In 1974 the ‘Act on the Promotion of Traditional Craft Industries’ was set up in Japan. This intended to help preserve ancient techniques and promote domestic and international interest in authentic hand-made regional crafts.

The following year, the Traditional Craft Industry Promotion Association was formed. This was a dedicated body that would establish the requirements that needed to be met for items to be designated ‘Traditional Craft Products’. Categories included traditional skills, techniques, raw materials and production regions.

In order to support this initiative, the association ran a competition to design a logo. This would be used across promotional materials and to mark products that best showcased Japanese craftsmanship.

Renowned Japanese designers Kazumasa Nagai, Ikko Tanaka and Yūsaku Kamekura were asked to draw up proposals for a logo that could work nationally and internationally, and be stamped on a range of products, large and small.

As reflected on by Kamekura at the time, the job was made harder because ‘the two people who are said to be masters of logo design in Japan were now his competitors’. He felt that he wouldn’t be able to match the two.

Still, not entirely deterred, Kamekura reflected on how to embody the word ‘tradition’. He created a form that had a structure that was derived from the character 伝 (den, tradition) and used this alongside a red disc, representing the sun, linking to Japan's title as the "Land of the Rising Sun" (Nihon). In this way, he balanced both national and international motifs.

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Kamekura created a number of variations to increase the symbol’s usability across promotional items and differing products. Kamekura was concerned about the tension between a symbolic and literal reading, and whether it would be a symbol if the readability of the word was over-emphasised.

The outcome, however, was in Kamekura’s favour, with the Association selecting his proposal. They continue to use this logo today, marking those products that have been inspected and best-reflect Japanese traditional crafts.

Want more in-depth articles? Check out LogoHistories’ other articles on Yusaku Kamekura.

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When Japan’s Sanyo Sogo Bank transitioned from a mutual savings and loan bank into a commercial bank in 1989, it used the moment to announce a new, more progressive and friendlier way to bank. It was a sharp break from its conservative roots in 1931, and a world away from how the rest of the banking industry in Japan was presenting itself.

The Okayama-based bank would mark this change with a new corporate identity, bank interiors and a bold new name, Tomato Bank.

Tomato Bank was the result of an internal naming contest, with Setouchi (Inland Sea) and Sunshine Bank also being considered but later discarded.

President at the time Kenji Yoshida felt that traditional bank names sounded too stiff, formal, or outdated for the modern era. Instead, he wanted a fresh, catchy and approachable name that people would not find intimidating.

However, not everyone liked the Tomato Bank concept. Some objected, saying that it felt more appropriate for an agricultural cooperative, and lacked an authoritative tone. However, Yoshida was committed to it, believing it to be global in nature, cute, bright, fresh, familiar, and inexpensive, all qualities he wanted this new community-focused commercial bank to be.

1980s banking in Japan was characterised by expressions of power and authority, and symbols that were abstract and cold. Tomato Bank intended to subvert this. With the intention of conveying a progressive and creative corporate culture and commitment to pursuing distinctive initiatives, designers Shigeo Katsuoka, Masanori Umeda, Hiroko Tsukada, Akira Shioda and Hironobu Yamada were hired to develop a logo and corporate identity.

Continue reading to see the different logo variations, how the logo was applied, the family of tomato mascots and learn about the idea and design decisions.

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Few industries have played as significant a role in the evolution of modern visual identity as railways.

By the middle of the twentieth century, growing competition from private car ownership and commercial aviation created a catalysing force throughout the rail networks of Europe, triggering programmes of nationalisation, modernisation, technological advancement.

These changes placed new demands on railway identities. They needed to function across increasingly vast and integrated physical networks that encompassed trains, stations, signage, tickets, timetables and advertising. Their purpose extended far beyond corporate recognition. They had to be identifiable at speed, legible from a distance and consistent across thousands of applications.

The challenge was no longer to simply identify a railway company, but to establish a coherent visual system through which an entire network could be recognised, understood and navigated.

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From emblems to modern symbols

Early railway identities often employed heraldic devices, elaborate monograms and regional imagery to communicate authority and geographical identity as well as more abstract notions of freedom and worldly knowledge.

During the post-war period, the consolidation and modernisation of railway networks encouraged a different approach. Modernist principles of reduction, geometry and standardisation offered designers a means of creating identities that were distinctive, practical and could scale. The striking new logos quickly conveyed externally, the massive internal changes that were happening.

In 1960, Allan Fleming’s identity for Canadian National demonstrated this shift. Replacing a traditional emblem incorporating a maple leaf and the initials CNR, Fleming developed a continuous line forming the letters CN. The symbol suggested movement, connection and the uninterrupted journey of a train without depicting railway machinery.

Its simplicity made it highly adaptable, working across trains, signage and printed communications. More significantly, it demonstrated how an abstract symbol could communicate something fundamental about an organisation’s purpose.

Identity as infrastructure

The introduction of British Rail’s corporate identity in 1965 represented a further shift. Following nationalisation in 1948, the organisation had inherited an extensive network with differing visual traditions. Design Research Unit was commissioned to establish a coordinated identity as part of a wider programme of modernisation.

At its centre was Gerald Barney’s double-arrow symbol, a geometric representation of movement in opposing directions along railway tracks. However, the significance of the programme extended beyond the logo. A coordinated system of typography, colour, signage and graphic standards established consistency across trains, stations and passenger communications.

Rail Alphabet, developed by Jock Kinneir and Margaret Calvert, was particularly important in creating a clear and recognisable system of railway signage.

Stations presented complex information environments. Passengers needed to identify entrances, platforms, departures and connections, often while moving through unfamiliar spaces. Typography, directional symbols and consistent information hierarchies therefore became essential to the experience of rail travel.

British Rail demonstrated that corporate identity could serve a practical function. Rather than simply communicating the character of an organisation, design could help people navigate and understand it.

The ease of navigation and positive experience would stick to the logo, which could then be transferred as the network expanded.

A recognisable environment

A similarly comprehensive approach emerged in the Netherlands. Developed by Gert Dumbar and Tel Design in the late 1960s, the Nederlandse Spoorwegen identity combined a geometric symbol suggesting movement and connection with a distinctive yellow and blue colour scheme.

Bold colour became an important means of recognition across trains, stations and passenger information.

The identity demonstrated how a railway could establish a consistent presence through the combined use of symbols, typography and colour, rather than relying on the repeated application of a logo.

Together, the British and Dutch programmes illustrated how corporate identity was becoming inseparable from the design of the transport environment.

Continuity through change

The privatisation and division of Japanese National Railways in 1987 presented almost the opposite challenge. The creation of the Japan Railways Group (JR) required several newly independent companies to establish their own identities while retaining a recognisable connection to the national network.

Designed by Yoji Yamamoto of Nippon Design Center, the compact JR logo, just like Flemming’s CN, used interconnected letterforms to suggest movement and progress from point A to B.

Individual corporate colours distinguished the different operators, while the shared symbol maintained continuity across the group. Unlike the unified systems of British Rail and Nederlandse Spoorwegen, the JR identity demonstrated how a common visual language could accommodate organisational independence.

From logo to visual system

These identities reveal how the changing requirements of railway transportation helped advance modern corporate design.

The move towards geometric symbols was not simply an expression of Modernist aesthetics. Railway logos needed to remain recognisable on moving vehicles, function across different scales and integrate with increasingly sophisticated systems of passenger information.

Equally important was the relationship between identity and wayfinding. A passenger might encounter a railway’s symbol on a station exterior, follow directional signage to a platform and identify a service through a consistent system of typography and colour.

Each interaction contributed to a coherent and positive experience of the organisation which could generate value around a logo. Railways demonstrated that corporate identity could extend beyond commercial recognition to become an essential part of public infrastructure, and would play out on a smaller scale, within city bus and tram networks (see: Greater Manchester Transport and HT).

The enduring success of symbols such as Canadian National’s continuous-line logo, British Rail’s double arrow and Nederlandse Spoorwegen’s geometric mark reflects the strength of this approach.

The railway logo was no longer simply a symbol carried by a train. It became part of the visual language through which an entire network could be recognised, understood and navigated.

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September 4, 1981, Los Angeles began it’s year-long Bicentennial celebrations. This would include sports events and tie-ins, a time-capsule and plaque dedication. It would also be considered a rehearsal for the upcoming Olympic Games, that would take place three years after the Bicentennial in 1984.

Helming the festivities was the Los Angeles 200 Committee. This was made up of 44 community leaders, civic figures and businesspeople, led by Jane Pisano, a professor at USC.

To bring the activities and events together, and create merchandising opportunities an event symbol was commissioned, with local designer John Follis landing the job. This would be supported by the logan L.A.’s the pLAce.

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When a group of 44 settlers founded the town on September 4, 1781, they named it El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Ángeles, The Town of Our Lady the Queen of the Angels. This was in honour of the Catholic Virgin Mary, also referred to as the Queen of Angels, and led to the nickname The City of Angels.

Follis’ design reflects this, depicting a winged figure: a stylised angel, combined with a rainbow above. This intended to symbolise the City of the Angels and its cultural diversity. Two versions were created to maximise the merchandising opportunities, one for use on white and another on black.

The logo and the slogan were applied to commemorative items and collectables, used in promotional materials across the city, and the Los Angeles Dodgers wore the logo on the sleeves of their uniforms for the 1981 Major League Baseball season.

Want more in-depth articles? Check out the Logo Histories for Stuart Ash’s Canadian Centennial symbol and Bruce Blackburn’s symbol for the American Revolution Bicentennial.

Thank you for subscribing to Logo Histories. If you enjoy reading this short you may also enjoy these resources from the same team:

Brand Archive – Research tool for brand designers.
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BP&O – Contemporary design editorial.

In 1983, Penn State began developing a new visual identity for its Intercollegiate Athletic Department. The university wanted a single graphic image that could be applied consistently throughout its communications and network of 65,000 students across 22 campuses. A licensing committee also identified an opportunity to generate royalties through a distinctive, protected logo.

Roy Parcels of Dixon & Parcels Associates was brought on to the project. At a meeting with football coach Joe Paterno and athletic administrators, the discussion turned to what this lion should look like. Paterno’s preference was clear: “I just don’t like those ones with big teeth and big claws.” A further survey of the university’s coaches reinforced this emphasis on ‘class’ and ‘dignity’.

Key Takeaways

The inspiration behind the lion

While the PennState mascot had always been a lion, it was Heinz Warneke’s statue within the University Park grounds that would help shape the final design of the PennState logo.

Creating a distinctive identity

Many universities used a big cat mascot, logo or symbol. By placing emphasis on ‘class’ and ‘dignity’, rather than aggression, a notion often favoured in sports, the designers were able to develop a ownable version of a lion, one that could be protected and used to generate revenue.

The influence of everyday language

Research showed that students, alumni and the press commonly spoke of Penn State as one word, this influenced the redesign of the PennState wordmark.

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Another selection of logos added to LogoArchive recently from today’s best designers. To add your logos, and be featured in this newsletter and on LogoArchive Now, sign-up and start submitting here.

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Access extensive historical logo design research. Over 200 LogoHistories. Discover concepts and contexts. Improve your understanding and craft → join here

Having signed a temporary contract in 1953, Norio Ohga joined Sony formally in 1959 and would later go on to become President and then Chairman. In 1961, he declared that “Sony design must be standardized”. This was a concerted effort to bring Sony’s designers together in one place and develop a house style for all of its products under a ‘black and silver’ design language.

Having switched from a hand drawn script to a serif in 1957 various versions of the Sony logo had been used. Each was based around an uppercase serif, however, letter-space and weight had shifted regularly from 1957 to 1969. This created discontinuities between advertising, packaging and advertising, quite apart from the new standardised approach to industrial design.

In order to bring the Sony corporate identity into coherence and establish standardised rules for its use, in house designer Yasuo Kuroki, working under the direction of Akio Morita and Norio Ohga, refined the wordmark in 1973.

Kuroki modified Robert Besley’s Clarendon, added uniform spacing and weight, and then introduced Helvetica as a secondary corporate typeface. Two blues were then added, as well as formalised grid systems to bring a continuity to advertising, vehicle liveries and other materials such as bags and promotional items that included matchbooks.

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In 1964, Paul Rand designed a trademark for Atlas Crankshaft Corporation, an American manufacturer of engine components. Atlas had been acquired by Cummins Engine Company in 1958, and Rand had begun working on Cummins’ corporate identity programme in 1961. His proposal for Atlas was set out in a presentation booklet dated April 1964.

The brief called for the name Atlas to become an integral part of the mark. Its form should be abstract or geometric, communicating precision, speed, power and dependability while remaining unrestricted by any particular product.

Practical requirements were equally specific. The mark needed to work in a single colour, in positive, negative and outline forms, and at scales ranging from service pins and calling cards to large building signs. Printing was only one consideration. The design also had to accommodate embossing, stamping, cut metal, appliqué, paint and embroidery. These demands placed consistent reproduction at the centre of the problem.

Continue reading to learn how Paul Rand addressed these key requirements in the design of the Atlas Crankshaft Corporation logo →

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Prior to the world wars, company logos were often literal or drew on historical and heraldic imagery. Some illustrated a product; others used ornate lettering, crests or monograms to suggest heritage, provenance and craftsmanship. These approaches suited businesses and brands whose reputations relied on a specific trade or had a focused product line.

The two world wars accelerated industrial change. Manufacturers adapted their factories and expertise to meet military demand. Biscuit-tin makers, for example, began producing military supplies and munitions. These shifts developed new skills and manufacturing capabilities that could later be applied to consumer products. For some companies, peace brought opportunities to enter new markets and countries, supported by expanded facilities, experienced workforces and economies of scale.

Such diversification gave many a reason to reconsider their visual identities. A logo depicting one product could struggle to represent a business making many different things. Abstract symbols offered greater flexibility, allowing a single logo to unite different activities and remain relevant as the company evolved.

Abstract geometric forms replaced illustration, lettering, coats of arms and other familiar imagery. Designers were increasingly willing to give businesses logos that had little or no obvious meaning when first encountered.

The advantage was that these types of logos could be easily applied to a growing range of products and packaging formats. They could be heat stamped, embroidered, moulded into plastics and later, faxed. Simple geometric forms could easily be translated into physical signage abroad without the need for complex written instruction. And with the growth of television and increasingly sophisticated reproduction methods, there was an increasing need for logos that were simple, immediate and distinctive.

There was also the optics. Companies first to adopt new principles for corporate identity design were able to differentiate themselves. The use of simple forms, solid colour, functional type and rationalised layouts projected the image of modernity, and a bold new vision for future. They also gained credibility when paired with novel and advanced consumer products and services.

This was a radical shift: a logo did not necessarily need to explain a company. Meaning and value could be created over time.

Modernism had already established a visual language through art and architecture, book and poster design, a new generation of designers and consultancies were bringing these principles into corporate identity. The result was an extraordinary period of experimentation.

In 1960, Chermayeff & Geismar’s Chase Manhattan logo demonstrated the potential of pure abstraction. Its four geometric elements had no literal relationship to banking, yet through repetition and consistent application the unfamiliar shape became identifiable with the institution. Initially in four colours, it would later be reduced further down to just one, it was so striking at the time.

Other designers approached abstraction differently. Letters could be transformed until they sat somewhere between typography and image. Negative space could carry meaning. A handful of lines could suggest movement, connection or scale without depicting any of them literally.

These were not simply exercises in simplification. They reflected a changing understanding of what a logo could and increasingly had to do to be successful.

Rather than illustrating what an organisation made, the logo could become an identifier in its own right: a distinctive visual form onto which familiarity, reputation and meaning would gradually accumulate.

This idea would profoundly influence the development of corporate identity. Here are some of the logos from the 1960s documented by Logo Histories.

Chase Manhattan Bank, 1960

Chermayeff & Geismar

Four geometric elements arranged around an empty square created one of the defining abstract corporate symbols of the period. Initially unfamiliar, the mark demonstrated how repetition could turn pure geometry into corporate recognition.

Read the history of the Chase Manhattan logo →

British Transport Docks Board, 1965

A single line folded into a bollard provided Britain’s nationalised ports with an identity that could immediately be recognised across signage, vehicles, equipment and printed material.

Read the full history →

Randstad, 1967

Ben Bos

For Randstad, abstraction became a way of representing something less tangible: the relationship between people and employment. Ben Bos developed a deceptively simple symbol from a two mirrored forms.

Discover the Randstad identity →

RCA, 1967

Lippincott & Margulies

RCA’s logo reduced three letters to bold geometric forms. The result sat somewhere between wordmark and symbol, retaining the company’s initials while giving them the immediacy of a pictorial mark.

Read the history of RCA →

National Giro, 1969

FHK Henrion

FHK Henrion’s work for National Giro demonstrates how simple forms could allude to a story or idea. The G of Girobank assumed a ‘double meaning of a circular arrow propelling a dot which symbolised a coin.’ The word ‘giro’ was derived from the Latin ‘girare’ - going around, so the letter also became symbolic, ‘Giro helps your money go around’.

Read the National Giro story →

From meaning to recognition

The most important shift of the decade may have been conceptual rather than stylistic. A logo no longer had to communicate everything at first glance. Instead, designers could create something distinctive, reproducible and memorable, then allow the organisation itself to supply its meaning over time. An abstract logo began empty and became valuable through use, an idea that now seems completely ordinary today.

Explore all 1960s logos in the Logo Histories archive →

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When International Telephone and Telegraph (ITT) planned a new corporate advertising programme, the New York office of Needham, Louis and Brorby asked designer Carl Regehr to create a logo for the company. The brief had three parts. The logo needed to allude to the scientific work ITT was doing, its international reach and a corporate philosophy centred on its plants, products and people. This would replace the ITT monogram designed in 1958 by Sandgren & Murtha.

Regehr began by drawing each idea separately. Globes and circles offered a way to express the company’s reach. Vortex patterns, an echo chamber and a binary system suggested science. Networks and electrical symbols pointed towards communication. His sketches show the breadth of the search, but also the difficulty: a globe alone could say little about research, while a scientific diagram might be too specialised to represent the whole company.

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British construction group Tarmac was named after the road surfacing material developed and patented by Edgar Purnell Hooley in 1902.

Under Robin Martin’s leadership, Tarmac moved from being an important regional force to a national road stone and contracting business with acquisitions playing a major role in Tarmac’s growth.

By the 1960s, Tarmac had become a group covering construction, civil engineering and road making, as well as manufacturing the core material it was known for.

The acquisition of new companies and rapid growth created a large and multifaceted corporation but also confusion around its identity. To address this, Tarmac worked with Design Research Unit (DRU) to develop a new corporate identity and logo that would unite the principle subsidiaries and establish a strong and unified presence, making the most of its growing scale.

Designer Ronald Armstrong working at DRU took the consolidation of seven subsidiaries as the starting point for the logo. By repeating the letter ‘T’ seven times forming a tessellating cluster, he created a logo that also evoked roadstones and construction. This was then paired with the wordmark that had been created four years earlier.

The logo remained in use for over 30 years, weathering financial troubles only to be retired in 1996. Its replacement was developed by consultants Sampson Tyrell. Employees felt the old mark looked ‘dated and tied the company too closely to road building and traditional construction’. Instead, Tarmac wanted the new identity to present it as a unified, forward-looking group.

Thank you for subscribing to Logo Histories. If you enjoy reading this short you may also enjoy these resources from the same team:

Brand Archive – Research tool for brand designers.
LogoArchive Website – Searchable modernist logo archive & research tool.
LogoArchive Shop – Vintage design books & LogoArchive Zines.
BP&O – Contemporary design editorial.

Access extensive historical logo design research. Over 200 LogoHistories. Discover concepts and contexts. Improve your understanding and craft → upgrade

Richard Johnson and Nephew was a British iron manufacturer based in Manchester, with its origins dating back to 1773. The business originally evolved from a Manchester pin-making shop into Richard Johnson & Brother under John Johnson’s sons, Richard and William. After William’s death, Richard partnered with his nephew, John Thewlis Johnson, leading to the official name change to Richard Johnson & Nephew in 1865.

The company became famous for revolutionising the global wire industry through two significant technological breakthroughs in the early 1860s: the world’s first continuous wire galvanising plant and the first successful continuous rod rolling mill.

The company was highly influential, providing wire for early cross-channel and transatlantic telegraph cables, as well as the Niagara Suspension Bridge and the UK’s National Grid.

In 1971 the firm of Oliver Jessel acquired nearly 40% holding in Richard Johnson & Nephew. Jessel would join the board and take over as Chairman. He then actively sought to steer the company toward consolidation. At the same time he began a program of corporate takeovers, mergers and major industrial layout updates.

As part of this drive, a new corporate identity was sought out. One that would bring continuity and consistency to the growing group, leverage economies of scale, and increase the overall perception of the brand as it expanded and intended to expand over the coming decade.

At the time, the Richard Johnson and Nephew Group included a number of subsidiary companies and affiliates. These included Johnson & Nephew (Non-Ferrous) Limited, Johnson & Nephew (Steel) Limited and Johnson & Nephew (Mill Street) Limited.

In order to bring these into coherence, two key assets were devised, a J-N monogram and a new corporate alphabet.

Continue reading to discover the concept behind the logo, how it was modified for large and small contexts and inspired a custom corporate alphabet.

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This post is supported by LogoArchive – The home of historical logos. Discover over 5000 of history’s greatest designs from the world’s finest designers. Updated every single day. Always find the logo inspiration you need for your next logo or branding project. Start here.

Concentric logos are those that feature, in whole or in part, a centre or common axis. This often manifests as offset lines, or a logo constructed from multiple parts with their own common axis or centre point. This approach can lend a simple shape an element of distinction, or allude to some aspect of a brand or service.

Concentric logos can also have a radiant quality to them, and can be combined with other logo construction techniques to add further intrigue or a hypnotic visual interest, ultimately serving memorability. For example, changing the line thickness on a concentric logo, as done by Iwao Yamaguchi for Yamachan Planning, can emphasise its radiant effect. Using concentricity can also allude to more lateral notions such as influence and communication.

Linda N. Reuter used concentric shapes to great effect, giving dimensionality to a cross for Kimberly-Clark Corporation.

Using stepped shapes that transition one inside another, can suggest growth or change. And finally, and a slightly more common use would be in the textiles industry, with parallel concentric lines evoking an association with threads and cotton reels.

Want more examples of concentric logos? Search ‘Concentric’ on LogoArchive.

Thank you for subscribing to Logo Histories. If you enjoy reading this short you may also enjoy these resources from the same team:

Brand Archive – Research tool for brand designers.
LogoArchive Website – Searchable modernist logo archive & research tool.
LogoArchive Shop – Vintage design books & LogoArchive Zines.
BP&O – Contemporary design editorial.

Another selection of logos added to LogoArchive recently from today’s best designers. To add your logos, and be featured in this newsletter and on LogoArchive Now, sign-up and start submitting here.

→ Join LogoArchive

Brand Archive – Research tool for brand designers.
LogoArchive Website – Searchable modernist logo archive & research tool.
LogoArchive Shop – Vintage design books & LogoArchive Zines.
BP&O – Contemporary design editorial.

This post is supported by LogoArchive – The home of historical logos. Discover over 5000 of history’s greatest designs from the world’s finest designers. Updated every single day. Always find the logo inspiration you need for your next logo or branding project. Start here.

Read more

This post is supported by LogoArchive – The home of historical logos. Discover over 5000 of history’s greatest designs from the world’s finest designers. Updated every single day. Always find the logo inspiration you need for your next logo or branding project. Start here.

In 1970 David Leigh was invited to develop a new visual identity for the United States Deaf Skiers Association. As part of this, a new logo was sought, one that would be a memorable image for deaf skiers and also convey the seriousness and dignity of the group.

A key problem consisted of the need to create a symbol that was easily adaptable for a wide variety of use cases, from posters to letterheads, and all the way down to pin badges.

Leigh’s solution was the ‘Skimark’. This was composed of skiis pointing inwards and converging at a central point, then cropped into a snowflake-like circle, illustrating the unity of the association.

The logo was made adaptable through two different versions, a mark with 12 pairs of skis for small use cases such as the pins, and a logo composed of 24 pairs of skis for much larger use cases such as posters.

This scaling up and down of skiis placed emphasis on numbers, and thus members of the association, all focused on a single activity. A contrast of white and deep blue emphasised seasonality.

Thank you for subscribing to Logo Histories. If you enjoy reading this short you may also enjoy these resources from the same team:

Brand Archive – Research tool for brand designers.
LogoArchive Website – Searchable modernist logo archive & research tool.
LogoArchive Shop – Vintage design books & LogoArchive Zines.
BP&O – Contemporary design editorial.