Wednesday 3 April 2013

OUGD501 // Theory to Practice // Coca Cola logo history


1886 – What’s in a name?
When John S. Pemberton created the formula for his new drink in 1886, his partner and bookkeeper, Frank M. Robinson, suggested the name Coca-Cola, thinking that ‘the two Cs would look well in advertising’. He wanted to create a unique logo to go with it, and experimented writing the company’s name in elaborate Spencerian script, a form of penmanship characteristic of the time.

1887-1890s – Inserting the ‘Trademark’
These two important little words were added to the tail of the first ‘C’.



1890-1891 – Extra swirls
For just one year, our logo changed its appearance quite dramatically with this extra swirly script. Afterwards, the logo returned to its previous font.


1941-1960s – Tail tweaked
In this version, the words ‘Trademark Registered’ moved out of the tail of the ‘C’ and were noted as ‘Reg. US Pat Off’ below the Coca-Cola name.



1958-1960s – A fishy shape
This period saw the introduction of the Arciform or ‘fishtail’ logo.


1969 – That famous white wave
The Arden Square logo was unveiled to the world. In this red box, the familiar Coca-Cola script was underlined with the iconic white ‘wave’ known as the ‘Dynamic Ribbon Device’, which is still used to this day. 

The white swirl - known as the Dynamic Ribbon - was part of a graphic re-design that we brought in at the end of 1969. The design for Coca-Cola in the 1970s was based on a bold, dramatic curve, reflecting the unique contour of the bottle.



2003 – Keeping it real
With the introduction of the ‘Coca-Cola... Real’ campaign, the logo’s ‘white wave’ was enhanced with a shock of yellow and some floating bubbles.



2007 – A classic design
A simple, yet bold, design with a single white ribbon.


2011 – 125 years of happiness
Coca-Cola's 125th birthday logo sees bubbles bursting from our famous contour bottle – a celebration of our past, present and future.


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