Newton never Sued!
A brief look back into the the phases of the Apple logo.
Come to think of it, Sir Isaac Newton never did sue apple for using him and his apple on their first logo. Still the Apple logo did make a very interesting and remarkable journey throughout the years.
Back in 1976 as Steve Jobs just came back from his friend’s apple farm to build a computer company that'll revolutionize the entire world, he thought the name “Apple” was cheerful and not too tech oriented. At the time all the computer companies were scary in name and their products. Jobs thought the “Apple” name would give the target audience the right impression. Jobs saw simplicity in his brand. He also saw a cheerful brand that made lives better. Though it was quite misinterpreted by the man who designed the first logo for Apple. In 1976 Ron Wayne, one of the co-founders of Apple, came up with the logo for Apple Computers Inc.
Wayne depicts Sir Isaac Newton sitting under an apple tree. He also put in the phrase from Wordsworth:”Newton ‘A Mind Forever Voyaging Through Strange Seas of Thought Alone.” within the border. The quote wasn't Jobs’s most favorite one nor did he like the logo. So the logo was replaced soon after. When Jobs went to Regis McKenna for Apple’s Ad campaigns he asked them to present him a new logo. So Rob Janoff, who worked at Regis McKenna as an Art Director came up with two concepts. A full apple silhouette and a “bitten” apple. Jobs chose the “bitten” apple as it was different, memorable and didn't look like a cherry (the other one did). The colors were added when Job’s insisted that colors will make the logo more human. So the “Rainbow” logo became the new face of Apple.
The “Rainbow” logo was used until 1998. As Apple introduced a new line of products, a set of design attributes came with it. Also in the meantime Apple Computer Inc. had lost and found Jobs as he resigned, changed a few industries forever and came back to work at Apple. This time Jobs had a bigger vision. To accompany his vision, a new logo was commissioned. It was exactly Janoff’s logo only without the colors and was made inhouse.
The new logo appeared in every new product, packaging and advertisement campaigns. The new logo will continue to be the parent logo of Apple till now. Though there were some iterations of the logo in the digital space. In 2001, with the introduction of the OS X, Apple introduced the Aqua User Interface. To stay parallel to the new OS Apple made a Aqua themed version of the monochrome logo from 1998.
The “Aqua” logo was used in all digital platforms until 2003 when a newer iteration was done. It was the “Glass” logo. It was exactly the same with a small color difference. “Glass” continued till 2007. From 2007 a new version was out. The “Chrome”. It was in every single iPhone and iPad. The previous devices also joined in and got the new digital logo.
The “Chrome” logo wasn't seen after iOS7 was released. This version of the logo probably died and was replaced by the good old monochrome logo that was at Apple's core from 1998.
The Apple logo is not only beautiful but also one of the most recognisable logos on the planet. Its simplicity makes it timeless. It represents Steve Jobs’s aesthetic values, care for simplicity and perfection. As Jobs passed on this logo will carry his name till the end of time.
Sources
- Biography, Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson
- Wikipedia, Apple Inc.
- Rob Janoff, robjanoff.com
- Thiago Barcelos, @barcelosthiago
- Apple Inc., www.apple.com
Note: Hope you like it. It’s not a big research nor something you didn't know. I just tried to put everything together. Let me know if you like it and please forgive my mistakes. Let me know where I made a mistake and I'll fix it immediately. Thanks :)
