A naked set of Siamese twins lounging in front of a dead tree.

Richard Branson flew into space recently with his space company Virgin Galactic. It was a huge leap in commercial space travel and he fulfilled his childhood dream. Everyone knows the Virgin logo, the blobby diagonal signature mark is one of the most recognisable logos in the world. But most people have no idea how that came about. It is an interesting story about how values and philosophy are so important when creating an identity.

Let's go back to the 70's.

The very first Virgin logo is completely different to the one that everyone knows today. It was designed by Roger Dean in 1973.?Roger was known for abstract fantasy album cover illustrations. If you are familiar with the band 'Yes', well, Roger designed the band's logo. This classic 'bubble' logo first appeared on the album 'Close To The Edge'. The logo he designed for Virgin Records was an illustration of a naked set of Siamese Twins lounging in front of a dead tree with a dragon by their side, its tail fluttering suggestively between their legs.. (known to fans as the?'Gemini' or 'the twins', logo).?

It was the early 70's and Richard Branson was a self confessed rebel hippy. He ran a mail order record retail shop. He then met a musician who had made a demo tape that sounded completely different to what was on the radio waves at the time. That musician was Mike Oldfield. They played the demo to every record label in town, but no one was willing to take a chance on something that sounded so different from the big, overproduced rock-and-roll sounds that dominated the charts. With no joy in getting a deal, Richard decided that he would create his own label to help Oldfield make and release the album.

Mike Oldfield (L) and Richard Branson (R) in the recording studio The Manor.

Virgin Records was born.

That 'now classic' progressive rock album, 'Tubular Bells' was released on Virgin records and sold 15 million copies worldwide. Very impressive for a debut album with hardly any vocals. The opening theme from the album was used for the soundtrack to the horror film 'The Exorcist'. This led to a huge surge in sales which increased Oldfield's profile and played an important part in the growth of the Virgin Group.

The logo design for the label was perfect for the time, The naked set of Siamese Twins lounging in front of a dead tree looked great in the centre of the vinyl record, genius. I didn't notice it until many years later, but I do remember being drawn to the cover art when sifting through my dad's record collection as a kid. The big bendy steel tube floating over the sea. It was very different and stood out among all the other record sleeves. It had a futuristic abstract feel. I remember my dad playing the album and telling me that Mike was 19 years old when he made it and that he had played almost all the instruments on the album.

The cover art was created by designer and photographer Trevor Key. The triangular 'bent bell' was inspired by the damage Oldfield had caused to the tubular bells while playing them on the record. This was over a decade before Photoshop even existed. Key designed the bell and had the model constructed. He then photographed it in his studio and superimposed it on the beach backdrop. The original cut and paste. Even the small pale orange typography was unique for the time, Oldfield himself suggested that, so as not to distract from the overall image. The artwork is iconic and timeless. A link is embedded below, have a listen if you have never heard it before.

Enter Punk.

It wasn’t until Richard Branson signed the 'Sex Pistols' in 1977 that the Virgin logo was re-branded to the early version of the logo that we know today. Singer Johnny Rotten didn't like the idea of a ‘hippy-looking’ logo with naked Siamese Twins appearing on the band’s albums. Fair enough, they were about to unleash Punk to the world with 'Never Mind The Bollocks'. This was the only studio album by the English band. The album is frequently listed as the most influential punk album and one of the most important and best albums of all time. Have a listen below, the album couldn't be more different to 'Tubular Bells'. Johnny Rotten was spot on about the logo, he knew the importance of branding.

The logo design back story.

Legend has it that a young designer, Ray Kyte scribbled the signature mark on a napkin which bled into the texture of the material. Richard Branson loved it for it’s ‘in your face’ simplicity, attitude and energy. It was punk. It suited the anarchy that was belted upon us. God save the Queen.

The handwritten Virgin mark is undoubtedly one of the most recognisable logos in the world. The next time you see the logo, just think... The Sex Pistols' Johnny Rotten was partly responsible for that. It now adorns everything from Trains, Planes, Health Clubs, Credit Cards, Radio Stations and Rockets.

It's quite funny to think that The Sex Pistols' Johnny Rotten is partly responsible for the famous Virgin Logo we see today!

Anarchy in the UK.

The logo appeared on cans of cola too, that didn't take off as well as the rockets.

'The Sex Pistols' railed against consumerism with anarchy in the UK. Only years later fuelling the capitalist machine as the band’s name and artwork featured on a range of credit cards, which proves that absolutely nothing is sacred. There was a bit of a backlash in the music community and rightly so. Virgin Money said at the time... “it is time for consumers to put a little bit of rebellion in their pocket”. Hmmm.

Jamie Reid, the artist famous for creating the album artwork?was disgusted as it wasn't in the spirit of 'The Sex Pistols'. But...Virgin owned the rights to the artwork. Everything comes full circle...as John Lyndon (Johnny Rotten) famously said "“If you are pissing people off, you know you are doing something right”.

Marcus Byrne, Lead Designer and Photoshop Pro at?Thinkerbell

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