Oracle is one of the major computer hardware developers with which the average consumer may not be familiar. After all, the company largely makes business hardware and enterprise-level software, the kind of products that are much more accessible at the corporate level. If you’ve ever worked in IT, though, you’ve doubtlessly encountered Oracle and their familiar badge. Taking a look at the Oracle logo, how it works, and its history can teach you a bit about the company itself. As the company evolved, it only makes sense that its logo would evolve just as much.
Oracle Logo Design Elements
The Oracle logo is fairly simple. Just the name of the company, it has no need for fancy shapes or interesting designs. In fact, the closest thing to a shape that the logo has is when the logo is printed inside a rectangular red badge. This badge is more of a background than a design element, though, and it’s frequently left out of the design altogether.
Oracle’s primary color is red, which is both a fairly standard hardware company logo color and a useful way for the logo to stand out. The red continues across all designs – it’s the color of the background when the logo is rendered in white, and the color of the font when it’s not. The font itself is a custom, futuristic font the is indicative of the company’s place in the computer business.
Changes and Evolution
1. Shape
While Oracle’s primary logo has kept the same shape since day one, it’s interesting to look at how the company has managed to change how it presents the logo. The company has a tendency to embrace all aspects of its business in marketing, so long as it is able to put the name of the company first. It typically adds the name of a new acquisition or new department below the logo, helping users to understand that any product at which they are looking is firmly a part of the Oracle family. In the past, there has been a tendency to flip the shape – perhaps indicating a reliance on the product over the company.
2. Color
While Oracle and red tend to go together, that’s not the only color that the company has used. Oracle very frequently uses black as its primary color, which is par for the course in the tech world. It has, very rarely, embraced the use of other colors – especially grey just after the acquisition of Sun Microsystems. For the most part, though, the company has been very straightforward with making the color red a key part of its branding.
3. Font
Oracle’s futuristic, corporate font has been a major part of the business since day one. It is rarely, however, a part of the company’s secondary marketing efforts. When marketing an individual product, the company tends to use a more basic, default font. This again differentiates the company from its products and puts a bit of distance between the reputation of the company and exactly what it is selling. The biggest changes in font have come with newer products related to cloud computing, attempting to embrace a friendlier sub-title font in order to sell users on a newer technology.
Influences/ Inspiration
The Oracle logo is very much a product of the hardware world. You can see the early genesis of the company’s logo design in other hardware makers like Canon and Xerox, and even in IBM to a certain degree. This kind of pseudo-futuristic custom font helps a tech company to prove its part in the world of manufacturing quickly by adapting to the industry norms. It’s a quick shorthand for buyers who are looking for industrial-quality computers and software.
Oracle’s the last of a dying breed when it comes to logo design, so you aren’t going to see many companies trying to create a similar logo. Instead, you’re more likely to see a smaller company subsumed by Oracle and having its logo changed. Oracle’s brand identity is very much its own and thus it isn’t something that necessarily needs to set trends.
Trivia
- Oracle was named after a CIA project on which the company’s founder had worked.
- The company is the world’s third biggest hardware creator.
- Oracle has previously been known as Software Development Laboratories and Relational Software Inc.
- Oracle is the sponsor of the Golden State Warriors.
Conclusion
Oracle is defined as much by a lack of change as actual changes. The big alterations in the logo have always come from acquisitions, and even those have never impacted the main body of the logo. As such, it’s possible to view Oracle as a prime example of how one brand can consume the identity of another, eventually leaving nothing behind but a brief subtitle.
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