The Logo Evolution of 15 Corporate Brands

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Audi Apple

Ford Canon

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Kodak IBM
 Mercedes Microsoft

Mozilla Firefox

An open source web browser, created by Dave Hyatt and Blake Ross, was first of all named as Phoenix, which is visible in their first logo in 2002. Due to some trademark
issues, the name had to be changed to Firebird, but the name was chosen so that they would be able to retain the same logo. 

Unfortunately, this name also had trademark issues because of existing software. Then, they finally got lucky and chose the name Firefox, which has become one of the favorite
and most used browser worldwide. In 2003, the now famous logo was designed by professional interface designer John Hicks. 

The logo depicted a Firefox engulfing the whole world, which also signifies the global reach that the company strived for. There has been a minor change in the logo since then,
with the colors of the continents using a lighter blue color, just to differentiate them better from the oceans. 

Nike

Nike probably got the best deal amongst all companies when Caroline Davidson designed its logo for just $35 in 1971. The main part of the logo hasn't really changed with time.
However, I don't understand why they waited for 7 years before they realized that the text and the swoosh were overlapping each other. 

As the brand gained recognition, the company name was dropped from the logo, which made it more simplistic and memorable. The company has different variations of this
logo for its various departments like Skate, Soccer etc. 

Nokia
‘Nokia' in Finnish means means a dark, furry animal we now call the Pine Marten weasel. However, this has little to do with the current business and brand image. The origin of
the company name, can rather be attributed to the setting up of the wood pulp mill (set up by Knut Fredrik Idestam), on the banks of Nokianvirta river in the town of Nokia. 

The Nokia Corporation was formed as a merger of Finnish Rubber Works (which also used a Nokia brand), the Nokia Wood Mill, and the Finnish Cable Works in 1967. The
company has sold a variety of products in the past including television, shoes, car tires and others. The evolution and the meaning of the logo is unclear due to the changing
business over the years. 

Pepsi

Today, one of the biggest soft drinks company, was first started by Caleb Bradham in 1890's. Initially named as Brad's drink the name was quickly changed to Pepsi-Cola, which
is visible in the first 1898 logo. Finally in 1903, the name was trademarked and hasn't been changed till date. 

In the early years, Brad made custom logos for the brand as it became more famous. In 1933, the company was bought by Loft, Inc. The company changed the bottle size from
6 to 12 oz. and came up with the ‘Refreshing and Healthful' logo. 

However, the major breakthrough in the Pepsi logo design came in 1940's. Walter Mack, the CEO of Pepsi came up with the idea of a new bottle design, with a crown having
the Pepsi logo. The ‘Pepsi Globe' emerged when USA was in WWII, and to support the country's war efforts, Pepsi had a blue, red and white logo. 

This logo became hugely popular, and went on to be the identifier for the company. As a result, in 1950 and 1962, this bottle cap with the swirling blue and red became
prominent in the company logo. During the 1960's when it became even more popular, the script was changed from the curly red, and the main attraction was on the bottle cap
in the logo. 

We see the first appearance of the Pepsi Globe instead of the bottle cap in 1973. The typeface was made smaller so as to fit in the globe. The Pepsi Globe was "boxed in", with
a red bar coming in from the left and a light-blue bar coming in from the right. 

In 1991, the typeface was moved from inside the globe. The red bar was lengthened and the typeface came on the top of the globe. In 1998, the white background in the logo
was replaced by the blue color, which also resulted in dropping the red horizontal band. The globe now had 3D graphic and larger than earlier versions. It might be that since,
Pepsi and the globe touch each other for the first time in the logo, the name ‘the Pepsi Globe' was given to the logo. 

After 1998, it seems that Pepsi had decided to give the globe more prominence than the script itself. So, the globe came on top of the script in 2003, and in their current logo
they have done away with the script altogether. 

Shell
Back in 1900, when the company was started the logo was a realistic and simple shell which lies flat on the ground. This was a pectin or scallop shell, but today the company
has a logo which is bold, colorful and much more simplistic. 

The evolution of the logo began after 1915, when rendering enabled the company to reproduce its identity easily. This is visible in the 1930 logo for the company. When the
company started a project in California, it added the red and yellow colors to the symbol. The colors help Shell to stand out. Additionally, these are the colors of Spain, where
many Californian settlers were born, which might have helped the company to create an emotional bond with the people. 

With the advent of internet and fax machines over the later years, it became necessary for the company to simplify their logo, which would prevent it from being distorted in
small images. The 1971 logo designed by Raymond Loewy is very simple as compared to the earlier logos. 

This has helped the company because this logo is more memorable and recognizable, accountable to the simplicity of the logo. The 1971 logo is still used by the company albeit
with minor changes, but it has become so recognizable that it often appears without the company name now. 

Wal-Mart

The company has tried out various colors and variation of the word Walmart over the years. In 1962, when Sam Walton started, the company, the logo had simply the word
spelled in a very basic design. 

The logo was changed in 1964, when a hyphen was added and the color was also changed from blue to black. This came to be known as the "Frontier Font Logo". The 1968
logo shown here is the discount city logo, which was mainly used for uniforms, in-store signing etc, but it was never used to advertise or even in annual reports. The 1981 logo
changed the curly font to a more solid font, giving the company a more stable, established and balanced look. The hyphen in this logo was replaced by the star in 1992, and the
familiar blue color of the logo returned for the first time after the company's inception. 

Walmart is probably one of the few companies, who have tried so many logos, but their current logo is more like the original logo, other than any other intermediate logo. The
font differs a little from the original and is indeed more stylish, but the ‘Walmart' word without a break appears for the first time after 1962. They have kept the star from 1992, but
moved it to the end. 

Xerox
The Xerox Company used to be known as the Haloid Company almost 100 years ago. But in 1938, Chester Carlson invented a technique called xerography which we today call
the photocopy technique. Unfortunately no one was willing to invest in his invention, and many big giants like IBM, GE, RCA and others decided not to finance this invention. 

But Haloid Company decided to go with Chester and made the first photocopying machine named Haloid Xerox 14. As can be seen in their logos, the original Haloid word which
was prominent in the company's logo before 1961 was completely replaced by Xerox due to the immense success of this idea. 

They retained almost the same logo from 1961 to 2004. But in 2004 there was a problem with the Xerox books and it tried to reinvent itself with a new logo. People associate the
company only with photocopy machines, and that has been a major problem for Xerox. 

The company changed its logo in 2008 to get away from this stereotyped image, by changing the font of the word. They also added a ball which has a stylish X instead of their
‘boring' X in earlier times According to Anne M. Mulcahy, Xerox's chief, that little piece of art represents the connection to customers, partners, industry and innovation.

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