Intelligent Design: The evolution of the car logo
Automotive logos, those quasi-interesting designs that adorn the front and back of nearly every vehicle in the road, are more than just haphazard enameled scribbles. If you ask the marketing team, they will correctly tell you that each automotive logo symbolizes the tradition, culture, and history of the automaker it represents. (Don't ask the accounting department, which will just tell you it represents millions of dollars in design costs for haphazard enameled scribbles.)
After following a tip from a reader, we stumbled upon a site that offers excellent insight into the historical development of many popular automotive insignias, like Volkswagen's logo above. Take a look here. Thanks for the tip, Mike!
[Source: Neatorama]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Tagg 6:39PM (2/19/2008)
Does the 1939 logo have a swastika look about it? I kind of like the pre-WW2 logo with the gears.
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tankd0g 7:17PM (2/19/2008)
Looks more like some sort of biohazard or radiation symbol.
ckm 7:19PM (2/19/2008)
I think it's actually airplane propellers, which were very common in automotive logos at the time (see BMW), but the coincidence is unfortunate if it was not deliberate.
JMC 3 8:58PM (2/19/2008)
Yes.the 1939 is a stylized swastika celebrating the nazi machine.
It kind of joins the nazi doctrine(swastika) with war readiness ;notice propellor and gear element..
Tyler Mayes 9:40PM (2/21/2008)
That look was very intentional.
MachinaDC5 6:39PM (2/19/2008)
Can't quite put my finger on what's wrong with the first one... The VW logo is kind of like the Pepsi logo, or the McDonald's arches, everybody can identify it. They've done a great job with it.
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Random Task 6:55PM (2/19/2008)
The first two look very Nazi design influenced.
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Reader 7:19PM (2/19/2008)
First one definitely does have the Aryan swastika look to it.
geo.stewart 7:20PM (2/19/2008)
kind of like Buick's (1990) and Ford's (1976) prior gen version better than current.
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john 7:48PM (2/19/2008)
BMW's roundel isn't a propeller... it's the patchwork/design of the Bavarian flag... common misnomer...
carry on...
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PiCASSO 8:02PM (2/19/2008)
Uhh... yeah, speak with data, john.
jg 8:15PM (2/19/2008)
'BMW's roundel isn't a propeller... it's the patchwork/design of the Bavarian flag'
It's both.
john 9:17PM (2/19/2008)
Last night I watched a recorded Discovery Channel or Nat Geo channel show on ultimate factories, BMW Z4 and one of the execs of BMW mentioned that... then they showed the flag... thought it was interesting to mention...
letstakeawalk 11:23PM (2/19/2008)
I saw the same program, and I have to second John. The BMW historian related the story of the propeller spinning, but appeared to suggest the origin was truly the Bavarian colors.
He left a lot of wiggle room though, like any good historian.
nagmashot 2:22AM (2/20/2008)
@john that is 100% corrct..
The officle BMW statment is that the BMW logo symols a propeller is a mythos.
BMW´s officel version of the BMW logo history is ..
The blue white in the BMW logo represent the colors of Bavaria the home of BMW. As they draw the first time the BMW logo it was in Bavaria by law forbidden to the use the Bavarian flag in any commercial or company logos. BMW got around that law by mirrowing the colors.
Will Design for Food 2:38AM (2/20/2008)
@John
You're 100% correct. BMW actually just learned this. Up until recently they were the ones perpetuating the propellor story.
mba 5:25AM (2/20/2008)
In fact, the original BMW Logo goes back to a draft design scetch of a secretary. Guess that story didn't quite fit into the Corporate Communication strategy, and they felt better with that propeller story.
VP 7:42PM (2/19/2008)
Do any of the historians here know, when was the first time the word "bowtie" came to represent chevy? I am curious to know.
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geo.stewart 7:57PM (2/19/2008)
1913.
Mike Fagen 1:43PM (2/22/2008)
The Chevy Bow Tie can from a wallpaper design in a Paris Hotel room Louis Chevrolet was staying in. I know it sounds crazy, but I have and old (1967) factory "The Chevrolet Story" that tells the story about the logo. The softbound book is very cool, lots of black and white photos of both old and new Chevys, assembly plants, etc. It was updated every model year. My dad was a chevy dealer back then and I always coveted that book