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.

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.

Paramount is one of the biggest studios in Hollywood. In existence for nearly one hundred years, it’s one of the oldest to stick around through years of tumult and closure. Now part of Viacom, it’s still the studio behind some of media’s biggest properties. One thing that has continually evolved throughout Paramount’s existence is its logo. In many ways, the history of the Paramount logo reflects the history of film. Taking a moment to look at the logo’s elements and evolution tell a store about how much things have changed in a century of film-making.

Paramount Logo Design Elements

When you think of Paramount, you probably think about the famous mountain logo. When the logo first appears on screen, you see a windswept, rocky crag. Soon after it is joined by a semi-circle of stars and eventually the name of the studio. It’s about as iconic as one can get when it comes to logos, standing out as relatively timeless in a world of studios that have gone to the well again and again in attempts to stay relevant. The old logo, it seems, is one that just needs to be updated – not changed entirely.

Oddly, the colors of the logo are very hard to define. They’re not definite – and in fact, they sometimes change from film to film. What you generally see, though, is a sunset. The only other color element is the logo, generally written in white. There’s no mistaking exactly what this logo is meant to be, with the purity of the color working nicely with the snow on the peak of the mountain.

Changes and Evolution

1. Shape

Oddly, the shape of the Paramount logo hasn’t changed over the years so much as it has evolved. From 1914 to 1952, you’ve got the same basic shape that features the top of a mountain. In 1952, thanks in large part to better film techniques and quality, you get a mountain that’s a bit twistier. From 1954 to 1967, the mountain gets bigger – and then shrinks again from 1968-1975. The only major change in shape comes in 1975, where the photo-realistic mountain is abandoned for a hand-drawn representation. It’s the only major shift, and one that would be changed back in 1987 as the studio started to try to recapture a bit of its history.

2. Color

The color in the Paramount logo really follows the development of color in cinema. From 1914-1952, it’s a black and white logo – fitting for the time. In 1952, you get a bit more color – not as much, but you’d finally get something akin to the popular Technicolor in 1954. With the exception of the brief all-blue period in the seventies and eighties, the colors would continue to get more realistic and varied within the logo. It’s a history of color in action, one that a single company’s logo shows better than most other examples.

3. Font

Again, the font for Paramount is really a lesson in font-types through history. The original font is very common for the 1920s onward, with a looping script. The phrase “A Paramount Picture” would be included through the font change in 1952, until it moved to “A Paramount Release” in 1954. From there, the font would stay the same even as the words changed. The company would first include “A Gulf + Western Company” in its logo, before eventually transitioning to the modern “A Viacom Company” in the modern CGI logo.

Influences/ Inspiration

The Paramount logo is the last of an old breed. The original title card took influence from vaudeville shows and the theater, while later cards really took advantage of the technology of the time. It wasn’t the yawning lion of MGM that showed off sound, but rather the colorful mountain that showed off color. It’s certain a logo of a certain time, if not a specific place.

Few modern logos take beats from Paramount. Other film companies similarly use landscapes, but few to the iconic degree of Paramount. As one of the last original studios standing, it also stands alone in its logo.

Trivia

• Paramount Picture Corp was founded in 1914
• Paramount distributed both versions of Cecil B. DeMille’s The Ten Commandments
• Paramount’s logo is the longest-used logo in Hollywood history
• You can take a tour of Paramount Studios seven days a week.
• Paramount is one of the five oldest film studios in Hollywood

Conclusion

Paramount’s logo is a relic of a time gone by. By studying the logo, you can study the changes in both logo design and in Hollywood. It’s a fascinating look at marketing from a time gone by, one that shows the importance of tradition as well as adapting to new technologies.

If you want a fantastic example of continuity in logo design, you simply have to take a look at General Electric. There’s a fair chance that you have something designed by GE in your home, even if you didn’t seek out the company’s products on purpose. The company has its fingers in dozens of different enterprises, and many electronic items do owe a debt to the company. On all of those items is stamped a logo – virtually the same one that’s been in use since 1900. Taking a look at the General Electric logo is an amazing chance to look at how small changes can keep an iconic logo relevant at the turn of two different centuries.

General Electric Logo Design Elements

The shape of the General Electric logo is simple – it’s just a circle with a bit of script inside. It’s the kind of simplicity that you’d expect from both an early 20th and early 21st-century logo, but not necessarily the kind of thing you’d expect to go without major revisions for over a century. The only ‘unique’ element in the shape are the four wave-like lines inside the logo, each of which are minor design flourishes that are nonetheless a vital part of the overall logo.

The color of today’s logo is a light blue and white, a breezy logo that creates a friendly face for the giant company. The colors are airy enough that they work on most products, but not so vital that they can’t go back to greyscale when printed on metal. The font inside is certainly a unique, quasi-gothic font that can only be described as a GE original – easy enough to identify at a glance, but still so unique that it is always going to be associated with the company.

Changes and Evolution

1. Shape

The original shape of the GE logo did not feature the circle. Instead, it featured only a highly-stylized version of the current script. The circle would become part of the design in 1900, in a stamped-metal form that spoke to its industrial applications. It would assume its typical printed shape in 1909 and keep the same shape for almost a hundred years, alternating only in the thickness of the outline and the wave-lines within the circle. It’s a testament to how GE has only made passing nods to changing with the times.

2. Color

GE’s logo started out as black, as much an element of design at the time as one of purpose. It would continue to stay black for over a hundred years due to the ease of either stamping the monochrome logo on metal or printing the black-and-white logo on paper. It wouldn’t be until the 21st century that any color change would come, as the company moved to the current light-blue. It’s definitely a sign that the company has made an attempt to move past its more utilitarian roots to something a little more consumer-friendly.

3. Font

The font in the GE logo is one of its most easily-identifiable aspects. The logo itself was originally just a version of the current font, though even more stylized than that seen today. There has been virtually no change in the font style since 1909, a remarkable example of a company sticking with a single brand identity for a solid century. In fact, the only real changes in the font at all since 1900 have been slight differences in the overall thickness of the lines – a minor change that’s hard for anyone but a design student to detect.

Influences/ Inspiration

The major influences behind the General Electric logo are, oddly, probably companies that no longer exist. You’re looking at a logo that can easily be stamped on metal, so it shares a general ancestry with companies that produced everything from cast-iron pans to furnaces. It’s absolutely the kind of logo that functions more of a mark of trade than anything else, so you can truthfully say that this is a logo style that probably stretches back to the earliest days of metalwork.

Given its age, it’s hard to argue that General Electric’s logo doesn’t have a hand in the development of the modern logo form. Any business that uses its initials in a logo (IBM, for example) or that has a circular logo probably owes a debt here.

Trivia

• GE was formedin part by Thomas Edison’s Edison General Electric
• GE is responsible for 1/3 of the world’s wind energy.
• GE was one of the original Dow Jones companies.

Conclusion

GE’s logo has stood the test of time. By being simple but identifiable, the company’s logo has outlasted almost all of its competition. This is the logo to study if you’re looking for the benefits of simplicity and longevity in marketing.