Myths and legends of world famous brands. The history of fashion brand logos

Photos from open sources

Our past makes us who we are. Everyone has a story behind them that has somehow changed their worldview and life. Some stories are quite boring, while others you can listen to with bated breath and wonder what is even possible. This also applies to brands, such as those described below.

1. FedEx Rescue
In the early 1970s, just a few years after FedEx was created, the fledgling company was already in dire shape, losing up to a million dollars a month. At one point it seemed that they would not be able to meet their financial obligations. While waiting for his plane, Fred Smith, the company's founder, impulsively boarded a flight to Las Vegas, where he won $27,000 in blackjack. The company was saved.

2.Lamborghini sports cars were born thanks to the pride of Enzo Ferrari
Lamborghini was originally a tractor manufacturer. Its owner, Ferruccio Lamborghini, was interested in luxury cars, especially Ferraris. While performing a routine check, Lamborghini discovered that the clutch in his Ferrari was broken. He also noticed that the car used the same clutch as his tractors. When he suggested that Enzo Ferrari replace the clutches in his cars with better ones, Ferrari simply kicked him out, saying that he was a tractor manufacturer and knew nothing about racing cars. We all know what happened next.

3. BMW started producing cars because Germany lost the First World War.
BMW was originally an aircraft manufacturing company. After Germany's defeat in World War I, all aircraft manufacturing companies were required to cease production as part of one of the many conditions of the Armistice Treaty signed at Versailles. When the company faced bankruptcy, BMW switched to producing motorcycles and soon after, in 1928, began producing cars. The company's current logo is a tribute to its aviation heritage.

4. Coca-Cola and American Prohibition
Coca-Cola was originally created by John Pemberton, a wounded Confederate colonel who wanted to find something that would help him overcome his morphine addiction. He called it the French Vin Coca, a nerve tonic. When Atlanta passed prohibition legislation in 1886, Pemberton had to redo the formula and make a non-alcoholic version of his tonic. He named the drink Coca-Cola, the drink we all know and love.

5. History of the McDonald's logo
The McDonald's logo is one of the most recognizable in the world, probably second only to Coca-Cola. But the truth is that the name of the owner of the company was not taken into account when creating the logo. The architecture of the original store had golden arches on both sides, because the owner wanted people noticed McDonald's from a distance. Therefore, when creating the logo, this particular architectural feature of the restaurant was taken into account.

6. The meaning of the Nike icon
Originally called BRS (Blue Ribbon Sports), the company was renamed Nike, the winged Greek goddess of victory. The famous symbol symbolizes her wings and speed.

7. The Apple logo is not a tribute to Alan Turing
The truth of creating a logo for a famous company is far from poetic. The most popular version is that Steve Jobs' favorite fruit was an apple. This also explains why their first computer was named after his favorite apple, McIntosh.

8. UPS Was Founded By 2 Kids With A Bicycle And $100
United Parcel Service, or UPS, as it is known, started from scratch. In 1907, 19-year-old James Casey founded the company with only $100 borrowed from a friend and a bicycle. The teenager took over the post of president, CEO and chairman of the company. Today, UPS is one of the world's largest package delivery companies.

9. Fanta was created in Nazi Germany
At the height of World War II, Nazi Germany was subject to several trade embargoes. Due to a shortage of raw materials and ingredients, the head of Coca-Cola Deutschland. Max Keith decided to create a new drink for the German market using what they had - "leftover leftovers". The name comes from the German word for fantasy (Fantasie).

10. Puma and Adidas exist because of a family feud.
In the 1920s, brothers Rudolf and Adolf “Adi” Dassler ran the successful shoe company Dassler Brothers Shoe Factory. However, during World War II, misunderstandings became noticeable between the brothers. Rudolf was captured by American soldiers and accused of being a member of the Waffen SS, although in fact he was not. Rudolf was sure that his own brother had told him. The split resulted in the emergence of two companies, Rudolf founded Ruda (later renamed Puma) while Adi founded Adidas. They never made peace and were buried in the same cemetery, but as far away from each other as possible.

MENSBY

Many creators of brands and fashion houses did not plan to engage in fashion... This is probably why they managed to create iconic items.

“If you want to make God laugh, tell him about your plans,” says a famous proverb.

The creators of the brands and fashion houses that we will tell you about now did not even think about pleasing the Almighty and did not make grandiose plans for creating fashion empires. They didn't plan to do fashion at all... Perhaps that's why they managed to create truly iconic things.

Louis Vuitton: from chest to suitcase.

Louis Vuitton Company founded in 1854 by the son of carpenter Louis Vuitton. He was born in the small town of Franche-Comté in eastern France. At the age of 14, Louis went on foot to work in Paris (which, by the way, is almost 400 kilometers!). In the capital, he became an assistant to a master making travel chests.

In this business, young Vuitton was so successful that he soon became the personal master of Empress Eugenia and opened his own store on the Champs Elysees.

In 1858, Vuitton created a lightweight flat chest to replace the heavy and bulky one, the prototype of the modern suitcase. The aristocracy really liked this invention, because with the development of railways, people began to travel more, and they needed easier and more convenient ways to transport things.

After Louis's death, his sons continued his business. One of them, George, frustrated by the number of counterfeits of Louis Vuitton bags and suitcases, came up with the signature Monogram embossed print with the LV logo to combat counterfeits. As we now know, this did not help him... But the print itself became truly iconic...

Today the brand has 350 stores in 53 countries.

Hermes: the best harness in Paris.

Fashion house 'Hermes' was founded in 1837 in Paris as a saddlery workshop. In those days, high-quality harnesses and an expensive saddle could say as much about a person’s condition and position in society as expensive accessories say now.

Founder of the brand Thierry Hermes He knew his business perfectly: all self-respecting riders had his saddles with a signature large stitch. Ermes served the imperial stables of France, Spain, Great Britain and Russia. After Thierry's death, his children and grandchildren continued his work. In the 20s of the last century, when the aristocracy began to actively switch from horses to cars, the Hermes house for the first time diversified its business and began producing leather accessories - belts and bags.

At the same time, the distinctive features of the brand - high-quality leather and large saddle stitch - have been preserved. They provided the goods with special chic and durability. Later, in addition to accessories, the brand began producing sportswear, which was later expanded to include casual wear and luxury homewares. There are always three iconic things in the Hermes collections: bags 'Kelly' and 'Birkin'’, as well as square silk bob scarves.

Every year the company releases new scarves with prints on a variety of themes - from impressionist paintings to the history of aeronautics, and every year the collections always include a “horse theme” as a tribute to the history of the fashion house. And by the way, Hermes still produces saddles and harnesses.

Gucci: another horse story.

This time the business turned out to be more successful, and soon Gucci decided to expand the store’s assortment to include women’s bags. Reselling goods from other manufacturers turned out to be not very profitable, so Guccio began to create his own bags under the brand 'La Gucci Vita'. A signature logo and print in the form of intertwined G letters was developed for it, which soon became popular throughout the world. Another recognizable symbol of the company was the striped braid, the prototype of which was the horse girth. Now it adorns both the brand’s belts and bags. And in 1947, the first it-bag ‘Gucci’ was invented - a bag with a bamboo handle, which is still “reissued” in different interpretations.

Hugo Boss work clothes.

Name 'Hugo Boss' they found it commercially attractive because it is easy to read and pronounced the same in almost all European languages. The brand began producing elegant men's suits and was soon able to compete with Italian fashion houses, which at that time dictated the rules in the world of men's style.

5 stories of unusual names.

• Luxury brand 'Coach' grew out of a small workshop in Manhattan. The brand's first bag was made from... a baseball glove. Hence the sports name ‘Coach’, which translated from English means “coach”. But this word also means “carriage”, and this is what is depicted in the brand’s logo.
• Your company 'Cacharel' tailor Jean Bruske named it after the small bird cacharel, which lives in the south of France. She accidentally caught his eye when he was thinking about a name for his enterprise.
• Cosmetic brand 'Lancaster' merchant George Wurz and pharmacist Eugene Frezzati created it in Monaco immediately after World War II. They named it after the heavy Lancaster bombers that the British Royal Air Force used to liberate France from the Nazis.
• Brand 'Mexx' appeared after the merger of two clothing brands - men's 'Moustache' and women's 'Emanuelle'. The first letters M and E were taken from the names of both brands, and the last two XX signify the double kiss that sealed the new union.
• Finally, the brand name 'The Body Shop' and completely ironic. After all, this is what (The Body Shop) is usually called in America for car body repair shops...

• TEFAL
  Tefal has long believed that the main motivation for purchasing Teflon-coated pans is that cooking with these pans does not require the consumption of a single gram of oil. However, it later turned out that the main incentive to buy them was the fact that pans with such a coating are very easy to clean, because food does not stick to their surface. The content of the advertising campaign was changed, which significantly increased its effectiveness.
• SNICKERS
  In Russia, the first Snickers chocolate bars appeared in 1992 and were positioned as a snack that replaced a full meal. For a long time, the former Soviet consumer could not get used to the fact that he could eat soup for lunch instead of soup, and bought Snickers as a “sweet for tea.” After the BBDO Moscow agency took over the creative servicing of the brand, Snickers was repositioned for teenagers, who for the most part love everything sweet and do not like .
• Alka-Seltzer
  After Alka-Seltzer advertisements in the 1960s began throwing not one, but two tablets into a glass of water, sales of the drug doubled. The Tinker&Partners agency came up with a cunning advertising move.
  There is a similar story about a brilliant marketer who was the first to indicate in the instructions for using shampoo that it should be applied to the hair and rinsed off twice, which led to a double increase in sales.
• Pepsi
  Nikita Khrushchev was the first to advertise Pepsi in Russia. In 1959, at the American National Exhibition in Moscow, Sokolniki, then-Vice Richard Nixon, skillfully playing the role of host, offered Nikita Khrushchev a drink to try. The photograph in which the Soviet leader is holding a cup with the Pepsi logo in his hands has not left the pages of newspapers and advertising magazines for a long time. That significant moment in the history of the brand is considered the “Birthday” of Pepsi in Russia.
• Timberland
  From the history of Timberland. In the early 1980s, Timberland was going through difficult times. It produced quality pumps that were priced lower than industry leader Topsiders. It seemed like a good product and low price would work for them, but things weren't going well. Timberland then made a very simple decision: they raised their prices until they were much higher than Topsiders' prices. Sales increased sharply. Which confirms the validity of David Ogilvy's statement: “The higher the price, the more desirable the product becomes in the eyes of the buyer.”
• Parliament
  At one time, the Parliament tobacco brand followed the same path. Initially, its prices were lower than its main competitor Marlboro, and sales were quite modest, since they faced a lot of competitors in the low price category in which no one appreciated the feature of their exclusive filter. Then the brand left the market for a year and re-entered at a price higher than Marlboro, immediately falling into the “premium” niche where a filter that was different from all others came at the right time.
• Woolworth
  The founder of the largest chain of Woolworth stores and the inventor of grocery price tags and supermarkets found the right insight that allowed him to make millions by fainting from fear. A shy and stuttering young man from the village at the age of 21 got a job as a sales assistant in a small shop. At that time, the price of goods in stores placed on the counter behind the seller was not indicated. The seller “by eye” determined the buyer’s solvency and named his price. Then the buyer either bargained or left. Poor Frank did not know how and was very afraid to invite customers, praise the goods, and bargain. I was so afraid that one day I even fainted while working. As punishment, the store owner punished him by leaving him alone to sell for the whole day, threatening that if the earnings were less than the usual daily income, he would fire him.
  Before opening the store, Frank attached a piece of paper with the lowest possible price to all goods (a prototype of a modern price tag). He laid out all the stale goods dumped in the warehouse on a huge table, attaching a sign to it that said “Everything for five cents.” He placed the table near the window so that both the product and the sign could be seen from the street. And shaking with fear, he began to wait for customers, hiding behind the counter.
  All the goods were sold out in a few hours, and the day's revenue was equal to a week's revenue. Buyers, holding the product in their hands and seeing the price written on it, gave up their money without haggling.
  Frank left his owner, borrowed money and opened his own store. In 1919, the Woolworth empire consisted of a thousand stores, and Frank's personal fortune was approximately 65 million.
• "Guinness Book of Records"
  The famous and best-selling (after the Bible) “Guinness Book of Records” is nothing more than a publicity stunt invented by the managing director of the Guinness brewing company, Sir Hugh Beaver. In 1954, at a dinner given by the Wexford company for hunters, Hugh Beaver got into an argument with one of the guests about who could fly faster - a plover or a partridge. It was then that it dawned on Beaver that all over the globe, during such small gatherings, real disputes about “the very best” were unfolding. He decided that it was worth creating a book that would contain officially confirmed records in all sorts of fields.
  A year was spent on research work, and on August 27, 1955, the first 198-page book was ready. The success was stunning: even before Christmas it became a bestseller in the UK, bringing good income to the beer brand.
• Dewar's
  In London at the end of the 19th century, brandy, rum and gin were very popular. Therefore, it was not easy to promote. The cunning Thomas Dewar, one of the founders of the family brand, chose an unexpected strategy. He hired straw customers to visit various pubs and demand Dewar's whiskey. Naturally, it was out of stock and they left. After several such visits, Dewar himself appeared at the bar and offered to conclude a contract for the supply of whiskey.
  In 1892, Thomas Dewar set off on a trip around the world. In two years, he visited 26 countries, and 32 agents began working for the company and several Dewar’s export companies appeared. The company's turnover during this time increased 10 times. And Tommy Dewar wrote his famous book “A Walk Around the World.”
• Camel
  The tobacco brand Camel was one of the first in America to try teaser advertising in 1913. Having decided that a camel is not only a memorable, bright picture, but also an excellent reason for advertising innovations, specialists from the tobacco company RJR, a few days before the first batch of cigarettes went on sale, published mysterious advertisements in the newspapers of almost ninety American cities. “Camels,” read the first one. A few minutes later the message “Camels are coming” appeared, and then - “Tomorrow there will be more camels in the city than in Asia and Africa combined”! The next morning, the frightened and intrigued Americans finally learned the whole truth. “Camel cigarettes are here!” read the final announcement.
• IKEA
  When the first IKEA stores were opened in the United States, having already gained recognition in Europe, furniture sales did not meet any expectations. After doing the research, it turned out that while Americans liked the simplicity of the design, they wanted furniture to fit the larger size of their homes. All that needed to be done was to increase the size of the furniture.
• Procter & Gamble
  Leading chemist-technologist at Procter & Gamble, Victor Mills, who helped his daughter care for her children, had to repeatedly pull out wet diapers from under his own grandchildren, wash and dry them. Of course, he didn’t like the process and wanted to somehow make his life easier. Then the idea of ​​a disposable “diaper” came to mind - a folded pad with high absorbency, which was planned to be placed in a specially shaped panty. After several experiments with different materials, Mills developed a new product for P&G, which they began to produce under the Pampers brand, which became a household name.
• Chupa Chups
  Usually, after they eat caramel, all children's hands become sticky, and without hesitation they wipe them on their clothes. A lollipop (originally wooden), which could be sucked as if on a fork and without staining clothes, was invented in 1958 by Enrique Bernat. The USP of the product was that it could be sucked without dirtying clothes and hands. At the same time, the first slogan of Chupa Chups appeared - “It’s round and long-lasting” (~ It’s round and long). The innovative stick was appreciated by consumers in all countries of the world, who continue to suck the fruit candy for the 54th year.
• Nestlé
  The original logo of Nestlé, founded in the 60s of the 19th century, looked like this: a nest with three chicks and their mother. Henri Nestlé used the family coat of arms as a trademark for his first products. At that time, a traditional family was considered to be parents and three children. Later, closer to the middle of the 20th century, traditions changed. The logo has also changed. Now in the nest, traditionally for Europe, there are only 2 chicks.
• Marlboro
  The Marlboro brand first appeared in 1924 and was positioned as the first women's cigarettes. A purely feminine slogan was chosen: “Mild as May” - “Tender as May.” Hollywood star Mae West was invited as the face of the brand. The packaging was also aimed at the female audience: a filter with a red stripe solved a dual task: to hide sloppy lipstick marks and protect women’s white teeth from yellowing. But no matter how hard advertising specialists tried, the product was not attractive to women: cigarettes spoiled their breath, turned yellow and caused a painful dry cough. Therefore, in order to survive in the market after two decades, the brand had to change gender.
  In order to change the idea of ​​filter cigarettes as a product “for girls,” Philip Morris invited one of the best American advertising specialists, Leo Burnett, who came up with the image of the “Cowboy Tamer of the Prairie.” The cowboy, the embodiment of the American spirit, struck a chord with consumers. The posters reminded us of the real heroes of America - brutal guys conquering the wild steppes. They conquered everyone - men and women, blacks and Latinos. Marlboro sales grew so much in just one year that they began to occupy fourth position in the sales ranking of all tobacco products.
  In addition, Malrboro began to be produced in the “Flip-top” packaging that later became standard - a hard cardboard case with a hinged lid. Such packaging was both purely practical (the cigarettes did not wrinkle) and of enormous marketing significance - now the smoker had to demonstrate the pack to others every time he was going to smoke, because opening the “flip-top” in his pocket was inconvenient.
• De Beers
  It is known that the consumer does not buy a product, but a solution to his problem. Thus, the South African diamond company De Beers offered men a solution to all their problems with the opposite sex, building an ingenious advertising campaign on this insight.
  In 1948, Harry Oppenheimer, the head of De Beers, traveled to Germany to meet with representatives of the advertising agency N.W. Ayers. He went there with the firm intention of changing people's ideas about diamonds: we must make sure that this stone ceases to be a trinket for moneybags, and becomes an everyday commodity that ordinary people could not do without. Advertising posters depicting glamorous actresses with rings on their fingers and earrings in their ears were replaced by black and white posters with images of diamonds and the inscriptions “Relieves headaches since 1888”, “Think about it. Divorce is more expensive”, “No, your wife didn’t pay for this advertising (But she told us what newspapers you read)” and so on. So De Beers proved that it was possible to sell luxury to women through their men.
• Red Bull
  When the drink was introduced to a wide market (Europe, USA), the main competitors were Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Molson, Labatt, and Anheuser-Busch. All of them had a similar concept - they toned and stimulated, and the Jolt Cola energy drink contained, among other things, a double dose of caffeine compared to Red Bull.
  Then Dietrich Mateschitz took a risky step: he artificially increased the price by half compared to competitors, reduced the volume of containers shaped like a battery, and began placing cans in stores not in the beverage departments, but in any other (note when the next Once you go to the store, you can find cans of Red Bull along with other energy drinks almost in the sausage department, including the alcoholic one).
  In addition, cases of Red Bull were distributed free of charge to students on university campuses. At student parties, Red Bull went off with a bang, because by a random and happy coincidence it was quickly discovered that it fits perfectly with vodka. Thus, a new cocktail, Vodka Red Bull, was born, which became very popular.
• ARIEL
  Rumor has it that the so-called casual Fridays, when you can move away from the strict dress code adopted in large companies and change your formal suit to casual clothes, were invented by P&G for advertising purposes. In the 80s of the 20th century, the world's largest company P&G was the leader in the washing powder market in the United States. But, despite the high advertising activity, the market share did not want to grow. Then the company conducted a study and assessed the clothing care market. In percentage terms, it turned out that powder is used in 65% of cases, and dry cleaning in 35%. The company further found that 70% of laundry detergent consumers are employed and wear suits 5 out of 7 days a week, which they dry clean.
  Further, joint research by P&G and Levi Strauss Jeans showed that employees in casual clothing are more creative and work much more efficiently than those who wear suits. And what did they do? P&G internally introduces the right to wear casual clothes on Friday. This news, thanks to the efforts of both companies, received huge coverage in the press, and many corporations followed suit. The washing powder market grew by 20%.

Every day we see beautiful posters, posters on television, on billboards, and in public transport. We are surrounded by many names, slogans, logos. Some of them are little known, while others are known all over the world. But have you ever wondered how the logos of the most famous companies in the world were created? Where did the bitten apple of Apple come from, why is the Nike swoosh so popular and who invented it, why are the three stripes of Adidas so simple, but at the same time so popular? Today we will tell 7 small stories, each of which will tell about the creation of logos for famous brands. We are sure that this article will be of interest to everyone who is interested in the history of the development of large corporations, because the life of a company begins with the logo.

The close connection between Chupa Chups and Salvador Dali

Salvador Dali is one of the most prominent and famous representatives of the surrealism movement. The artist, sculptor, graphic artist, director and writer made an undeniable contribution to the development of the modern world. And, it would seem, what does he have to do with the Chupa Chups company? Not many people know that it was Salvador who created the world famous logo for sweet lollipops.

The idea of ​​producing sweet candies on a stick was so interesting and promising that the company’s founders did not spare a tidy sum of money to attract the then famous artist Salvador Dali to create the logo. If you look ahead, you can easily say that the money invested has more than paid off, because the Chupa Chups logo turned out to be interesting, simple, not intrusive and understandable.

As Dali himself said, work on the logo took no more than an hour - from developing the idea to its final completion. He based it on the colors of the Spanish flag, added rounded shapes to the letters, framed it all, and that was it. Just like that, within one hour, one of the most famous and recognizable logos in the world appeared.

Carolyn Davidson and the famous Nike swoosh

Surely, every time you see the Nike logo, you ask yourself the question: “How did this swoosh become so popular?” I don’t know about you, but this question constantly arises in my head. After all, a damn simple logo, but at the same time incredibly laconic, clear, and memorable. The creator of the Nike logo is Carolyn Davidson. While still a student at Portland State, young Carolyn took part in a competition to design a logo for a new company. Then her “tick” did not cause much enthusiasm among Nike executives. “I don’t really like this logo, but I’m sure it will help us become popular,” said one of the company’s founders.

A very interesting fact is that Carolyn received only $35 for her work. How much do you think this logo is worth now?

Frank Robinson and Coca-Cola

It would seem that such a well-known brand, such a recognizable logo, it was certainly developed by a team of professional designers and marketers. Well, how could it be otherwise? Coca-Cola is known all over the world, and their red logo and unique font cannot be confused with anyone else. But in reality everything is much simpler. The logo for Coca-Cola was invented by the company's ordinary accountant Frank Robinson. At that time they did not yet know what the company would be called, and Frank chose the name “Coca-Cola”. I placed this name on a red background and used the standard cursive for that time. It was this “font” that was considered the standard of penmanship and the beauty of calligraphy. This is how the world saw one of the most famous logos of our time. True, time took its toll, and about once every ten years Coca-Cola changed the design of its logo. But those traditions, the red background and the special font, which were laid down in the very first years, have never changed.

Milton Glaser and the world famous "I Love NY" sign

You can often see young people on the streets wearing T-shirts with the inscription “I Love NY”. It is noteworthy that the creation of this inscription led to the emergence of a whole fashion for “love confessions”. Now in every city you can meet people with inscriptions telling how much they love their city. In Moscow you can often see “I LoveMoskov”, in London “I Love UK”. And in other big cities this is not uncommon.

And it all started with the fact that the young designer Milton Glaser in the mid-70s, on a voluntary basis, completely free of charge, created a simple, but at the same time incredibly popular logo. Thus, he expressed his love for one of the most beautiful cities in the United States, and supported the initiative of city authorities who sought to attract more tourists to New York. Over time, this sketch came to the liking of many citizens, who happily bought T-shirts, caps, jackets, and other things with this inscription.

An interesting fact is that Glazer sketched one of the most famous logos on a piece of paper while riding in a taxi. Now this first prototype of the “I Love NY” logo is kept in the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

The NeXT logo was created in literally 2 weeks

Apple founder Steve Jobs also faced great difficulties in his life. If you don’t know, he was even fired from the company that he founded. But Steve never gave up, and even after leaving Apple he founded another computer hardware company, NeXT. The symbolic name is next. Probably, in this way Jobs wanted to emphasize that he was not stopping and was ready to develop the next company with even greater fervor. But today we are not so much interested in the founding and development of NeXT as in the creation of the company logo.

The famous graphic designer Paul Rand was assigned to develop the logo. He gave Jobs a strict ultimatum: “You pay me $100,000, and I will provide one version of the logo that suits you.” As a result of this collaboration, the world saw the NeXT inscription made in the style of Jobs.

The work was accepted immediately, without any edits. The only thing Steve noticed was the need to highlight the letter “E” in yellow.

It is worth noting that Paul Rand had previously designed logos for IBM (a huge computer corporation), UPS (a worldwide delivery service), and a dozen other medium and small companies.

Rob Yanov and the Rainbow Apple

I am sure that each of you knows what the Apple logo looks like. And everyone knows and has heard about the company’s founder, Steve Jobs. But few people can name the name of the one who created the world-famous logo. We are sure that 9 out of 10 will say that Steve himself invented the bitten apple, but this is absolutely not true. Apple had an original logo that showed Newton sitting under a tree and writing something. Steve didn’t like this option, because from a young age he had gravitated toward simplicity and minimalism. As Jobs said: “Icons should be something you want to lick.” This is exactly what he demanded from Rob Yanov, the designer working on the new Apple logo. The only advice he received from Steve Jobs was: "Don't make it soppy."

A few weeks later, several options were presented to the court, among which were rainbow apples (bitten and not bitten). Steve chose the option that seemed more original and interesting.

Now Apple products are used by hundreds of millions of people all over the world, and their logo is one of the most famous and recognizable.

The most popular three stripes in the world

Adidas is a company that is a leader in the sportswear market. This is no longer just a brand, it is an entire industry that dictates the style of more than one generation of sports fans. For a very long time, the Adidas logo was a trefoil and three stripes. It is noteworthy that no designers or professionals were involved in creating the logo, and the concept itself was proposed by the company’s founder, Adi Dassler.

For almost 22 years, from 1972 to 1994, the logo remained unchanged. But in the early 90s, dictated by new trends in fashion, the company slightly reworked the “trefoil”, already loved by the whole world. Now the clothes featured an angular logo, which was made in the old traditions, while maintaining the theme of the three stripes. Since 2008, Adidas has been releasing a separate line of clothing and shoes called “Adidas original,” which combines 80s fashion and the original logo created by Adi Dassler.

Mercedes three-pointed star

The Mercedes company was founded in 1926. But the logo that became famous throughout the world appeared decades earlier. The official version says that the Mercedes logo means the trinity - earth, water and air. It was on land (in cars), on water (in boats and yachts), and in the air (in airplanes) that engines produced at Mercedes factories were used. There is also an unofficial version that says that the three-pointed star was first used by the founder of Mercedes-Benz, Gottlieb Daimler. He wrote a letter to his wife, and it was with this symbol, a star with three rays, that he designated the place where their new home would be. Gottlieb's sons slightly modernized their father's star and placed it on the company logo.

Pavel Durov and Vkontakte

And I would like to finish our review with the logo of one of the most popular social networks in the world, VKontakte. It is incredibly simple, concise, and conveys the essence of the company and its purpose. As Pavel himself said, it took no more than 10 minutes to create the logo. He took unobtrusive colors, blue and white, and made the inscription in a standard font. As a result, we received a simple logo that is seen daily by more than 50 million visitors to the VKontakte social network. Over time, the logo was further simplified and just the letter “B” was left against the background of the already well-known company colors.

We could continue this list by adding hundreds of famous logos of the most popular companies in the world. But we tried to select the most interesting brands and unusual stories behind the creation of their logos. We are sure that the article was interesting to you, and now you know how the logos of famous companies appeared.

Victoria's Secret

One day, Roy Raymond decided to give his wife a gift and went to the store in search of beautiful lingerie. He wandered for a long time among the shelves with products, confused in the “otherworldly” world of women's accessories. And even salespeople trained to serve women could not help him make a purchase. So Roy left empty-handed, but with a revolutionary idea. In 1977, he opened his first store, Victoria's Secret, positioned as a new type of lingerie store. The store combined European elegance with a friendly environment that made even men feel comfortable. And by launching a program to sell lingerie through catalogs, Raymond made a real revolution in the very approach to selling lingerie in the world.

However, five years later, Roy Raymond was forced to sell Victoria's Secret to Leslie Wexner, who immediately got rid of the image of a “paradise for men”, focusing on a female audience. Fashionable lingerie from Victoria's Secret began to be positioned as affordable luxury.

And Roy Raymond, at the age of 47, after several unsuccessful business ventures, committed suicide in 1993 by jumping from the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco.

One of the oldest chains of fast food restaurants in the United States was founded by Garlan Sanders (1890-1980) when he was over 60. Before that, he led a rather miserable life. Having only 6 years of education, by the age of 40 Garlan managed to change several dozen professions. He sold tires, was a fireman, a soldier, a conductor, helped farmers, worked as a peddler and much more. Having tried a lot of professions, he never found one that he could hold out for a long time. The family lived poorly, but the wife endured all her husband’s problems steadfastly and believed in him until the very end.

In 1930, Sanders opened his own auto repair shop. Soon, he decides that he needs to make a small dining room for clients. Garlan allocated one room of the workshop as a dining room (his family lived in several others). This room contained a dining table and 6 chairs. Sanders cooked his food right in his home kitchen. Soon his auto repair shop became famous throughout Kentucky for its fried chicken. It was called: "Garlan Sanders' Kentucky Fried Chicken." All customers noted the quality of his seasoning, which he prepared from 11 different spices.

In 1937, he opened the Sanders Court & Cafe motel, which was also a fast-food restaurant in its own right. In the 1950s, Sanders began selling his "Garlan Sanders" chicken to other restaurants across America. In the early 60s, Garlan Sanders already had several hundred US restaurants as clients.

Woolworth

The founder of the largest Woolworth store chain and the inventor of grocery price tags and supermarkets found the right insight that allowed him to make millions. A shy and stuttering young man from the village at the age of 21 got a job as a sales assistant in a small shop. At that time, the price of goods in stores placed on the counter behind the seller was not indicated. The seller “by eye” determined the buyer’s solvency and named his price. Then the buyer either bargained or left. Poor Frank did not know how and was very afraid to invite customers, praise the goods, and bargain. I was so afraid that one day I even fainted while working. As punishment, the store owner left him trading alone for the whole day, threatening that if the earnings were less than the usual daily income, he would fire him.

Before opening the store, Frank attached a piece of paper with the lowest possible price to all goods (a prototype of a modern price tag). He laid out all the stale goods dumped in the warehouse on a huge table, attaching a sign to it that said “Everything for five cents.” He placed the table near the window so that both the product and the sign could be seen from the street. And shaking with fear, he began to wait for customers, hiding behind the counter.

All the goods were sold out in a few hours, and the revenue per day was equal to a week. Buyers, holding the product in their hands and seeing the price written on it, gave up their money without haggling.

Frank left his owner, borrowed money and opened his own store. In 1919, the Woolworth empire consisted of a thousand stores, and Frank's personal fortune was approximately 65 million.

Nintendo

The history of the Japanese company, specializing in the creation of computer games and game consoles, began in 1889. Then the company was called Marufuku and produced playing cards in a special Japanese style, which were hand-painted and then varnished. In 1902, the company began producing Western-style cards, which were unknown to the Japanese at that time, and soon became one of the leaders in the gambling industry.

In the 1970s, Nintendo transitioned from cards to simple toys. At that time, many interesting toys were invented: the Ultra Machine, a mechanical hand called The Ultra Hand, and a humorous device for testing the level of love, the Love Tester. In 1978, Nintendo began producing arcade games.

Pampers

Leading chemist-technologist at Procter & Gamble, Victor Mills, who helped his daughter care for her children, had to repeatedly pull out wet diapers from under his own grandchildren, wash and dry them. Of course, he didn’t like the process and wanted to somehow make his life easier. Then the idea of ​​a disposable “diaper” came to mind - a folded pad with high absorbency, which was planned to be placed in a specially shaped panty. Mills tested the first models on his own grandchildren - he actually tested everything on members of his family. At a time when everyone was brushing their teeth with toothpowder, his wife and daughter did it with liquid toothpaste, which Mills invented.

After several experiments with different materials, Mills developed a new product for P&G, which they began to produce under the Pampers brand, which became a household name. In retirement, the inventor of “diapers” became interested in traveling and mountaineering. Mills was well into his 80s and still climbing mountains. Victor Mills died at the age of 100 in 1997.

Sela

Boris Ostrobrod left the USSR in the early 90s for Israel. There he settled in Tel Aviv and started trading. He began to bring swimsuits from Israel to Russia. A small batch of the first swimsuits, bought by Ostrobrod together with his brother Arkady Pekarsky with their small savings, sold out almost instantly.

Next came work with the Chinese. The brothers began to order clothes from China. After his first successes in the sales field, Boris realized that real success could only be achieved by taking control of production. Which is what he did. After all, world-famous clothing brands also made clothes in China. Since they were able to conduct quality control in China, why not try?

This is how the Sela brand appeared, the main market of which was Russia. At the same time, all production was concentrated in China, and the company's headquarters were located in the capital of Israel, Tel Aviv. Interestingly, the word Sela itself means “rock” in Hebrew.

Nike

Phil Knight was a middle distance runner for the University of Oregon. He was a very mediocre athlete. But he knew very well how terrible American sneakers are. At the same time, German Adidas for most people in the 60s were a real luxury, as they were much more expensive than local products, although they were ten times higher in quality. Knight decided to rectify the situation and create the Blue Ribbon Sports company, which would produce cheap American sneakers that would be of equal quality to German Adidas and Puma.

Knight came to the conclusion that it was possible to sell high-quality, and at the same time inexpensive, sneakers only by producing them in Asia. In 1964, with an investment of $500, Knight and his coach Bowerman ordered 300 pairs of sneakers from the Japanese company Onitsuka Tiger (now ASICS). Phil began selling Japanese sneakers in the United States from his van.

Sales began to grow, and little by little the business began to grow from simply reselling other people's sneakers to producing its own under the Nike brand.

Hilton

In June 1919, Conrad Hilton, who was then 31 years old, arrived in the town of Cisco in the US state of Texas. He recently experienced the bankruptcy of his first enterprise, a bank, which did not stay afloat for even a year. After its liquidation, Conrad still had 5,000 US dollars left, and he was going to open a new bank or, if possible, buy a suitable one. But very soon his plans changed.

In search of accommodation for the night, he went to the local Mobley Hotel. The failed banker was amazed by the crowd of people in the lobby who were literally fighting for free rooms. Crowds of clientele are a real dream for any businessman, Hilton thought at that moment. But the hotel owner was not happy about this, and it turned out that he was not averse to selling his 60-room Mobley. This was enough for Hilton to forget about any banks forever. A few days later he became the owner of his first hotel, and six years later he opened the first hotel of his name in Dallas - the Dallas Hilton.

Adidas and Puma

Shortly after the First World War, at the beginning of 1920, the Dasslers, at a family council, decided to organize a family business - sewing shoes under the Dassler brand. The first products of the Dassler family were slippers and orthopedic shoes for training disabled athletes (of which there were many after the war). The material for them was decommissioned military uniforms, and the soles were cut from old car tires.

In 1924, the Dassler Brothers Shoe Factory was founded. Two brothers with opposite characters complemented each other - Adolf is a calm and balanced producer, while Rudolf is an active and sociable salesman. A year later, Adolf invented and sewed the world's first football boots with spikes, which were forged by the blacksmiths the Zelein brothers. The football model turned out to be comfortable and, together with gymnastic slippers, became the main product of the Dasslers. At the 1928 Summer Olympics, several athletes already competed in Dassler shoes.

After the death of their father in 1948, the brothers quarreled and, dividing factories, founded new companies Adidas and Puma. After the collapse of the family business, the brothers did not speak to each other, and Puma and Adidas became their fiercest competitors.

Viagra

In 1992, in the town of Pfizer Sandwich (UK), Pfizer conducted research on a new drug - sildenafil citrate, which was created to treat many heart problems. The developers believed that sildenafil citrate would increase blood flow to the heart muscle and lower blood pressure.

But in the course of research it was found that sildenafil citrate does not particularly affect blood circulation in the myocardium or blood pressure. It was also discovered that some male participants in the experiment did not want to return the pills at the end of the test (and one even broke into the laboratory where sildenafil was being made to stock up on the drug for future use). In all of them, the reason for refusal was a sharp improvement in erectile function.

Scientists from the pharmaceutical company Pfizer did not miss this unexpected property of sildenafil citrate and recognized it as a good remedy for combating erectile dysfunction. This is how the drug Viagra appeared, the name came from the combination of the words “Vigor” (strength, power) and Niagara Falls - the most powerful waterfall in North America.

Mars

In 1911, 28-year-old Frank Mars, using money earned from selling sweets, which he had been engaged in since the age of 19, opened his own store with his wife. The confectionery shop was located right in Mars’s house, and trade was carried out through the kitchen window. The assortment of the confectionery shop consisted of candies with different fillings, which Frank and Ethel sculpted by hand.

One day Mars and his son were walking around the city, and the little son asked his father to buy him chocolate. In those years, chocolate was sold only by weight, as were Henkel washing powders. This created inconvenience for people, especially on hot summer days - even if you carefully eat chocolate that quickly melts in the sun, you could very easily get dirty with it. At that moment, Frank thought, what if?... And this “if” was embodied in small pieces of chocolate that were wrapped in foil.

As a result, a chocolate bar called Milky Way becomes a bestseller for the young enterprise in a matter of days. In 1925, the new bar was recognized as the leader in the chocolate market. Sales are growing steadily, and the company is developing further, opening new markets for sales of its products.