Boeing” in a vertical line with a pair of horizontal wings extending from the top.
By the 1940s, Boeing had settled on a simpler design. This said “Boeing” in a diagonal line, and the dot of the I was a star. After a few years, Boeing then changed to the slanted, horizontal wordmark that is still part of their logo today. The only other change was the addition of the circle emblem in 1997.
2. Color
Boeing’s first few logos were just a black on white design, but this changed when the company created their current logo in 1997. This logo used blue for the wordmark and silver for the emblem. Boeing later switched to a logo that used a more unified color scheme.
3. Font
Boeing has experimented with many different fonts in their logo. Their first fonts tended to be sans-serif designs, then they changed to a more classic Roman font. After this, Boeing tried a script font that was quickly replaced with their signature font. This font is a customized design called “Stratotype.”
Influences/Inspiration
The symbol on the Boeing logo references the company’s products. It uses a circle to depict the earth, and the curved line represents an orbiting spacecraft. The triangle in the emblem represents a flying aircraft. Both the emblem and the wordmark are blue to represent the sky that Boeing products fly through. Blue is also a wise choice because it appears trustworthy and reliable to consumers.
Boeing’s logo symbolizes the merging of the McDonnell Douglas Corporation and the Boeing Corporation. It combines Boeing’s signature wordmark with the circle emblem of McDonnell. A variant of this logo is still in use today because it symbolizes the history of both Boeing and McDonnell. The logo has been the same for so long that it is now an iconic symbol that reminds people of Boeing immediately.
Trivia
- The Stratotype font used for the logo is also used to write the numbers on Boeing aircrafts.
- Boeing’s current logo was designed by Rick Eiber, an icon in Seattle modern graphic design.
- The founder of Boeing was American, but his last name, which later became the name of his company, is actually a Welsh surname that means “son of Owen.”
Conclusion
The combination of delicate curves and strong lines makes the Boeing logo look very aesthetically pleasing, and the bright blue color gives the company a reliable and cheerful appearance. In addition to looking nice, the logo also has a lot of symbolism attached to it. It represents Boeing’s past, and references all of the aircraft research and development that the company has done.
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