Research Paper

Sandra Aghedo CDMG1111
Fall 2017
Logo Design History Paper

Starbucks: The identity and Logo

In this day and age, technology and graphic design became a healthy fusion ofeye-catching stories and elements. Everywhere you look, you can see a work of art splashed on anything to get our attention. Whether it’s a subway ad, or a commercial, we begin to see and examine these graphic elements everywhere. And the more we see it; we begin to associate it with particular things. Companies with brand identities are notorious for using such graphical elements to represent their company with just one logo that evolves over time. For example, whenever we see that soda with the red background and white curvy lines, one can safely assume its coca cola. We see it all the time on commercials, ads, and whenever we walk into any convenience store. Even if it’s not coca cola, we still assume it is because we associate it with red and white. But what about other drinks with famous logos? There are plenty of other drinks that uses logos that tell a story, but moving towards coffee, there is one logo that stands tall (in my opinion)

When most Americans wake up in the morning, their first initial thought is “I can’t function without my coffee”. If you are unfortunate enough to enjoy a luxurious cup of hot (or iced) coffee in the comfort of your won home, you are most likely to head to your local coffee shop. But if you were like most people, you would want the coffee that everyone buys. That coffee that everyone trusts. You would want that coffee that even celebrities sport whenever they head out for a coffee run. You want that coffee you seeall the time in commercials, the one where the barista spell your name wrong, but you call them out for it just to feel important. You would want Starbucks.

The Starbucks coffee company is known around the world for its high quality coffee, along with their food options, and service quality since it opened in 1971. When the one store that opened in Seattle’s pike place market that year by three determined partners, Jerry Baldwin, Gordon Bowker, and Zev Siegl, it was their mission to serve high quality coffee, which expanded over the years with great success. The company’s name was inspired by Moby Dick, which displayed their love for the seas, and respect for early coffee traders. The first logo was designed by Terry Hackler, which was based on a 15-16th century Norse woodcut art. The original logo consisted a topples twin tailed Norse Siren (or mermaid) from Greek mythology with the intention to lure in coffee lovers everywhere in, to match the talents of a siren, which was known in Greek mythology to lure sailors to shipwreck.

The first logo consisted of a coffee brown paper bag look to it, while later on in 1987; the second version of the logo was born. The black background, and the company’s name was added along with two stars, as well as the company’s shift to the color green, which was to represent growth and prosperity for the company due to the company later being acquired by Howard Schultz. The third change to the logo occurred in 1992 with a cleaner close-up and design of the mermaid. The black background was still present, however, the mermaids navel was removed. Its most recent design change occurred in 2011 by an in-house design team and Lippincott, where the mermaid has appeared even more futuristic, simplified, and enlarged over the green colored background the company’s word mark was also removed to add more flexibility and brand identity forthe company. Despite the innovative move, the new logo design received a flood of backlash from long time fans of the coffee chain.

Overall, the Starbucks brand has proven to be very innovative, and meaningful with their design choices. Its because of their design choices we are able to recognize and identify the coffee chain from a mile away. Its simplistic circular shape to represent an emblem gives us the idea that they are well aware of who they are and what they want to sell. The use of the green draws the eye in as well as the little elements of white that forms the mermaid’s image. Starbucks has also proved how bold they are by even using bold fonts in their word mark (whenever they choose to use it) as well as the mermaid’s happy face to lure us in to enjoy their soul warming coffee.

Sources

  • Lemus, Edel, et al. “Starbucks Corporation: Leading Innovation in the 21St Century.” Journal of Asia Pacific Studies, vol. 4, no. 1, July 2015, pp. 23-38. EBSCOhost, citytech.ezproxy.cuny.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx ?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=108763185&site=ehost-live&scope=site.
  • Sanburn, Josh. “Circles and Swooshes.” Time International (Atlantic Edition), vol. 177, no. 10, 14 Mar. 2011, pp. 44-45. EBSCOhost, citytech.ezproxy.cuny.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/logi n.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=63608755&site=ehost-live&scope=site.
  • Subramanian, Courtney. “Starbucks Suing Thai Vendor ‘Starbung’ for Obvious Reasons.” Time.Com, 24 Oct. 2013, p. 1. EBSCOhost, citytech.ezproxy.cuny.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/logi n.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=91650589&site=ehost-live&scope=site.
  • http://www.designhill.com/design-blog/starbucks-logo-overview-of-design- history-and-evolution/
  • http://hecklerassociates.com/brand-stories/starbucks/
  • https://www.starbucks.com/about-us/company-information