Favourite long-running logos/emblems?

Does anyone have a favourite corporate logo and/emblem that has stood the test of time?

Three of mine that currently spring to mine (in no particular order) are;

1. The Adidas wordmark in the all-lowercase font (stylised as 'adidas').

Its older accompanying 'trefoil' emblem also looks pretty cool, but the current emblem that replaced it isn't bad either.

2. The Hoover 'roundel' with the large capital 'H' at the start of the wordmark.

Although I love it now and think it's a great time-honoured emblem, it often struck terror into me as a little kid, obviously being a byword for loud vacuum cleaners (also including those from other brands).

3. The Philips 'shield' emblem.

Another timeless legend, evoking strong memories of a colour TV set my parents rented in the early 80s (first acquired circa late 1981) that was made by said brand, and had said 'shield' emblem on the front panel.

I still vividly remember the smell of it as soon as it was unboxed and installed by the technician from the rental organisation (part of the electrical dept of our local Co-op department store). We also rented a top-loading Sony Betamax VCR from them at the same time, which IIRC was rather temperamental. I think its model number was SL-C7UB.

Marshall. (Amplification)

Founded in 62 and still going strong. :shades:

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Originally Posted by NoraB

Marshall. (Amplification)

Founded in 62 and still going strong. :shades:

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Definitely iconic.

I also like the original Aiwa logo (stylised as AIWA), as my dad's first Walkman-style portable cassette machine was by them (model number TP-S30), that he bought in the very early 80s soon after it first came out.

I can also remember the smell of that vividly, especially coming from inside the cassette drive when the door/lid was open. Lovely!

It used to record as well as play back cassettes (rare on most Walkman-style machines), it was very flexible in terms of facilities/capabilities, such as having separate left and right input jacks that could be switched between line and mic level, the sound automatically switching to both channels in mono when a lead is inserted into just the left input jack, or alternatively, when a lead is plugged into the right input jack it recorded just the sound from that on the right channel and the live 'ambient' sound from the unit's built-in condenser mic onto the left channel. Of course with nothing plugged into either input jack the machine simply recorded the sounds from the built-in mic (on both channels) by default.

Even though cassette tapes and machines are yesterday's technology (and mostly crap by today's standards), I still wish we had that particular machine purely for the 'nostalgia' factor, plus it would no doubt be worth an absolute fortune nowadays, even more so if it's an extremely scarce NOS item.

Nonetheless, I have no desire to return to VHS or Betamax video tapes for normal day-to-day use in a hurry.

The Fred Perry emblem and The Mini car. :D

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Originally Posted by Carnation

The Fred Perry emblem and The Mini car. :D

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The Mini logo is definitely a good 'un.

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Originally Posted by Lencoboy

I can also remember the smell of that vividly, especially coming from inside the cassette drive when the door/lid was open. Lovely!

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Same. :yesyes:

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Originally Posted by NoraB

Same. :yesyes:

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That smell was a combo of metal and grease. None of that plastic crap back then that had eventually become the norm on such devices by the end of the 80s.

Also the Aiwa brand never felt the same for me again when they changed the logo to the all-lowercase font (stylised as 'aiwa') in around 1992 or so.

I was also disappointed when B&Q changed their long-running red 'roundel' logo (circa 1993) to a boring 'straight' logo, though they've still managed to outlast almost all of their closest likewise competitors over the years, so they must have been doing something right in order to achieve that, while many of their former rivals (e.g, Texas Homecare, Do It All, etc) ended up going the way of the dodo!

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Originally Posted by Lencoboy

That smell was a combo of metal and grease. None of that plastic crap back then that had eventually become the norm on such devices by the end of the 80s.

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I am partial to the smell of oil - engine oil in particular. :shrug:

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I was also disappointed when B&Q changed their long-running red 'roundel' logo (circa 1993) to a boring 'straight' logo, though they've still managed to outlast almost all of their closest likewise competitors over the years, so they must have been doing something right in order to achieve that, while many of their former rivals (e.g, Texas Homecare, Do It All, etc) ended up going the way of the dodo!

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Co-op changed there's for a while then went back to the original - which I was pleased about. If something works, why change it?

Also. 'Texas'..

I did the literal thing when my dad told me he was taking me to Texas one Saturday. (I was expecting cowboys and cactuses, not cement and drill bits). :roflmao:

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Originally Posted by NoraB

I am partial to the smell of oil - engine oil in particular. :shrug:



Co-op changed there's for a while then went back to the original - which I was pleased about. If something works, why change it?

Also. 'Texas'..

I did the literal thing when my dad told me he was taking me to Texas one Saturday. (I was expecting cowboys and cactuses, not cement and drill bits). :roflmao:

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Yes it was in 2016 that the Co-op revived their classic 70s-80s era 'blue box' logo (with the letters 'co' stacked on top of the letters 'op' underneath, and in a slightly squared font in white lettering). They also seem to have another coexisting logo stylised as 'coop' (in a bit of a 'joined/squashed-up' font), of which I can take or leave.

You made me laugh about when your dad told you he was taking you to Texas (Homecare), and you immediately thought of cowboys and cactuses rather than the DIY items your dad was actually purchasing from there. God, us Auties often don't half take many things literally (for better or worse), but I don't so much now I'm older and generally wiser.

It would really make me laugh (in the nicest and least patronising manner) if, for example, a little kid (Autie or not) was told by his/her parents that they were going out to do a car boot sale and the kid grabbed loads of little toy cars and footwear to take to sell, assuming that those items were literally intended to be sold, and unable to comprehend the concept of 'car boot sale' meaning selling virtually anything from the boot of one's own car with it wide open.

In fact, I'm sure there is actually an episode of 'The Sooty Show' from around the early 90s era where they were about to go and do a car boot sale and Sweep gathered a load of toy cars and various footwear beforehand to take to sell in it, being unable to comprehend the disambiguation!

However, I digress.

I started learning embroidery, and since then I've taken a liking to emblems and patches and can appreciate the work that goes into them.

I've always loved the US sports emblems. NBA has some awesome ones.

While not actually a logo per se, I do like the font that appears on all general road signage in the UK that is aptly named 'Transport'.

Even though it's only been in use since the 60s, it's still timeless and iconic.

Said font sometimes also appears on road name signs in some local authority areas (usually in all uppercase lettering), though the one font that commonly appears on those is called 'Octavian' (again, almost always in uppercase lettering).

My local authority (Tamworth Borough Council) currently tends to flip-flop between 'Transport' and 'Octavian' on their road name signage, though the former ('Transport') has usually been TBC's 'default' font on their road name signage for the past 25 years or so, while East Staffordshire Borough Council (which covers Burton) has always used 'Octavian' on their road name signage.

The font is actually called "Transport" :) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transport_(typeface)

I agree, it's a lovely font.

Is this the font you mean? https://www.fonts.com/font/monotype/octavian

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Originally Posted by WiredIncorrectly

The font is actually called "Transport" :) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transport_(typeface)

I agree, it's a lovely font.

Is this the font you mean? https://www.fonts.com/font/monotype/octavian

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Yes, that's the one.

'Octavian' is also used on the road name signs in Lichfield. There are two basic variants. The one generally used in the main 'city' area has white lettering on a dark brown background, while the one used in the wider surrounding 'district' area has black lettering on a white background.

Why do they use Octavian, but other areas use Transport?

Tamworth is a lovely area. I've been to Drayton Mannor many times as a youth.

I've always been confused about Tamworth train station, does it have tracks on 2 levels? It confused me the first time I used it.

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Originally Posted by WiredIncorrectly

Why do they use Octavian, but other areas use Transport?

Tamworth is a lovely area. I've been to Drayton Mannor many times as a youth.

I've always been confused about Tamworth train station, does it have tracks on 2 levels? It confused me the first time I used it.

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Thanks for your nice comments, even though my brother probably wouldn't agree with you on that, but that's his prerogative of course.

Yes, Tamworth train station does have two levels, but it's all I've ever known so it makes no odds to me.

As for the fonts used on the road name signs in Tamworth, over the past decade or so they seem to have been randomly alternating between 'Transport' and 'Octavian' for some strange reason. No big deal for me though.

Oh so it does have 2 levels. It confused the heck out of me.

If you've been to Redditch, there's a car park in the town center. There is a lift you get in, in the carpark that takes you up to the shopping center. It appears to move sideways, but it's just mind trickery. You come out by the Wilkinsons, and the brain thinks that's "over the other side", but it's not it's right above.

I'm intrigued now as to why they're alternating it.

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Originally Posted by Lencoboy

That smell was a combo of metal and grease. None of that plastic crap back then that had eventually become the norm on such devices by the end of the 80s.

Also the Aiwa brand never felt the same for me again when they changed the logo to the all-lowercase font (stylised as 'aiwa') in around 1992 or so.

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I briefly mentioned another treasured Aiwa 'Walkman'-type cassette player I had back in the mid-late 90s in another thread the other day, that I kind of wish I still had now, if only for the period nostalgia factor, despite the fact that portable CD players were basically the norm (and obviously more desirable) by the latter half of the 90s, and I did also dabble with MDs for a time during the very late 90s and the first half of the 2000s, though that's all for another thread in this particular context.

Back to the Aiwa cassette player in question. While I can't remember its model number, its body was matt black plastic (typical of its era), sported the then-newer all-lowercase logo (stylised as 'aiwa') and was a very basic model with simple mechanical-type tape transport control keys (and a playback only model, which was typical of the vast majority of 'Walkman'-type cassette devices then), a simple volume control rotary knob, headphone jack and a red LED indicator lamp that confirmed operation mode (play, rewind or fast-forward). No auto-reverse playback, Dolby NR, tape type selection, graphic equaliser/tone control, nor any other frills typically found on higher-end models (from all brands), but all in all it still performed very well despite being a 'budget' offering, was reliable and had a decent sound quality with very low wow-and-flutter and a fairly decent overall frequency response, unlike the increasingly dire quality offerings (from pretty much all brands) by the 2000s, when almost all audio-visual equipment seemed to go back to silver for a time, then back to black again by about 2008 or so.

I would still also love another TP-S30, Aiwa's first-ever portable 'Walkman'-like device from the very early 80s; again if only for the nostalgia's sake and most certainly for the sake of its versatility as a recording device (as already covered in greater detail upthread) and doing many leisurely (non-serious) recording experiments.

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Originally Posted by Lencoboy

I was also disappointed when B&Q changed their long-running red 'roundel' logo (circa 1993) to a boring 'straight' logo, though they've still managed to outlast almost all of their closest likewise competitors over the years, so they must have been doing something right in order to achieve that, while many of their former rivals (e.g, Texas Homecare, Do It All, etc) ended up going the way of the dodo!

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Funnily enough, I actually came across an old empty B & Q plastic carrier bag from the 80s era that had been stashed away in a drawer in our house for donkeys years but still remains fully intact with no holes, tears or scuffs, which could now be a very good period collector's item. Not only does it bear the original red B & Q 'roundel' logo, but it also bears the words 'D.I.Y. Supercentre', as written in the exact original grammar, but not sure of the name of the font (that was also used on all the signage throughout their stores and also in their printed brochures, etc, during the 80s and early 90s).

But there was one negative past association from it that struck me; the fact that trips to B & Q (along with many other stores when I was a kid), often ended up in massive rows between my parents, especially as my mom had a habit of spending ages in stores gawping at stuff and struggling to make her mind up over what to choose, plus whenever my dad did DIY jobs at home (such as decorating), he would often end up getting it in the neck off my mom over the slightest imperfections, and even worse if my mom had a last-minute change of heart on the new decor, etc, which again often resulted in war and peace between my parents, with tons of yelling and screaming, and even threats of divorce galore!

Really glad that's all a thing of the past now.

Just remembered another blast from the past.

The old Carling logo from the 70s-80s era when said lager was known as 'Carling Black Label' and was a wonky black label on a bright red background bearing the text stylised as 'CARLING Black Label LAGER'.

Although I've never drank lager (or beer in general) as I personally think it tastes rank, there's something about that particular logo and general livery that makes me smile. I also find its TV commercials from the 80s era rather amusing when watching on YouTube.

I guess the old additional 'Black Label' tag (which I think was abandoned in the 90s) would probably be considered rather non-PC today.

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Originally Posted by Pain

I could’ve bet Lencoboy wouldn't drink Carling Black Label!...



One of the funniest and best adverts for knocking copy (making fun of another advert) was this Carling Black Label skit on the Old Spice aftershave surfer ad.... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IuA-c1046JU

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I'm sure I remember seeing the old CBL logo in the background on beer pumps, ice recepticles, etc in pub/club scenes in some 80s episodes of 'Minder', 'OFAH', etc, which is one of many epitomes of the era.

I also recall a rather hilarious episode of Grange Hill from 1989 where the pupil character Trevor Cleaver smuggled a stash of cans of CBL onto the IOW trip and ended up passing out absolutely legless on the beach and was in for a mega nasty shock when the tide later came in and swept him up!

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Originally Posted by Lencoboy

I also recall a rather hilarious episode of Grange Hill from 1989 where the pupil character Trevor Cleaver smuggled a stash of cans of CBL onto the IOW trip and ended up passing out absolutely legless on the beach and was in for a mega nasty shock when the tide later came in and swept him up!

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Also around that same era (late 1988-mid 1989) I recall having a bit of a fascination with the 'Carling Black Label' brand, despite never liking the taste of the stuff (nor booze in general), and went through a bit of a brief phase of collecting CBL paraphernalia (empty cans, beer mats/ coasters, etc).

Incidentally, also around that same era, there was a moral panic sweeping Britain about 'lager louts', which was a kind of prelude to subsequent moral panics about the 'binge drinking' culture during the latter half of the 90s and through the 2000s, but then seemingly went on to receive less media attention during the 2010s and the 2020s so far.