image via: flickr.com

The casual fast food chain of Chipotle restaurants has been serving up made-to-order Mexican-American fast food since its inception in 1993. In the time since, the Chipotle logo has undergone a few changes, starting with a very simple text design to a more complex and appealing modern medallion-shape. We will examine the Chipotle brand and the revisions made to the Chipotle logo over time.

About The Chipotle Brand

History

The first Chipotle Mexican Grill was opened in Denver in 1993 by Steve Ellis. Ellis had previously attended the Culinary Institute of America, located in Hyde Park, New York, and he worked as a line cook in San Francisco, California, for Jeremiah Tower at Stars. He received an $85,000 loan from his father to put his cooking knowledge and skills to use, and thus, the Chipotle chain was born. Chipotle is the Mexican name of a smoked, dried chili pepper.

No Franchises

Ellis had originally planned to use Chipotle as a starter business and eventually use its profits to open a fine dining restaurant. However, when Chipotle concluded its first month selling more than 1,000 burritos a day, he turned his focus toward growth of the Chipotle brand. Currently, Chipotle operates more than 2,400 restaurants. None of the restaurants are franchises, and so the brand owns all of its locations. This allows it to keep the restaurant’s culture consistent across the board.

McDonald’s: An Investor?

McDonald’s saw the potential of the Chipotle brand and invested in it in 1998. They grew to be Chipotle’s largest investor, and it was this investment that allowed Chipotle to grow exponentially from around 16 restaurants in 1998 to more than 500 locations in 2005. However, McDonald’s divested in 2006 to focus solely on its main business. This allowed Chipotle to buy back its lost franchises and become 100 percent company-owned.

McDonald’s saw the potential of the Chipotle brand and invested in it in 1998. They grew to be Chipotle’s largest investor, and it was this investment that allowed Chipotle to grow exponentially from around 16 restaurants in 1998 to more than 500 locations in 2005. However, McDonald’s divested in 2006 to focus solely on its main business. This allowed Chipotle to buy back its lost franchises and become 100 percent company-owned.

The Menu

Chipotle restaurants operate on a build-your-own basis. Customers start out with a base, which can be a burrito, burrito bowl, salad or tacos. They also choose to add rice and/or beans from a couple different varieties of each.

From there, a customer can choose their main ingredient from chicken, pork carnitas, steak, barbacoa, sofritas (tofu) or veggies. If a customer chooses the vegetarian option, guacamole is included at no extra charge. (It normally costs extra.) The customer can then add an array of toppings, including cheese, sour cream, lettuce, guacamole and a choice of different salsas.

The chain also offers kids’ meals, chips and salsa, fountain drinks, water, fruit drinks and an assortment of beer and alcoholic beverages. Most of the food is prepared inside each restaurant, and none of the locations have freezers, can openers or microwave ovens. The Chipotle chain prides itself on using fresh, naturally-sourced ingredients. They use organic produce, naturally-raised meat and dairy without added hormones. Chipotle claims to be the first nationwide 0restaurant to cook totally GMO-free.

The Architecture

The Chipotle brand is known for its industrial style architecture that features metal, plywood and exposed ductwork as well as its eclectic musical selection that plays while guests dine. Their competition is made up of restaurants, like Qdoba Mexican Grill, Rubio’s Coastal Grill, Moe’s Southwest Grill and Baja Fresh.

Chipotle And Food Safety 

The restaurant chain has suffered a variety of food-borne illness outbreaks. Among these were a hepatitis and norovirus outbreak in 2008 and a Campylobacter Jejuni outbreak in 2009. The year of 2015 was especially tragic with the company feeling the effects from outbreaks of norovirus, Salmonella and E. Coli.

There was another norovirus outbreak in 2017 and an outbreak of clostridium perfringens in 2018. After each, the company lured customers back with advertising and the offer of free food. Chipotle has also been involved in a few data breaches and one lawsuit.

In 2017, Steve Ellis stepped down as CEO of the company, and he was replaced in 2018 by Brian Niccol, the CEO of Taco Bell. Ellis continues to hold his position as chairman, and he has input on certain business matters.

Chipotle Logo Design History

The Chipotle logo has seen three incarnations so far in the company’s brief history. The first version was simple white text on a distorted, rounded rectangle shape. The background of the shape was black, and it seemed to mimic something that might have been used in vintage diner signage in the 1950s and 60s. The Chipotle text itself was white with a small, accompanying registered mark. The typeface for the text had a slightly handwritten feel and somewhat resembled a compressed version of the Papyrus font.

The next version of the Chipotle logo was a complete redesign, but it did not last long. It featured a small circle inside of a larger circle with the text on an arch inside the boundary formed between the edges of the two circles. The font changed from what was previously a casual, script-like feel to a hard-edged typeface in all caps. It read “Chipotle” on the top portion of the circle and “Mexican Grill” on the bottom. The font had a sharp, mechanical feel to it.

This logo also featured a Chipotle pepper in a prominent position in the center of the smaller circle. The pepper had a chunky look and was comprised of two shapes, one of the bulky body of the pepper and one for the squiggly stem. The stem overlapped the boundary between the small inside circle and the larger outside circle.

This incarnation of the logo was featured either in black and white or in color. In the color version, the inner circle was red, and the outer circle was black. The pepper and a stroke between the circles were white, and the text was gray.

Chipotle Logo Design Evolution

image source: pexels

The third and current version of the Chipotle logo came about in 2009. While the first two logos were designed in-house, the company hired a design firm for the third. The firm is called Sequence, and it is based in San Francisco. Sequence took the second version of the Chipotle logo and seemed to have made it more professional.

The current Chipotle logo is made up of two circles, following the same format as its predecessor. The inner circle is a deep, burnt red, and the outer circle is a brighter, more medium red color. Each of the circles is outlined in a thin white line although the white line on the inner circle is slightly thicker. The red coloring evokes a sense of heat or spice which ties in with the Chipotle pepper and Mexican theme. The words and the Chipotle pepper graphic are in white.

The pepper looks more modern than the one in the previous Chipotle logo. Its lines are more evenly sized, and the ones in the center of the pepper form an appealing stylized swirl toward its center. The entire pepper fits neatly inside the small inner circle without any overlap of the other logo elements.

The typeface has changed to a more rounded sans-serif font. It appears to be a customized version of the Gotham Bold font. The font was created by Tobias Frere-Jones and published by Hoefler & Co.

The “E” has been altered to feature the middle horizontal bar lower than where it would normally appear. Overall, the newer font choice is more inviting compared to the hard-edged type on the previous Chipotle logo. The change makes the logo seem less industrial and more friendly.

The logo is featured in more than one form. The most recognizable is the medallion form which we just described. However, for the purposes of building signage, sometimes the word “Chipotle” is displayed on its own inside a red, rounded-corner rectangle. The Chipotle pepper sits in its own smaller burnt red square with rounded corners on the left side of the word.

Conclusion

Over the past few years, the Chipotle logo underwent one redesign and then another, with most people not even acknowledging the first revision. Most people seem to remember the original logo with the plain white “Chipotle” text on black, and they also recognize the current red medallion. The step in between that originated the medallion look of the Chipotle logo has mostly been forgotten.We think that the team at Sequence design firm did an excellent job of taking the first Chipotle logo revision and updating it into something more colorful, inviting and modern. The two-tone red softens up the design, and it also evokes the spicy flavor of chili peppers and Mexican seasoning. The rounded sans-serif font is easier on the eyes, clearer to read and makes the chain seem friendlier. The Chipotle pepper in the center has a fun stylized design that doesn’t overpower the rest of the logo.

We find that the updated Chipotle logo is clean and professional while also adding just enough Mexican flavor to the design. It has a very hip, modern sensibility that all patrons of the food chain will be drawn toward. It is a great example of a successful logo design.

By examining the evolution of a brand’s logo and other marketing elements, we can gain a unique insight into a company, its strategies, and even the cultural issues to which the company is responding with each change. Therefore, an in-depth examination of popular brands, including a look at how they have remained popular over time, can reveal a microcosm of the larger society. As one of the most prominent and successful fast-food franchises in the United States, Taco Bell is just such a brand, and by looking into the history of the Taco Bell logo, we can gain a unique perspective on the American story over the past half-century.

Taco Bell Brand History

Distinguishing itself from other mainstream fast-food franchises, which typically base their menus on burgers, fries, and milkshakes, Taco Bell serves Tex-Mex-inspired dishes like tacos, burritos, and quesadillas.

Taco Bell, which now serves some 2 billion customers annually at approximately 7,000 fast-food restaurants, was the brainchild of California entrepreneur Glen Bell, who came up with the ideawhile operating a hot dog stand in San Bernardino and watching huge crowds flock to a Mexican restaurant across the street. By the early 1950s, Bell had opened his first couple taco stands under the names El Taco and Taco-Tia, and in 1962, he opened the world’s first Taco Bell in Downey, California.

Taco Bell Sees Explosive Early Growth as a Franchise Operation

Glen Bell was quick to recognize the benefits of a franchise-style operation, and within a few years, the first Taco Bell franchise opened in Torrance, California. The brand grew quickly and Taco Bell opened its 100th location in 1967, just five years after George Bell opened the first location. While most Taco Bell restaurants at that time were based in California, the company was seeing significant growth eastward, and in 1968, Taco Bell launched its first restaurant east of the Mississippi. By the end of the decade, Taco Bell was going public with a portfolio of 325 franchisee-owned restaurants.

Changes in Taco Bell Ownership

Taco Bell underwent a shift in corporate ownership in 1978 when it was purchased by the massive conglomerate PepsiCo. Then in 1997, PepsiCo separated Taco Bell and its other restaurant chains to form Tricon Global Restaurants, which became Yum! Brands in 2002. Over that time span, Taco Bell experimented with targeting different demographics, creating Taco Bell Express, which emphasized low price and high volume in well-trafficked areas such as downtown locations, truck stops, and gas stations, and later dabbling high-end concepts with U.S. Taco Co. and Urban Taproom restaurants.

Taco Bell Publicity Stunts

Over the years, Taco Bell has been known for its innovative, if somewhat outlandish, “free taco” publicity stunts. The first was in 2001 when the company rolled a giant target out into the Pacific Ocean and declared that if any portion of the then-reentering Mir space station were to strike the target, everyone in America would receive a free taco. Ultimately, the target went unscathed and Taco Bell did not need to cash in the sizeable insurance policy it had taken out to cover the potential losses.

However, the “free taco” campaign has been resurrected in the form of the “Steal a Base, Steal a Taco” promotion centered on Major League Baseball’s World Series championship. Introduced in 2007, Taco Bell has run the promotion intermittently ever since, with the most recent “Steal a Base, Steal a Taco” event being held during the 2018 World Series, when Mookie Betts of the Boston Red Sox won all of America a free taco when he successfully stole a base in Game One.

Taco Bell Cross-Promotions with Other Brands

Taco Bell also has a history of innovative cross-promotions with other brands, from marketing campaigns coinciding with blockbuster movie releases to combination products featuring Frito-Lay brand products. In 2012, Taco Bell and Frito-Lay introduced Doritos Locos Tacos, which feature a shell flavored with Doritos Nacho Cheese flavor, making the shell a giant Doritos chip.

That same year, Taco Bell also entered the fierce competition for fast-food breakfast by collaborating with several established brands such as Johnsonville Foods, Cinnabon, and Seattle’s Best Coffee. Following several exclusive-release engagements with Mountain Dew, Taco Bell also announced plans to introduce Mountain Dew A.M., a Mountain Dew-infused morning energy drink.

Taco Bell Responds to More Health-Conscious Consumers

Aside from teaming up with other recognizable brands to increase desirability and store traffic, Taco Bell also gave a nod to the healthy-food movement when it released its “Cantina Menu” – which supposedly featured healthier, fresher options to supplement the Taco Bell staples- in 2012. The Cantina Menu was created with celebrity chef Lorena Garcia, a Venezuelan chef famous for having competed on the cooking show Top Chef Masters.

In another sign of its willingness to evolve with the times, Taco Bell announced in 2013 that it was ending the sales of all kid’s meals and toys, which critics had claimed were partially responsible for establishing unhealthy eating habits in children and contributing to the nation’s obesity epidemic.

Lessons from the Taco Bell Brand History

One lesson we can take from Taco Bell’s brand history is that companies do not last for more than half a century by sticking to the same old formulas or refusing to change with the times. While some marketing endeavors have been criticized for being too outlandish and some attempts to attract different demographics have been unsuccessful, Taco Bell has shown a willingness to evolve and to try new things. Also of importance is the notion that Taco Bell has communicate its willingness to change and adapt its potential customers.

Taco Bell Logo Design History and Evolution

1962 Original Taco Bell Logo

Central to the evolution of the Taco Bell brand has been the Taco Bell logo. The original logotype, created in 1962, featured colorful lettering in a playful, toy-block design (sometimes known as “dancing” letters) that also featured a sombrero. This original Taco Bell logo, which, much like the original restaurant, could be considered cultural appropriation by today’s standards, lasted for nearly a decade to adorn Taco Bell restaurants as they popped up across the nation.

1973 Taco Bell Logo

In 1973, Taco Bell introduced the first change to logo’s classic design. Gone were the “dancing” multi-colored letters and sombrero, and in their place were simple, uniformly brown letters.

1984 Taco Bell Logo

The 1973 Taco Bell logo design lasted about a decade before it was updated in 1984/85 by a revolutionary Taco Bell logo. This one introduced what would become the logo’s defining element: the bell. About seven years after George Bell sold his remaining ownership interests in the company he had created, the evolution of the “Bell” in the “Taco Bell” name to an actual, literal bell was complete. The new Taco Bell logo also introduced a novel color scheme that was intended to be more inviting, but which also mirrored the colors of a taco with its orange (cheese), yellow (shell), and red (salsa).

1990s Taco Bell Logo

Changing with the times again, the Taco Bell logo underwent another evolution in the 1990s. The company kept the image of the bell and the company name but tossed just about everything else. The new color scheme was a dramatic departure from the brown color of the letters in the 1980s Taco Bell logo, and it incorporated hues like purple and pink with a more contemporary, tilted bell design to give the impression that the bell was in mid-ring. The new, sleek Taco Bell logo was announced with much fanfare at the opening of a new flagship restaurant in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The Taco Bell Logo Today

Bowing to an increased desire by franchisees to customize the Taco Bell logo with personalized patterns and colors, Taco Bell introduced a simple, minimalistic modification of the design in 2016 that let franchisees play a larger role in the marketing of their individual locations. This more customizable Taco Bell logo represents a shift in recent years that has shown franchisees seeking, and franchisors allowing, increased variations among locations, which is a major concession on the part of franchisors.

Conclusion

By examining the past half-century of Taco Bell’s branding through the various incarnations of the Taco Bell logo, we can gain a great deal of insight not only into the company’s history, but also the evolution of the American consumer over several decades. Americans both shape and are shaped by some of the United States’ most prominent brands, which play a big role in defining and our culture at any given time.

Like it or not, fast-food restaurants have played a major role over the past 50 years of American society, and some have even influenced some of the cultural changes that have taken place during that time. From an early design featuring a sombrero and multicolored “dancing” letters that might be considered unacceptable by today’s standards to a more minimalist design that individual franchisees can customize easily, the history of the Taco Bell logo mirrors the history of America in many ways.

While Americans in a hurry have always turned to a cup of coffee on the go, the places providing that coffee have increasingly consolidated over recent years. While some might go for Starbucks or Dunkin, others swear by Caribou Coffee. This coffee chain, which dedicated itself to keeping sleepy patrons awake back in 1992, can easily be spotted by its unique logo. Taking a look at the Caribou Coffee logo elements of its design makes it easier to understand exactly why the company’s brand has become so well-known and so successful in what’s become a very competitive marketplace.

Caribou Coffee Logo Design Elements

The Caribou Coffee logo is clever because you can spot it without having to read a word. The logo features a stylized caribou (or reindeer, depending on where you live) jumping across a stylized background shape. There’s definitely a sense of motion here, something that works well for a company that seems to have a major goal of keeping sleepy workers awake. While the Caribou itself is very stylized, it’s still easy enough to make out that you’ll understand exactly what company’s products you’re looking at when you see a cup or a bag.

The colors are fairly muted, but that works with a company that has rededicated itself to all-natural ingredients. You’re really just seeing brown and a muted blue, both of which look incredibly natural. The text mimics cursive handwriting, which again does a fine job of looking natural. Taken together, you get a very good idea of the company’s goals as well as its identity.

Changes and Evolution

1. Shape

There have only been two logos since 1992, and they’re very similar in terms of shape. The original logo featured a much more detailed Caribou, though, one that jumped towards the left rather than towards the right. The original background shape was also at a ninety-degree angle to the current shape, creating a very different profile. Even the wordmark was a bit different, with a more rugged look that made the initial logo look more woodsy than all-natural. The shift in company priorities was definitely echoed in the change over to a more abstract but more eco-friendly looking shape in 2010.

2. Color

Oddly, the color scheme never really shifted even when the rest of the logo changed. The primary color of the logo is still the same muted blue, one that feels just as reasonable when talking about environmental friendliness as it did when evoking an outdoorsy spirit. The word color has changed, though, from a more corporate black to a warmer chocolate brown. The color change is a reflection of the company’s new commitments, one that also has a great deal to do with the switch over to all-natural chocolates undertaken by Caribou Coffee at around the same time.

3. Font

The font for the logo changed quite a bit from one logo to another. The original font was jagged and off-kilter, bringing to mind the kind of wooden signs you’d see at an old-fashioned campground. It was a good way to indicate that the coffee was natural and old-fashioned, but it didn’t match the new goals of the company. The new font, which looks far more organic, fits in well with many other companies that are concerned with their environmental image and with consumers who are more concerned with hand-crafted goodness rather than industrialized goods.

Influences/ Inspiration

The Caribou Coffee logo stood alone at the time, looking far different than most major chains. While the use of a mascot in the logo was fairly standard, it was much different than what one would see in a corporate chain. In fact, the logo most closely resembles those of many other smaller coffee spots, the kind that you’d see when visiting the downtown of an area in the pre-Starbucks days.

There aren’t a lot of direct descendants of Caribou, either. A few competitors adopted similar logos around the same time (Panera comes to mind), but most logos in the industry are different enough that this one stands out.

Trivia

• Caribou Coffee was founded after its founders backpacked through Alaska and saw a herd of wild caribou.
• Caribou Coffee currently operates in ten countries and has over 4500 employees.
• There is a ‘C’ shape in the antlers of the Caribou Coffee logo mascot.

Conclusion

The Caribou Coffee logo shows how you can change a logo to align with new corporate goals. It’s not such a big shift that the company lost its old branding, but the new logo aligns with the corporate vision so well that it felt like a natural change. If you want to see how a company can change a logo while still maintaining its core, this is a great place to start.

When Starbucks was founded as a small, Seattle coffee shop in 1971, no one could have predicted that it would eventually become one of the most popular chains of coffee shops. The corporation’s relaxing stores, variety of tasty drinks, and free internet have allowed it to attract customers and expand throughout the world. One of the things that helped to further the brand awareness of Starbucks is their iconic siren logo. In the years since its creation, the Starbucks logo has gone through many changes.

Each alteration has helped to further streamline the siren logo, and it is now instantly recognizable. Below, we will discuss all the major changes that occurred throughout the Starbucks logo history.

Starbucks Logo Design Elements

In its current incarnation, the Starbucks logo is a medium green circle. The symbol adorns everything from the company’s cups to the aprons of their employees. The logo uses white negative space to draw the design elements within the green circle.

The main feature of the logo is a smiling woman with long, wavy hair that is wearing a crown topped with a star. On either side of her is a pair of stripy fish tails, that people often mistake for the woman’s arms. However, further examination shows that the woman actually has two normal arms hidden beneath her hair, and they are holding either tail. The arc of the fish tails and the bottom of the crown create a smaller circle that mimics the overall shape of the logo.

Changes and Evolution

1. Shape

Overall, the Starbucks logo history has remained remarkably consistent, and it has featured a circle that contains a siren since the brand’s inception in 1971. The original logo featured a more detailed image, that showed the siren’s bare breasts and lower half with two split fish tails. In 1987, the logo was changed to a more streamlined version of the same image when Starbucks started selling espresso beverages. However, when the company became publicly traded in 1992, they decided to create a more family friendly logo, so the lower half of the mermaid was removed, creating the image of their current logo. Since then, the only other change has been in 2011, when the text of the logo was removed.

2. Color

Originally the logo was a rich coffee brown color, but this was changed to the signature green shade by 1987. For a while, the outer circle, which contained the text and two simple stars, was green and white, and the inner circle with the image was black and white. The logo renovation in 2011 removed all of the excess colors, text, and stars, so now the logo is simply a white and green circle containing the siren.

3. Font

The Starbucks typeface is a Freight Sans Black. Freight Sans Black is a very simple font, rather short and thick, with slightly rounded letters.

Arguably, one of the reasons why this particular font was chosen as the Starbucks typeface is precisely because it is so simple. The Starbucks logo design is relatively detaile and elaborate. The thick and heavy font does not compete with the logo design, but still makes its presence noticeable.

Influences and Inspirations

Gordon Bowker, Jerry Baldwin and Zev Siegl knew they wanted a nautical theme for their logo, in honor of Seattle’s heritage. They found their logo while they were looking through a book that featured old marine woodcuts.

The two-tailed mermaid with a star crown from the Greek mythology perfectly matched the owner’s original goal for the shop. As the business continues to grow, they have always kept the siren. As the Starbucks website explains, they see the siren as “a muse – always there, inspiring us and pushing us ahead.”

Trivia

Starbucks may have used a 15th century woodcut as their inspiration, but the symbol of a two tailed siren holding up either tail actually dates back to the 8th century. A mosaic in an Italian cathedral features a similar image that might have inspired the original woodcut. The green of Starbucks logo has a history from the previous coffee shop of Howard Schultz, Starbucks CEO. When he bought Starbucks, he used his old business’s color to revamp the logo.

The two-tailed mermaid has also been compared to Melusine, a character common to medieval fairytales. She was commonly depicted as a beautiful young woman with the body of a serpent or a fish, from the waist down. Melusine was usually described as having two tails.

The name of this coffee shop was inspired by the novel Moby Dick. Initially, the founders of the coffee shop wanted to name the brand Pequod, the name of captain Ahab’s ship. However, Terry Heckler of Heckler Associates, the agency that worked on Starbucks branding logo, believed the name didn’t fit. After some research, the name Starbucks was chosen. Starbucks was the first mate on the Pequod, and a great lover of coffee.

The founder of Starbucks went to study coffee roasting from the famous coffee-maker Alfred Peet. The founder of Peet’s Coffee & Tea had introduced custom coffee roasting to the United States in 1966.

Conclusion

Starbucks has had an extremely consistent logo throughout the years. Despite minor tweaks to make the Starbucks logo more streamlined, it has always featured the siren. This emphasizes the brand’s dedication to continuity and quality. The beautiful and simple design of the logo create instant brand recognition that has helped them to expand their business throughout the world.

 

Heineken has had a number of fantastic marketing plans over the years. It’s as well-known an import beer as any, with a look and a taste that fits right in with the palette of many beer drinkers. If you’re familiar with the brand, you’re probably also familiar with the Heineken logo and the can. If you want to take a look at how Heineken has grown over the years, it’s often interesting to look at how the logo has changed as well. You might be surprised by what you find.

Heineken Logo Design Elements

If one word describes the Heineken logo, it’s ‘busy’. There’s a lot going on in the logo – the company’s name, the brewing location, a product description, a few design elements, and of course the red star. There’s much more going on than one would expect from the average beer logo, but it manages to look high-class rather than over-crowded. It’s a logo that stands out on a shelf and makes the drinker feel like they’re drinking something more than just a beer – they’re drinking a high-class product.

Changes and Evolution

1. Shape

The basic shape of the Heineken logo has been in place since 1974. Before that, though, it went through a few changes before finally getting to a more comfortable shape. The early shapes were ovals, first featuring a factory and then moving to feature first the product and then the brand name. Surprisingly, the star on the logo didn’t show up to 1966 – and it didn’t become the more familiar star until 1974. The shape has always featured a great deal of data, though, but has always managed to get away with it without looking too over-crowded.

2. Color

Heineken has gone through a few colors over the years. The original color was red, but the green came in as early as 1948. Green and red have been the major colors ever since, though the star on the label didn’t turn fully red until the 1990s. This lack of color change actually helps the company to keep a sense of brand awareness about it, as anyone who sees a green can immediately think of Heineken. One has to appreciate a color scheme that can actually last for over fifty years.

3. Font

Originally, the Heineken logo didn’t even feature the name of the company – just the early name of the brewery. The first real logo, which was put in place in the 1940s, more clearly advertised the fact that it was a pilsner than the fact that it came from Heineken. The company’s name would be front and center starting in the 1960s and stay in the same place until the present day. In fact, the text-heavy logo hasn’t actually changed in any appreciable way since the 1960s – something about which most beer brands cannot boast.

Influences/ Inspiration

If you’re looking for influences for the Heineken logo, don’t look at Holland – look at Germany. There are several brands from that company that have the same kind of over-scripted logo, and they’re quite successful. The idea of simplifying things might be appealing to American audiences, but Heineken has always banked on having a European flair. As such, any design changes are likely to come from major shifts in advertising on that continent. Arguably, you can see this best in the Budweiser logo, which, even though represents an American beer brand, has something of that European vibe precisely because its logo is so flowery.

Very few brands have followed in Heineken’s footsteps. The busy logo isn’t an idea that most can pull off, so most businesses don’t try. There are a few copycats, but most of them are trying not to follow Heineken’s design but trade off of the company’s reputation.

Trivia

• Heineken was founded by Henry Pierre Heineken.
• Heineken was founded in Amsterdam but is brewed in 140 countries.
• Heineken is the second largest brewer in the world.
• You can still visit the original Heineken brewery in Amsterdam and take a tour.
• Heineken is the largest brewer in Europe and has over 170 different beer brands.

Conclusion

Heineken’s logo is one of a kind. It shouldn’t work, but it does. It’s the kind of logo you’d caution others not to design, but you can’t deny that it works for the company. History, a unique color, and a great name work together to ensure that Heineken will always have a chance to make their logo stand out.