A Short History


How did logo design come about? Let's take a trip back through time.

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Many logo symbols incorporate symbols indicating ownership or status (think of crowns and shields) and have been used for centuries by monarchs and powerful organizations.


Prehistoric Origins

Nike may be new, but logos are prehistoric. Identifiers have been around since before human history, when early Homo sapiens smeared blue mud on themselves during territorial battles with the Cro-Magnons so that in the heat of conflict they could identify whose brains to bash out. And which identifier won, you might ask? Talk about functional design!

Symbols occupy an important place in the history of human communication. Linguists believe that our languages all started with a need to externalize thoughts and ideasat first as simple grunts and groansthat eventually evolved into speech. Symbols helped this process along, as they were first used to identify different social groups, and later used to communicate concepts and ideas.

Figure 7.6. Four early iterations of logos for my company Flatiron Industries. These designs explored the potential of various time-honored marks: a globe, architecture (the Flatiron building), shields, and stars.


Simple signs were humanity's first attempt to communicate without sounds. As verbal communication evolved, so too did the need to project our thoughts in a more concrete form. Words and hand signs could easily be misinterpreted or misconstrued, but marks were reliable and definitive. A symbol became something you could trust. Symbol-making itself became a visual form of spoken language that eventually developed into writing.

Figure 7.7. The internationally recognized and beautifully realized Canada Dry logo is built on a shield and a crown, symbols of strength and trust.


The fundamental symbols upon which today's logos are based can still be a rich source of inspiration. Shape itself has overtones. A circle, for example, was originally used to signify the endlessness of the universe. It was a symbol for God. A square, on the other side of the design spectrum, signified the earth and physical matter. Squares today are symbols of order and restraint, more rational and less spiritual than circles.

Figure 7.8. The Packiderm logo, by DesignKitchen, created a beautiful elephant from a simple square. The square is a very appropriate and efficient symbol for a storage company.


If you look around you, you'll see that ancient symbols such as crosses, keys, shields, and flags are constantly being reused and reinvented in the field of commercial logo design. The term for such identifying symbols is "logo," from the Greek term meaning "the word" or "the way." From the beginning, the word logo has meant a visual representation that symbolizes or communicates an idea or meaning. There is no incompatibility between the simple and the complex in this form of visual communication.




Sessions. edu Graphic Design Portfolio-Builder(c) Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator Projects
Graphic Design Portfolio-Builder: Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator Projects
ISBN: 0321336585
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2005
Pages: 103
Authors: Sessions.edu

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