The evolving landscape of corporate logos in Australia

Having a logo is a necessary element of making a successful brand – right up there with having great products & high-quality referrals from clients. It is the soul of what a company stands for and how we categorize a brand. Create one, and you will have an identifiable representation for your company or business that will be instantly recognised.

However, creating a successful logo is not an easy task. Although every element in the design, like colour, font, shape, excitingly speaks about business personality, it is much more than all these design elements put together.

If we take a little deeper look behind all the imagery, colours, typography, and redesigns, we will find some exciting stories about Australia’s preferred brand logo’s that catapults their success.

Logo Evolution

Technological development encouraged the logos to evolve in our culture. We have seen now how logo design has transformed from complex to simple designs, reflecting the visual burden we are experiencing due to our increasingly difficult lifestyles.

Logos in the digital era are not just digital; they can be anything from being messy, hectic, silly, covered, scribbled, uneven, expressive, graceful, and a bit ragged.

Here are few iconic brand logos of Australia and the stories behind them –

1.SBS                        

Introduced in 1991, Ken Cato’s logo for the television station was inspired by factually opening up the globe. The ellipses of the SBS symbol, which are pointed, represent a version of opening up the world. This is the traditional way of portraying the world when flattened, also known as a Mercator map.

According to Cato, the proposal behind the logo came up at a meeting with SBS.

Cato said – Clients are smart people they usually will tell what they want if you listen to them carefully, but they usually don’t know how to interpret their thoughts into a useful idea.

The team thought about the same and even tilted it by 23 degrees to represent the angle at which the earth tilts.

 

2. Afterpay

Onto a billion-dollar fintech – Afterpay There is no second opinion that Afterpay is taking the Australian & global shopping world by squall, with its super effortless and handy way of taking commodities home before customers have paid for them. 

They allow their clients to access what they desire and require while still keeping monetary wellness and control. Their logo is the most vital visual plus point. 

Recently, the logo has developed from two detached triangles to a constant “loop”, signifying the never-ending rapport and relationship between Afterpay’s consumers and merchants. 

They teamed up with internationally famous colour institute Pantone for their new logo to make an elite mint hue named Bondi Mint. The colour was intended to be apparent, fresh, lively, and contemporary to line up with the qualities and morals of the Afterpay customer. Afterpay’s official emblem is used in all advertising resources and products. 

 

3. Woolworths

One of the largest supermarket chains is Woolworths and has almost 1000 stores across Australia. Their logo includes three elegant elements that jointly form a powerful and brilliant logo. However, most of the time, only the icon is used to represent the brand.

The exceptional apple design represents the freshness of their food, while the contemporary and simple font publicizes the brand name. In addition, their tagline is short (and makes exceptional use of initial- rhyme that rolls off the tongue).

However, in 2009, Apple filed an objection that the Woolworths apple looked a lot like their own. This is a reminder that copying a brand’s symbol too closely has consequences.

 

4. Commonwealth bank

The Commonwealth Bank launched its first major logo rebrand and revised its ‘diamond’ logo. This became the fourth logo in the bank’s 110year history. In addition, they wanted to create a campaign that celebrates and displays the accomplishments and traits of the bank, on TV, in print, on websites and social media platforms.

The logo is contemporary and can be recognized immediately. The logo features a geometric design that is set inside a yellow diamond shape. Also, the sturdy and bold colour proudly set apart itself from other banks’ commercial identities. The designers removed the black corner in the latest logo and used a much more bright yellow palette. This added more dynamics to the static image. The logo is an excellent example of a design going against the flow and still succeeding.

 

5. The Australian Museum

 Patterns inspire the logo of the Australian Museum and figures found inAustralia’s natural and cultural anthologies, the zig-zag moves in all directions, signifying past, present, and future. It is a symbol: a heartbeat, a living museum.

The straightforward, clear AM zig-zag makes sure immediate recognition across all applications and platforms.

 

6. The Australian Made

Mark some relaunches are successful, some less effective, and some are just plain cryptic. Australian Made’s last logo indeed fell into the latter category, substituting its favourite kangaroo with something that looked a lot more disturbing. Thankfully, the redesign has now officially been kept aside.

The Australian Made mark is intended to indicate products that are Australian made. According to their website, the symbol is “the mark of Aussie genuineness”.The updated logo, which marketing agency BBDO Sydney designed, will now be swapped with a different take. The firm took to Twitter to declare that their beloved kangaroo wasn’t replaced. The new logo was only planned to be adopted by industries and government-run agencies.

 

7. Qantas

Qantas’ flying kangaroo is arguably one of the most iconic airline logos globally and a genuine Australian icon. Since quantas logo introduction in 1944, the logo has undergone multiple significant changes, its first design adapted from the Australian one- dollar coin . Repeatedvariations of the logo have happened since then, with the latest logo revealed by designer Hans Hulsbosch in July 2007, coming with a heavy $100 million price tag.

 The logo got a new twist in 2016 a contemporary, sleek look to represent a new era of Qantas aircraft.

The use of the Kangaroo symbol with daring red colour in the design makes sure that the logo remains a memorable and historical symbol of a brand and the country. Also, the logo’s minimalism and stability are vital to the overall success of the design, which is synonymous with Qantas’s business.

 

7. ABC        

Australian Broadcasting Commission The ABC logo is an exceptional illustration of achieving ageless design. This logo was designed by Bill Kennard in 1965, who was also an employee there at the time. The design is inspired by the waveform of an oscilloscope (an instrument that is used to show and evaluate the waveform of electronic signals) and has only been faintly changed over the years to adjust to shifting technologies in TV. The ABC logo’s strong point lies in its plainness, balance and signifying movement.

 

8. Australia Post

The logo of Australia Post is historical and can be immediately recognized with Australia’s well-liked culture. The logo is designed by artist Pieter Huveneers in the year 1975. This logo uses the letter ‘P’ to represent the postal horn found on conventional English post bikes.

The service that Australia Post provides all around the world is represented by the circle around the alphabet “P”.One of the strengths of the logo is the use of a pictogram with vibrant colour and the easy-to-read additional typography.

 

9. XERO Ltd

XERO-  a cloud-based accounting software that connects people with their banking accountancy and book-keeping apps, anytime on any device. With bookkeepers and accountants, Xero helps build a trusted bond with small business clients through online teamwork. 

The Company’s name and logo should be appropriate with the service it is providing to its customers. The blue and white colour in the logo represents freedom and transparency, which it gives to its customers while keeping the records of their accounts. O with a dot in “XERO” represents the numeral “0”. 

 

10. Airtasker

Airtasker is a reliable community platform that bonds people who need to subcontract tasks and find local services with people ready to work and looking to earn money. From accessible to knotty tasks, Airtasker can help you finish your home cleaning, minor repair jobs, management work, photography, graphic design or even make a website.

The “Wing” brand mark is about making light work s which you need to be done. It stands for a symbol of swiftness and a sense that you can be everywhere. It’s also an honour to their first mark, the winged shoe that helped them move forward just like the people who are using Airtasker from doing jobs to helping people and getting more job done with almost any task.

 

The designing of the logo for the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games started 7 years prior as a struggle for many Australian designers. However, the best one was designed by Michael Bryce, which featured a running sportsperson, an allusion to Opera house in Sydney, and three boomerangs which were sketched in an easy hand-drawn style. The symbols in the logo are creative, witty and truly represent the culture of Australia.

 

The Future of Logos –

Less is more As we move forward in the 21st century, new designs will be created & will show the way to more ground-breaking logo designs.

We now can determine how logos will continue to evolve further in the future. With the beginning of image recognition technology and logo recognition, logo design must adapt to make them evident.

This fast-growing logo design market gets you connected with graphic designers, logo artists, illustrators, visual artists from all over the world. They will help you to craft artistic logo designs for your business.

With Snap, you can be guaranteed that you’re heading towards the most critical period of change in logo design history.

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