Deutsche Bank was founded back in 1870 by a group of businessmen who wanted to establish a reputation for Germany in international financial circles. They were so successful that Deutsche Bank is now the largest bank in Germany, and one of the biggest banks in the world. To maintain a united brand image at all of their international offices, Deutsche Bank relies on a plain yet recognizable logo. In this article, we will tell you all about the Deutsche Bank logo history and design.

Deutsche Bank Logo Design Elements

Deutsche Bank’s logo is impressively simple, but it is very well designed. Called “slash in a square” by the bank, this logo consists of a single basic emblem. The exterior of the logo is a square shape drawn by a single thick line. Inside of the square is a single diagonal line that slants from the lower left corner to the upper left corner.

Both the upper and lower edges of this line are cut off at a blunt, horizontal line that runs parallel to the lines of the square. Line widths for the slash and the square outline are completely identical. The color used for the Deutsche Bank logo is a deep blue color that has a hint of purple in it. This shade helps the logo stand out from the plainer navy blue logos used by so many other banks.

Changes and Evolution

1. Shape

The first Deutsche Bank logo was an eagle meant to represent their German origins. Following a 1929 merger, the logo switched to a circle containing an interlocked D and G. This then transitioned into an oval with a small D and a large B in the middle. When the company split into a few different regional banks, they used various oval and round logos with initials inside.

Once the banks reunited, they went back to the “DB” monogram inside of an oval. Starting in 1974, the logo said “Deutsche Bank” on the left side, and had the slash in a square on the right. In 2010, the company removed their name altogether.

2. Color

For the first several decades, the bank used plain black logos that could easily be printed on older printing equipment. When they switched to the 1974 logo, the company began using a deep indigo blue shade instead of black.

3. Font

Deutsche Bank’s first logo with text did not even occur until 1929. For this logo and all subsequent logos until 1952, classic serif Roman fonts were used. The bank briefly tried out a sans- serif, capitalized font before switching back to a Roman font in an oval. They permanently switched to a sans-serif font with both upper and lower case lettering in 1974.

Influences/Inspiration

The Deutsche Bank logo was created after a contest between eight graphic artists, and Deutsche Bank selected German designer Anton Stankowski’s design as the winner. Stankowski’s design was selected because it had a striking visual appearance that is bold and recognizable. The bank liked that the logo looked entirely different from all of their competitors, and it was very easy to reproduce on company materials. This versatility makes the Deutsche Bank logo ideal for generating brand recognition.

According to the Deutsche Bank, their logo is meant to symbolize a stable environment characterized by growth. The forward leaning slash represents growth, development, and the future. At the same time, the strong square around the slash means that it is secure and safe. The sense of trustworthiness is further emphasized by the blue color that reminds people of reliability and responsibility.

Trivia

• A massive version of the logo can be seen on the top of the 509-foot tall Deutsche Bank Twin Towers.
• Due to the name, many people make the mistake of thinking the bank is Dutch. However, Deutsche actually means “German” in the German language.
• The logo designer was inspired by famous artist, Piet Mondrian.

Conclusion

The Deutsche Bank logo is so successful because it is simple and easy to describe, yet it is also completely unique and original. Its clever meaning does an excellent job of representing the bank’s main mission, and making the bank look stable and reliable. This logo has been a part of Deutsche Bank branding since the early 1970s, and it will not be going anywhere any time soon.

Recommended Read: HSBC Logo Design History and Evolution

HSBC Holdings is an international banking company that was first established in Hong Kong back in 1865. This historical bank is one of the largest companies in the world, and it manages a massive amount of financial transactions. People in Asia, Europe, North America, and Africa all use HSBC, so its logo is seen throughout the world. HSBC combines their brand name with a hexagonal design to make their logo. In this article, you can learn what the design of the HSBC logo means.

HSBC Logo Design Elements

On the right side of the logo is the iconic HSBC hexagon. This is a red and white design in a slightly flattened hexagonal shape made up of six triangles. The interior of the hexagon is a square with a red triangle at the top and bottom, and a white triangle on each side. A red triangle is attached on either side of the square to give it its signature hexagonal shape.

To the left of the HSBC hexagon is the company’s brand name. It appears in black, all capitalized letters. The font for the HSBC logo is a Roman-style font that has traditional serifs and contrasting thin and thick lines. Its elegant curves and classic shapes give the logo a respectable and stylish look.

Changes and Evolution

1. Shape

In the early decades of the bank, their logo was simply the bank’s full name. Once the bank split into several subsidiaries, the company’s logo became even vaguer. Each branch had their own logo that referenced their location and name. In 1998, the bank decided to begin using the hexagon sign as the logo for all HSBC holdings. This has helped create a united brand image for all the companies under the HSBC name.

2. Color

The HSBC logo is currently black text next to a red and white emblem, but its color does undergo some changes every now and then. When the logo is displayed on a black background, its text may be silver or white. This change helps the HSBC logo stand out against dark backgrounds. The logo has also gradually gotten darker and more muted, so it is no longer the bright, orangish red that it originally was.

3. Font

Over the years, the HSBC font has gotten slightly thinner. Thanks to more accurate printers and computer screens, the bold font needed to make the logo appear on fax machines and other older equipment was no longer necessary.

Influences/Inspiration

HSBC’s logo inspiration actually dates all the way back to the 1400s. The symbol at the top of the HSBC logo is based on their company flag. Many Hong Kong companies had their own unique flag that was used to identify their businesses in the 1800s. HSBC decided to use this bit of company history to create a symbol for their company’s logo. The flag that the logo is based on was originally inspired by the St. Andrew’s cross flag, which is the national flag for the Scottish founder of the bank.

Trivia

• Henry Steiner, the Austrian designer who made the HSBC logo, has a long history of working with banks. He is also behind the design of banknotes for the Standard Chartered Bank.
• HSBC stands for The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation, which was the original name of the company.
• The bank sponsors golf, tennis, and rugby tournaments, so their logo and name appear at many world championship games.

Conclusion

The HSBC logo is a simple yet visually impressive logo. Its bright red color and crisply angled lines do an excellent job of representing the bank’s reputation for excellence and precision. The logo manages to reference the company’s proud past as one of the first Hong Kong banks, but it also has a modern and minimalistic appearance.

Recommended Read: Deutsche Bank Logo Design History and Evolution

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

Source

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.

Recommended Read: Lufthansa Logo Design History and Evolution

Back when it was started in 1886, Bosch was one of the first companies to begin producing gas engines. They continue to have a reputation for innovation and quality, and the company is currently the largest producer of automotive components in the world. On their many products, Bosch proudly displays the signature Bosch logo. You can find out the meaning of this logo by reading our article. We will tell you more about the design of the Bosch logo, and show you how it has changed throughout the decades.

Bosch Logo Design Elements

Bosch’s logo has a silver emblem to the left of the company’s name. The wordmark is written in a bright red, sans-serif lettering . Each letter is capitalized, and they are all spaced evenly apart. The letters in the Bosch wordmark are all identical in height, and the entire wordmark is slightly shorter than the Bosch emblem.

This emblem is a circular symbol made up of lines. It has shading and highlighting to make the emblem look like it is made out of three dimensional silver. The emblem has a single circular outline surrounding a symbol on the inside. Two parallel, horizontal lines are in the center of the symbol, and these two lines connect with a semicircle on either end. The semicircles on the end are slightly wider than the parallel lines, but they still fit inside the main circle.

Changes and Evolution

Source

1. Shape

Since 1907, Bosch has used a symbol that looks like a circular line surrounding two semicircles connected by a rectangle. At first, the symbol was a little busier. It also included electrical bolts and some additional lines around the side. It was simplified to its current shape in 1919, when the symbol became a plain line drawing. This stayed the same until 2001, when the thin lines on the symbol became thicker and three dimensional.

2. Color

Until 1925, all versions of the Bosch logo were in a simple black and white color design. New innovations in printing allowed the company to switch to a more colorful red color for their wordmark. Even more color was added in 2001, when the plain black emblem became a shaded emblem that looks like silver metal.

3. Font

Bosch’s original font was a stylized one that had elaborate swirls. This switched to a slightly more regular script font that was further simplified into a basic, sans-serif, all-capital font like the one today. The overall shape of Bosch’s font has remained the same since 1925, but it has gotten slightly thicker and larger in comparison to the rest of the logo over time.

Influences/Inspiration

If you look carefully, you can see that Bosch’s logo looks like a cross section of the magneto armature ignition system invented by Bosch in the early 1900s. Bosch’s logo has inspired many other automobile manufacturers to use part of their signature products, such as the Tesla battery coil or the Mazda rotary engine, in their logo.

Bosch’s decision to keep using the same logo style for decades helps remind customers of the company’s proud past and reputation for quality. Their consistent logo style makes them look steady and dependable. To avoid looking too outdated, though, the company has made the wise choice to update the logo a little. They used a silver color on their current logo to emphasize their focus on excellence.

Trivia

• The logo that became the inspiration for all later Bosch logos was not designed by an artist or advertiser. It was drawn by Gottlob Honold, Bosch’s head of development.
• Bosch gets its name from the last name of the founder. It is a relatively popular Dutch surname that means “forest.”
• The use of a silver, three dimensional design mimics the car emblems seen on most automobile logos, so it emphasizes Bosch’s area of specialization.
• Erik Spiekermann, the designer who helped create the current logo typeface, also made the typeface used on Nokia phones.

Conclusion

Bosch’s logo is a solid logo that references their past in a modern logo design. It has been around in one form or another for over 100 years at this point. The stylish design and symmetrical shape of the Bosch logo look visually pleasing, while the bold red text reminds customers of the brand name. It has worked so well for Bosch that they will probably continue to use variants of it for years.

The Royal Dutch Shell company is one of the largest producers of oil and gas in the world. They extract gas and oil, and refine it into many products. The bright red and yellow Shell logo can be seen throughout the world, and most people recognize it as a symbol for the chain of Shell gas stations. If you are one of the many people wondering why a gas company has a seashell for its logo, keep reading this article. We will tell you all about the Shell logo’s origins, and explain how it has changed over the years.

Shell Logo Design Elements

The Shell logo is shaped like a stylized version of a scallop sea shell. It has a curved top and a square bottom. Along the bottom of the logo are three triangles that mimic the hinged shape of a shell. The shell itself is a bright yellow color, and it is surrounded by a thick, red outline. This red outline merges into seven thin, red lines that point inward and represent the ridges on the scallop shell. Both the red and the yellow shades on the logo are warm, bright variants of the primary colors.

Changes and Evolution

Source

1. Shape

Shell’s very first seashell logo looked quite different. It was a very realistic drawing of a mussel shell, complete with shading and patterns. By 1904, the logo was a scallop viewed from above, just like it is today, but it was still quite realistic. The shell started becoming stylized in the 1930s, when the company switched to line drawing in the classic Art Deco style.

A wordmark saying “Shell” was added in the 1940s to further identify the company. Throughout the 1940s and 1950s, the shell drawing became simpler and simpler, so it could easily be printed and copied. Its current shape was first designed in 1971, but, at the time, the word “Shell” was written below it. The brand name on the logo was not removed until the 2000s.

2. Color

The earliest logos were just black and white designs. Shell did not begin to use colors on their logo until the 1940s, when the company began building gas stations. They selected a bright red and yellow color scheme that is still in use today.

3. Font

To avoid looking too busy, all of the Shell logos with text have just used a basic, Helvetica-inspired font. It features sans-serif lettering with lines of equal widths. The earlier logos used an all-capitalized design, while the later logos only capitalized the S.

Influences/Inspiration

Shell uses a logo with a sea shell because the company was created when the Royal Dutch Petroleum Company merged with the Shell Transport Company to create a global oil export business. To reference their origins as an export group for exotic shells, the company decided to use a logo with a shell on it.

There are many stories about the reason for Shell logo’s colors. Some people believe that the Shell logo uses red and yellow because their Scottish director chose the colors of the Royal Standard of Scotland. Others think that the colors were meant to mimic the Spanish flag and appeal to the Spanish settlers who lived near the first Shell gas stations. Regardless of the original intention, the cheerful color scheme helped Shell stand out with a fun look, so it is still used today.

Trivia

• Raymond Loewy, the man who designed the version of the logo still in use today also created the logos for other oil and gas companies like BP and Exxon.
• Shell’s logo has been linked to natural gas for years, but the company is beginning to explore wind energy.
• The shell on the logo is technically supposed to represent the Pecten Maximus species, which is a type of giant scallop.

Conclusion

Shell’s iconic logo has helped them to become one of the most recognizable oil companies in the world. It shows up on the corporation’s gas stations, storage equipment, and products. Variations of this logo have been in use since the early 1900s, and the Shell logo will probably remain consistent for decades to come.