10 Cool Logo Origin Stories Of Retail Brands

We’re surrounded by thousands of logos today - seriously - everybody and their dad is getting one. Clothes, accessories, gadgets - every single brand. After all, that’s how brands resonate with us. A memorable logo etches itself in our minds.

Logos are aimed to stay on your mind and spring up from time to time to make us crave a Chanel bag, Adidas shoes, or maybe a fried chicken bucket from KFC (*drooling*).

But have you ever wondered how those renowned logos came about? What was the light-bulb moment for the designers? Or what’s the hidden message they’re packing? If not, no worries. We’ve gathered 10 logos origin stories to satisfy your curiosity. Let’s get started.

1. Apple

Ever wonder why the number one brand in the world fancies a fruit as their name and logo?

The reason?

Jobs was following a fruitarian fad diet (health-conscious, you see) in the early stage of launching his brand. He visited an apple farm for some diet work, when the light bulb popped over his head - and he jumped and caged it.

He wanted something fun, spirited, and non-intimidating to represent his brand. Apple seemed the perfect fit.

However, the logo today isn’t the same as then. The original one had a picture of Sir Isaac Newton sitting under an apple tree - the way he did when discovering gravity. Basically - Jobs imprinted history inside history.

But Steve wanted something simpler, later evolving into the present Apple logo.

The question remains - what about the bitten part of the apple? The answer is pretty hilarious if you ask me:

Jobs didn’t want people to confuse the apple with a cherry. Giving birth to the iconic bitten logo.

2. Chevrolet

This is a mysterious one - packed with controversies.

According to William C. Durrant - Chevy’s co-founder - a specific pattern in a French hotel’s wallpaper attracted him. And he thought it’d look spot-on as a car logo. This was his version of Chevy’s origin.

However, there are controversial claims that sound plausible as well. And the best part? They came from Durrant’s own family. Weird, right?

Durrant’s widow claimed the logo was somewhat inspired by the hotel stay but not from the wallpaper. They were in the locale of Hot Springs, Virginia, and that’s where they saw a similar design like the Chevrolet logo in a newspaper.

Another claim made by Durrant's daughter Margery said her father was doodling at the dinner table, and that’s how he found the bowtie design. Boredom can do wonders.

And that’s not all. There’s more conflict about the origin.

According to the historian’s theory, Durrant honored his and the namesake Louis Chevrolet’s birthplace Switzerland and chose the cross design from the Swiss flag as an inspiration.

Whichever the origin may be, the love for the ever-classic Chevy never stops.

3. Nike

Our favourite footwear’s logo was inspired by a Greek goddess. A wing - not a tick! Sounds so majestic, right?

In 1971, Phil Knight - the founder of Nike, assigned his graphic design student Carolyn Davidson to make the logo. He wanted something fluid.

Carolyn came up with a few designs, and the professor made his pick. He chose the swoosh to represent his brand.

The professor thought the swoosh conveys motion, speed, and it represents half of a running track. Safe to say, dude knew what he was doing (talk about the trillion-dollar company).

Fun fact: The logo cost Phil only $35.

4. Starbucks

Starbucks is a part of our daily life. Despite being this close to the brand, ever noticed the logo carefully? Wondered who’s the lady in the logo?

It’s a two-tailed mermaid. Hear her siren yet? That’s why we’re so head over heels for Starbucks. Keeps luring us in.

Little irrelevant for a coffeehouse, no?

Not really. Once you learn the story, you’ll see the relevance too. It all started with a coffee roaster in Seattle’s Pike Place Market. Let’s get storytelling.

The founders had a weird preference. They liked names starting with “St.” So, they ended up choosing Starbuck - the chief mate’s name in the 1851 novel Moby Dick (classic).

The market’s waterfront location inspired them to represent marine life through the logo. Therefore the mermaid. She has gone through a few upgrades and landed in the present look.

You’ll certainly get the mythological vibe on every Starbucks visit now.

5. Hermès

This luxury product manufacturer started as a saddle and harness workshop for horses. Quite difficult to imagine, right?

Hermès was built when horses and carriages were the main transportation. Although the logo was created in the 1950s when cars were easily available. Hmm...

So why still go with the horse and carriage, you may ask.

The answer is simple. To hold on to their humble origin where they used to produce fashionable horse saddles, harnesses, and bridles.

Never forget your roots, boys!

They went with orange because, during WWII, the orange dye was all that they had. But they worked their tail off to satisfy audience needs.

6. Versace

Versace founder Gianni Versace grew up in Reggio, Calabria. That’s where his Medusa inspiration came from.

However, that’s not the only reason for choosing Medusa, said Donatella Versace. The mythology also played a role for Gianni to make his pick.

We all know Medusa - before turning into a beast - had such irresistible beauty that would make people fall in love with her forever within no time. That’s the message the founder wanted for his brand.

Good job on choosing such a meaningful logo, Gianni.

He wanted to inspire the same characteristics and loyalty in the young - trendsetter generation.

The name, along with the logo popping up in mind, creates a magical vibe and attraction toward the brand.

7. Adidas

Those three stripes were first created by the founder - Adi Dassler himself. The goal was to set the brand apart from competitors (seems to have worked, eh?).

The logo remained that way for a long time, until Adi and his wife came up with another logo featuring a trefoil in the 1960s!

Finally, they launched their corporate logo with sloping stripes. These three stripes were meant to appear as a steeping mountain while the mountain symbolized the struggle the company went through.

The pinnacle of depth any brand could have.

8. Levi’s

Levi’s comes with a rich history of about 150 years.

This brand was created in the cowboy’s era, making it the 1970s fashion. People were barely educated or didn’t have English as their first language back then.

So they were thinking about how they could give the message of the strength and quality of their jeans to people easily.

(Gotta get it through, right?)

That’s when they came up with the idea of two horses pulling their jeans and trying to tear them apart. Visuals it was.

They literally fed their logo to the customers.

It worked both ways. They served non-English speakers and gave a memorable message too.

9. Chanel

The interlocked Cs represent the founder's name - Coco Chanel. While the C part may be obvious, why the interlocked?

There are two controversies about the logo's origin.

One says the design was inspired by the monogram used by Catherine de Medici and her mother-in-law, Queen Claude of France.

(Sounds super royal, doesn’t it?)

Per the other source, the design was seen in the stained glass windows of Chateau de Crémat in Nice, France. This is vintage, on the other hand.

Coco really liked the design. One of her friends owned the estate, and Coco asked if she could use the design as a logo for her brand. Of course, she got permission!

10. McDonald’s

This one is weird:

The M you see in the logo didn’t stand for Mcdonald’s when it was first created. While some of you may stand flabbergasted, the rest of the story says your whole life wasn’t a lie

The arches were introduced in 1953. The M stood for arches because archers were the original designers of the restaurant. Later in 1962, the M was incorporated in the logo too.

Today, the Golden Arches “M” stands for “McDonald’s” (peace, finally).

Last Words

Hopefully, you found this educational about your favourite brand.

All the brand logos around us have such stories. Dig into them if you want to know them better.

Stay tuned as I will be putting out a lot of more amazing facts and stories.