A reclining eight
A reclining eight
Paul Persson & David Westman's 1968 logo for Kooperativa Förbundet
Kooperativa Förbundet (KF) in English: The Swedish Cooperative Union & Wholesale Society, was founded in 1899 by 40 local consumer co-operatives with the intention of providing support and education for retail managers and investors, and later procuring and manufacturing goods.
In the 1930s KF expanded rapidly under the management of Albin Johansson, setting up in various industries. Just like the co-operatives of Great Britain, Germany and France, KF grew from the Rochdale principle; the pursuit of member profit through democratic operations.
Two years prior to KF’s foundation, advertising agency SVEA was set-up by Gustav Adolf Nilssonas and produced advertising for goods and the housing brokerage market within the Norrkцping region. It later changed hands, and under the ownership of Johan Erhrnfrid Rydberg was responsible for the formation of the Tariff Centralen in 1915, the first attempt to bring order to the competitive situation in newspaper advertising.
SVEA and KF are extricably linked as early as 1923 when SVEA became a Limited company and KF became a shareholder, giving it control and insight into the advertising business as it moved its headquarters to Stockholm. Between the years 1926-1930, KF accounted for half of SVEA’s turnover.
Keep reading to discover the criteria for the development of the KF logo and visual identity, find out the origins of the logo and see some of the corporate materials produced including van liveries and pamphlets.
