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.
Did you know that Swiss designer Karl Gerstner was invited to submit a proposal for a new Shell logo in 1964?
In 1964, four designers were asked to submit proposals to change Shell’s corporate image, having felt that the design that was created two years prior, appeared dated as corporate identity design was undergoing modernisation.
The designers invited were Yusaku Kamekura (Japan), the designer of the previous logo Raymond Loewy, c.e.i. (France), FHK Henrion, HDA International (Great Britain) and Karl Gerstner, GGK (Switzerland).
GGK, led by Gerstner, was asked to demonstrate how an agency that had a reputation for an ‘avant-garde approach’ would imagine the Shell identity - within the constraints and conditions of such large scale organisation.
Reflecting back on the project, Gerstner noted that: “Shell was one of those cases in which the trademark was essential to corporate identity. The trademark gave the company [Shell] a sharply defined profile among thousands of filling stations. It mobilizes the confidence customers have in its products. And, in fact, the harder it becomes to distinguish among competing products, the more important the trademark is. Gasoline is gasoline.”
All four designers invited to submit proposals were given a free hand and the liberty to explore the potential of a new visual image for Shell. (Read: Kamekura’s Shell).
Gerstner’s approach was to seek out the greatest level of contrast with what had gone before, within the restrictions of maintaining the ‘Pecten’ and Shell’s yellow and red colour palette. The Swiss designer’s eyes settled on a review of the logotype first, noting that it was common at the time to compose wordmarks from capitals letters, as was the case with the existing logotype. So, an all-lowercase approach would clearly signal a new era. Further, by recommending not just a logo but a custom corporate typeface (well-ahead of his time) this proposal would offer a boldness and foresight that other proposals may not have.
Gerstner’s typeface began as Akzidenz Grotesk. The designer had worked extensively with this as part of the ‘Gerstner Programme’, an attempt to develop the typeface into an extensive Univers-like system.
Working with Akzidenz Grotesk he saw that the capital S was dominant, which led to an all-lowercase solution. However, while hiring Gerstner for an avant-garde approach, Shell had regarded the use of all-lowercase letters as too avant-garde. With this in mind, Gerstner started looking for an in-between, selecting a narrow version of the typeface and increasing its weight.
Gerstner’s final breakthrough came when imagining the logotype being most effective at night, as an illuminated road sign. In this scenario, the bright light on a dark background would make the letter terminals appear rounded in the eyes of an onlooker. By rounding the terminals, this gave the typeface further character, an originality and the functionality that would be required of a corporate typeface.
To develop the logo, Gerstner visited a food store and inspected the shapes of scallops, identifying two distinct aspects: the outline and its surface pattern.
In comparison to the previous logo, the outline of an actual scallop was clearly defined with more character. The scallop had a distinctive geometric ‘foot’ at its base and the surface comparable to sun-rays, beaming out from this base.
In his proposal, Gerstner sought to preserve and emphasise the two distinct characteristics of the scallop. The use of a formal geometry would make the logo easy to reproduce across the many different contexts Shell required, which included fabricated road signs.
Expounding the benefits of a ‘controlled background’–the colour and spacing around the logo defined by a container rather than technical specifications–Gerstner explored placing the logo in both a circle and square, submitting both as possible variations to Shell, alongside the logotype and corporate typeface. He also made a slight change to the mix of ink that made up the red, making it ‘fresher’ with a more ‘modern appeal’. He would later do the same at Swissair.
Despite the extent of Gerstner’s thinking and the elegance of his logo proposal, it would be Raymond Loewy’s that would eventually be rolled out the following decade.
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.