Success Story: the history of the Microsoft logo

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The story of Microsoft’s logo

With Apple and Google, Microsoft is one of the most important and powerful technological companies in the world currently. Everyone must have already used one of its many products, whether Windows, Word, the Xbox, LinkedIn or Skype console to name only these. Did you know that Microsoft has been around for over 40 years? You remember the first logos of the company or its products? Let’s make time today and return to see what the different logos of Microsoft looked like.

A few words on Microsoft

If you hear about Microsoft, you certainly think of its founder, the famous and wealthy Bill Gates. The company was founded in 1975 by the latter and Paul Allen in Albuquerque. They then specialize in the development and sale of computer programs for the first computers and become a subcontractor of IBM fairly quickly. Microsoft creates its Windows operating system in the 1990s, then other successes such as Internet Explorer (for its time), as well as the Office suite and games like Flight Simulator or the Encarta Dictionary. Microsoft even bought the company behind the popular game Minecraft in 2014! Its turnover amounts to more than 80 billion per year and the company employs more than 100,000 people worldwide.

The Microsoft name comes from two English words, microcomputing and software. Initially, the company wrote its name with a link, but it disappeared quickly enough for the version we know today. When looking for your business name, don’t forget to choose something simple!

Microsoft’s very first logo

It is the two founders of Microsoft, Bill Gates and Paul Allen, who are behind the first logo of the company. The logo would have even been created from a programming language. The latter is made up of the name of the company in a fairly original serif police, represents the 1970s and the disco years well. Several so -called concentric lines form the letters creating on some a depth effect. This is also the only Microsoft logo to be done on two lines.

Source: Business Insider

Do you like the retro letters style in the first Microsoft logo? Take a look at the Monoton police on the freelogodesign editor!

The Redesign of 1980: a rock star look

It was in 1980 that Microsoft decided to make the first overhaul of his logo. This new brand image seems to be directly inspired by the look of the Heavy Metal groups of this decade. This is a very different look of the first logo, first of all because the name of the company is now written on a line and not two. Indeed, Microsoft then relies on a much more oily font and on a drawing of the more aggressive letter with acute angles and very much exploiting the diagonals. The letters M, R and F also exceed the rest of the logo, strangely resembling the Metallica group logo. Unfortunately (or fortunately), this logo will only be used for 2 years.

Source: Business Insider

In short, it is important to create a logo with a timeless look so as not to have to change it as soon as the trends change! This is one of the 5 main reasons why the logos need a redesign.

The arrival of Blibbet

It was in 1982 that the logo affectionately nicknamed the “Blibbet” appeared. Microsoft abandons its rocker side for a much more corporate look. First of all, the name of the company is used in a font without very common serif. The only thing that made this recognizable logo was the letter o consumed of lines and counters that can recall a CD. The O in question could also be used alone as a company symbol logo. It is also said that this logo was very much loved by Microsoft employees, as long as they even made petitions to keep the “Blibbet” during the 1987 overhaul.

Source: Business Insider

The PAC Man logo used for more than 20 years

It was in the late 1980s that the Microsoft logo is used for the longest. Nicknamed the “PAC Man” logo, the company wanted to show the strength and importance of their business on the market. The Helvetica police (in italics in our case), was chosen to create the logo. It is a well -known police force and still used a lot today. Unlike the “Blibbet” logo, there is no special feature in the new logo which is composed only of the name of the company, with the exception of a space between the O and the S. It seems to be a nod to when the company was called Micro-Soft.

Source: Business Insider

In 2006, Microsoft added their new slogan to their logo. In 2011, they changed their slogan. It is important to create a flexible logo that can be used in different contexts.

The current logo

It was in 2012 that a major overhaul of the Microsoft logo took place. This logo, still used today, would be the creation of their employees after several meetings. The fatty and italic side of the previous logo disappears to be replaced by the Police Segoe UI. However, it is the addition of a colorful symbol that makes it so different from the old logos. Indeed, four squares of different colors form a window obviously reminiscent of Windows, one of the important products of the company. Depending on some people, the red square would represent PowerPoint or the Office suite, the Word blue or Windows square, the green square for the Xbox or Excel console and the yellow square for Outlook or Bing. In short, this logo seems to be there to last.

Source: Business Insider

In conclusion, why not ask for help from your friends or employees when creating your logo? They can certainly give you a hand or you give constructive comments. As you could see in this article, it may be tempting to follow trends when creating your logo. However, it is better to choose something timeless!

Success Story: the history of the Microsoft logo

Knowing the history of logos of big brands, and above all their evolution, allows you to see for yourself two things: first, that we quickly forget that they have had other logos previously.

Second, that your own logo can also change. At Microsoft, each overhaul was the occasion for a real transformation ..

A first very anchored logo in the air of its time

Microsoft was founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen. At the time, they specialized in the development and sale of software for the first computers for the general public. They were even subcontractors for IBM, far from imagining their future development.

The name chosen, Microsoft is the contraction of the two words “microcomput” and “software”. The first logo, which will be used for five years, plays on these two terms by making them appear on two different lines.

It is a logo that is fundamentally in the minds of the 1970s. He has a disco appearance that could very well have found himself on a pocket of a vinyl from the time. You will note that the F and the T are already linked, which will be found later in the last versions of the logos.

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The first modification of the Microsoft logo

Welcome to the 80s. The Microsoft logo that settled in the early 1980s always follows musical trends. This time, we forget the disco, and we give way to rock.

• Besides, this logo is not without mentioning that of Metallica, a famous hard rock group.
• The name is finally presented on a single line, with letters that exceed and touch, no doubt to symbolize movement, energy.
• But this logo, which is anything but timeless, will only last two years.

Blibbet and Microsoft, the start of a story

In 1982, Microsoft appeared in a slightly more serious way. It’s time to win on the market, and its logo is there to show it.

The chosen police could be considered relatively banal. But the central o, with its features which run through it, immediately attracts the look. Here again, the lines give an idea of ​​movement, which stretches on both sides of this letter.

The logo even had a small name: the blibet and was so appreciated by Microsoft employees that they launched petitions to keep it. Five years later, however, the logo undergoes a new modification.

Finally a lasting logo ?

In 1987, Microsoft decided for a new logo. Nicknamed the pacman, due to the cutting of his o, he remains relatively sober.

In black and white, it wants to be more timeless. The font is in italics, always to keep this idea of ​​movement, of a company that leans rather on the side of the future. It should also be noted that it is a simple Helvetica font that will be retained for the logo, which remains relatively simple.

Relatively, because cutting the O leads to a rereading of the word, and that it is also a nod to the hyphen which initially separated microphone and soft. And also because the F and the T blend in each other.

This logo will remain 20 years without being changed, the longest version in the history of the brand. And the first changes are rather light since they just concern the addition of the slogan under the name of the brand.

A logo updated in 2012

In 2012, the logo is still used today that appears. The brand remains on a name written in a simple way (even if the fusion of the F and the T remains effective).

The main difference is in the addition of a visual, to the left of the name. The other colored squares evoke Windows, but they would also be representative of the various products of the company.

The symbol analyzes vary: for some, the other colors would represent four components of the company: Windows, Windows Phone, Xbox and Office.

For others, this would be software: PowerPoint, Word, Excel and Outlook. The interpretation which is drawn is ultimately less important than the fact that this logo makes sense: it is not just four squares of color posed at random.

And this is what characterizes a lasting logo: it must look timeless (just the opposite of the first logos of Microsoft) and that it can be explained if necessary.

Through the history of its modifications, the Microsoft logo is therefore a real style lesson. Will the last version last as long as the previous one ? Only the time will tell us, but it already seems well !

Discover our other success story:

• Success Story: the history of the Versace logo
• Success Story: the history of the Toyota logo
• Success Story: the history of the Lego logo
• Success Story: the history of the Nintendo logo
• Success Story: the history of the Google logo
• Success Story: The history of the Internet Explorer & Edge logo

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Microsoft Logo

Each time when starting the computer, most users see an image with a quadricolor flag on the screen. It is both the Microsoft logo and the symbol of its operating system.

History of the Microsoft logo

The Microsoft corporation is the world’s leading manufacturer of software whose headquarters are in Redmond, Washington, in the United States. It was founded in April 1975 by Paul Allen and Bill Gates. With its total assets of US $ 121.2 billion from 2012, the company employs 97,000 people in more than 102 countries around the world.

Microsoft is the world leader in the software industry. The logo of society is an icon widely recognized in popular culture. The Microsoft logo is considered one of the most popular and recognized symbols in the world illustrating innovation, domination, variety and sophistication.

Microsoft’s original logo, often qualified as the “Groovy” logo, was introduced in 1975. It contained disco lights reminiscent of the 70s and 80s.

The second version of the Microsoft logo appeared in 1975 and it remained in official use until 1987. It included the name in capital letters on a dark green background. Sometimes called the “Blibbet logo”, he focused on the letter “o” fantasy.

The company changed its logo once again in 1994. The new Microsoft logo “Pacman” remained the image of the unique brand until August 2012. He was conceptualized by Scott Baker, an American graphic designer renowned. He incorporated the Italic Helvetica Fonte, with an oblique bar between the letters “O” and “S” in order to illustrate the “soft” part of the name of the company and to express movement, speed and force.

The current version of the Microsoft logo was inaugurated in August 2012, starring the image of light and multicolored windows. It is made up of four squares adopting the colors of familiar Windows which are red, green, blue and yellow. They symbolize the diversified portfolio of company products. The words also suffered a thorough redesign and it now contains the Police Segoe UI. As part of the overhaul, the Police Italics and the cutting on the letter “O”, two important attributes of the old Microsoft logo, were rejected.