The Evolution of Apple's Logo: A Story of Design and Consistency

So we asked, ‘Why is the Apple logo upside down on laptops when the lid is open?’ And the answer? Because Steve Jobs wanted it that way. He wanted to make sure that when a user sat down in front of their closed notebook, the Apple logo was facing towards them; he didn't care how it appeared to an onlooker. Jobs believed this was an important detail because his design group noticed that users constantly tried to open the laptop from the wrong end. And Jobs always focused on providing the best possible user experience and believed that it was more important to satisfy the users' needs rather than the onlooker's.

However, just a few years later, Steve reversed his decision and turned the Apple logo around. Moreno concluded that "opening a laptop from the wrong end is a self-correcting problem that only lasts for a few seconds. However, viewing the upside-down logo is a problem that lasts indefinitely." Ken Segall, who worked closely with Jobs on advertising, summed up the issue quite well. He said, “Which was more important — to make the logo look right to the owner before the PowerBook was opened, or to have it look right to the rest of the world when the machine was in use? Look around today and the answer is pretty obvious. Every laptop on earth has a logo that's right-side up when the machine is opened. Back then, it wasn't so obvious, probably because laptops were not yet ubiquitous. Looking back, it borders on the unbelievable that something so wrong could ever have seemed right. That Steve Jobs ever wrestled with this decision only proves one thing: being right in retrospect is much easier than being right in real time."

The Switch to Color

Shortly after the switch to their monochrome Apple logo, things started to get a bit colorful with the Bondi Blue iMac in 1998. The logo appeared embossed in a translucent blue veneer that resembled its appearance on the iMac. And this design was carried through to the fruit-colored iMacs the following year. Now this time period was a bit awkward for the Apple logo. It appeared monochrome on Apple's PowerBook, but was stylized with color and translucence on the iMac and iBook. And the operating system was still using the rainbow Apple logo which was beginning to look outdated.

But these inconsistencies were straightened out in 2001 with the release of Mac OS X. Its aqua interface meant Apple had to design a new logo to match, and that started the aqua Apple logo era. The typography was also revised two years later from Gill Sans to Myriad. But I should mention that Apple didn't use their aqua logo in every case. For example, products like the iPod and Mac mini used Apple's monochrome logo in addition to printed materials like brochures and even software packaging. Apple's website didn't even feature their aqua-style logo. So there was often a tug-of-war between the flashy aqua logo and the flat monochrome logo until Apple made an effort to streamline these two styles.

They accomplished this by creating the new chrome logo in 2007 which they used on their website, in advertisements, during iOS startup and shut down, in Mac OS X's About This Mac window, and in printed material. Although this wasn't the only style of logo Apple used during this time, it was a step forward in making their logo appear more uniform across different platforms and materials.

A Shift to 2D Design

In 2013 Apple's design language began to shift from three-dimensional to two-dimensional, and this meant a much flatter logo. Apple essentially went back to using their monochrome logo from the late 90s. And this meant no matter where you saw an Apple logo, it would look exactly the same. No stylization, no embellishments, just a flat logo that looked the same, from the MacBook Pro's lid to the iPhone's manual to the Apple Store. This change marked a true unification of the Apple logo's design.

The New San Francisco Typeface

I should also add that Apple's signature typography was updated in 2015 with the release of the Apple Watch. It used Apple's new San Francisco typeface which eventually replaced Myriad on all Apple's operating systems and printed materials.

A Final Thought on the Logo

Now I think the most recent Apple logo design is the absolute best. After all, it looks as good today as it did in the 90s and I don't think Apple will be changing it anytime soon. But what do you think? Should Apple change their logo? Maybe they could go back to one of their previous designs. Let me know what you think in the comments. And if you want to vote for the next video topic, don't forget to subscribe. Thanks for watching, and I'll see you next time.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enHey guys it’s Greg with Apple Explained,and today we’re going to explore how theApple logo went from this complicated illustrationin 1976 to the iconic symbol we know and lovetoday. This topic won last week’s votingpoll and if you didn’t get to vote, makesure you’re subscribed, that way the votingpolls will show up right in your activityfeed and you can let me know which video you’dlike to see next.Now, Apple is arguably the most iconic brandin history and their logo is universally recognizable.It’s simplicity and straightforward aestheticmakes this a timeless symbol to representthe most valuable company in the world. Butthe Apple logo hasn’t always looked thisway. In fact, you may not recognize theirlogo from 1976. To be honest, it looked morelike an illustration. Now you may be wonderingwhat the heck Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniakwere thinking when creating this logo. Butyou’d be asking the wrong people, sinceit was Ron Wayne, Apple’s third co-founder,who made this drawing. It was created withIndia ink and featured Isaac Newton sittingunder an apple tree reading a book. A fabricbanner surrounded the image that said “AppleComputer Co.” but there was more text featuredon the picture’s frame. If you look closely,you just might be able to make it out: “Newton...‘A Mind Forever Voyaging Through StrangeSeas of Thought... Alone.’” The quoteis from the romantic English poet WilliamWordsworth, who in “The Prelude, Book Third:Residence of Cambridge” wrote:And from my pillow, looking forth by lightOf moon or favoring stars, I could beholdThe antechapel where the statue stoodOf Newton with his prism and silent face,The marble index of a mind for everVoyaging through strange seas of Thought,alone.Now this logo clearly had some artistic value,but as you can imagine, Steve Jobs wasn’ta fan. He argued that Apple should have amore stylish logo and thought this logo couldbe part of the reason for the Apple 1’sslow sales. And he may have been right. Theillustrated logo was too intellectual fora technology company and it was simply toocomplicated to reproduce on computers or insmall sizes. Jobs then asked Rob Janoff todesign a new logo. Janoff was the art directorof Regis McKenna Advertising who had helpedCompaq, America Online, and Intel developbrand identities in their early years. Steveknew the Apple II was going to be launchedon April 17th 1977 at West Coast ComputerFair, and he wanted Apple to have a fresh,modern look.Rob Janoff started with a silhouette of ablack apple on a white background, but feltthat something was missing. A play on wordsthat Apple had previously used in advertisingfor the Apple I may have helped Janoff getthe idea that a bite should be taken out ofthe apple. But Janoff said he included thebite “for scale, so people understood thatit was an apple and not a cherry. But BillKelley, who also worked for Regis McKennaAdvertising, remembered the story a bit differently.He said that the bite was symbolic of acquiringknowledge, a biblical reference to eve eatingfrom the tree of knowledge.Janoff then added colored stripes to the applelogo because of the Apple II’s impressivecolor capabilities, and Steve Jobs himselfspecified many of the hues that were include.And this Apple logo was in fact used at theApple II’s launch in April 1997. But therewas a big problem with this colorful versionof the Apple logo… It was very complicatedto print. You see, printing colored stripsside by side has to be done in separate steps.And if just one strip is misplaced, it willoverlap with the other colors and have tobe redone. This meant printing the Apple logowas an expensive process. Janoff suggestedthat the colored stripes be separated by thinblack lines, which would make printing muchcheaper. But Steve Jobs spared no expenseand demanded that the logo should remain asit was.The Director of European Operations at AppleComputer had this to say about the legendaryApple logo: “One of the deep mysteries tome is our logo, the symbol of lust and knowledge,bitten into, all crossed with the colors ofthe rainbow in the wrong order. You couldn’tdream of a more appropriate logo: lust, knowledge,hope, and anarchy.”Now although the Apple logo had been developed,the Apple type still underwent some changesback in those days. At first, the Apple logowas accompanied by the text “apple computerinc.” in the Motter Tektura typeface whichwas designed by Otmer Motter in 1975 and wasquite new when Apple started using it. Overthe years, Apple made some changes to thelogotype to make it a little more stylishin advertising. In the early 80’s they shortened“Apple Computer Inc.” to “Apple”,as you can see in this advertisement for theLisa.In 1984, just in time for the original Macintoshintroduction, Apple dropped the Motter Tekturatypeface and replaced it with the more sophisticatedGaramond. But Apple actually had their owncustom version of the typeface called AppleGaramond. This was also when Apple began featuringtheir logo by itself, although they usuallyincluded their slogan “think different”in advertising and printed materials.Apple’s rainbow logo remained unchangedduring Steve Jobs’ absence from the company,but the typography was updated from AppleGaramond to Gill Sans. And Jobs made anothermark on the Apple logo when he returned in1997. Because for the first time, Apple featureda solid white logo on the Powerbook G3 lid,and its box featured solid black and whiteApple logos. Now, the operating system, MacOS 8, still used the rainbow logo but thischanged in 2001 with the introduction of MacOS X.Now, as this monochrome logo began being usedon the lid of Apple’s PowerBooks and iBooks,a design issue arose. Which way should theApple logo face? The answer may seem obvioustoday, but it wasn’t so clear in the late90’s. There was a time when Apple logoswere actually upside down on the lid of theirnotebooks, Joe Moreno, a former Apple employee,explained it this way:“About a dozen years ago we had some discussionsat Apple about the placement of the logo onthe back of Apple’s laptops. Apple has aninternal system called Can We Talk? whereany employee can raise questions on most anysubject. So we asked, ‘Why is the Applelogo upside down on laptops when the lid isopen?’”And the answer? Because Steve Jobs wantedit that way. He wanted to make sure that whena user sat down in front of their closed notebook,the Apple logo was facing towards them; hedidn’t care how it appeared to an onlooker.Jobs believed this was an important detailbecause his design group noticed that usersconstantly tried to open the laptop from thewrong end. And Jobs always focused on providingthe best possible user experience and believedthat it was more important to satisfy theusers needs rather than the onlookers.But just a few years later, Steve reversedhis decision and turned the Apple logo around.Moreno concluded that “opening a laptopfrom the wrong end is a self-correcting problemthat only lasts for a few seconds. However,viewing the upside logo is a problem thatlasts indefinitely.”Ken Segall, who worked closely with Jobs onadvertising, summed up the issue quite well.He said,“Which was more important — to make thelogo look right to the owner before the PowerBookwas opened, or to have it look right to therest of the world when the machine was inuse?Look around today and the answer is prettyobvious. Every laptop on earth has a logothat’s right-side up when the machine isopened. Back then, it wasn’t so obvious,probably because laptops were not yet ubiquitous.Looking back, it borders on the unbelievablethat something so wrong could ever have seemedright. That Steve Jobs ever wrestled withthis decision only proves one thing: beingright in retrospect is much easier than beingright in real time.”Now, shortly after the switch to their monochromeApple logo, things started to get a bit colorfulwith the Bondi Blue iMac in 1998. The logoappeared embossed in a translucent blue veneerthat resembled its appearance on the iMac.And this design was carried through to thefruit-colored iMacs the following year. Nowthis time period was a bit awkward for theApple logo. It appeared monochrome on Apple’sPowerBook, but was stylized with color andtranslucence on the iMac and iBook. And theoperating system was still using the rainbowApple logo which was beginning to look outdated.But these inconsistencies were straightenedout in 2001 with the release of Mac OS X.Its aqua interface meant Apple had to designa new logo to match, and that started theaqua Apple logo era. The typography was alsorevised two years later from Gill Sans toMyriad. But I should mention that Apple didn’tuse their aqua logo in every case. For example,products like the iPod and Mac mini used Apple’smonochrome logo in addition to printed materialslike brochures and even software packaging.Apple’s website didn’t even feature theiraqua-style logo. So there was often a tug-of-warbetween the flashy aqua logo and the flatmonochrome logo until Apple made an effortto streamline these two styles.They accomplished this by creating the newchrome logo in 2007 which they used on theirwebsite, in advertisements, during iOS startupand shut down, in Mac OS X’s About ThisMac window, and in printed material. Althoughthis wasn’t the only style of logo Appleused during this time, it was a step forwardin making their logo appear more uniform acrossdifferent platforms and materials.Now in 2013 Apple's design language beganto shift from three dimensional to two dimensional,and this meant a much flatter logo. Appleessentially went back to using their monochromelogo from the late 90s. And this meant nomatter where you saw an Apple logo, it wouldlook exactly the same. No stylization, noembellishments, just a flat logo that lookedthe same, from the MacBook Pro’s lid tothe iPhone’s manual to the Apple Store.This change marked a true unification of theApple logo’s design. I should also add thatApple’s signature typography was updatedin 2015 with the release of the Apple Watch.It used Apple’s new San Francisco typefacewhich eventually replaced Myriad on all Apple’soperating systems and printed materials.Now I think the most recent Apple logo designis the absolute best. After all, it looksas good today as it did in the 90s and I don’tthink Apple will be changing it anytime soon.But what do you think? Should Apple changetheir logo? Maybe they could go back to oneof their previous designs. Let me know whatyou think in the comments. And if you wantto vote for the next video topic, don’tforget to subscribe. Thanks for watching,and I’ll see you next time.\n"