Logo Life: Life Histories of 100 Famous Logos

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Ron Van der Vlugt

BIS Publishers, Amsterdam and Enfield, UK (distrib.), 2012, English

Nonfiction, Graphic Design

6.3x 8.4 inches, hardcover, 224 pages

ISBN: 9789063692605

Suggested Retail Price: $32.00

From the Publisher. Apple’s first logo was a complex picture, a tribute to Isaac Newton sitting under an apple tree, captioned with a phrase from Wordsworth: “Newton...a mind forever voyaging through strange seas of thought...alone,” with a tag line containing the brand name: Apple Computer Co. This is where the short history of the Apple logo begins. The apple shape was introduced not long after, with a bite taken out of it to increase brand recognition, first with rainbow colours and later in monochromatic tones. In Logo Life, you can read the short histories of the Apple logo and 99 other logos for world-famous brands, seeing all the little steps and great leaps in the visual evolution of these logos, as well as some of their most iconic uses in brand advertising.

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On Maria Popova’s Notable Books of 2012 list

It takes a special kind of creative alchemy to transmute image into icon and catalyze a cultural cult driven by a commanding brand identity. Logo Life: Life Histories of 100 Famous Logos from Dutch publisher BIS and creative director Ron van der Vlugt offers exactly what it says on the tin, covering brands as diverse yet uniformly enduring as Apple, LEGO, Adidas, Google, Xerox, and VISA. Each short chapter traces the visual evolution the respective brand logo, zooms in on noteworthy milestones in the company’s trajectory, and highlights first-hand accounts and curious anecdotes by the logo designers.

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