CR Blog
A new, old logo for Norton motorcycles
Graphic Design, Type / Typography
Posted by Mark Sinclair, 8 November 2010, 9:59 Permalink Comments (51)
In redesigning the logo for Norton motorcycles, Carter Wong looked to the brand's heritage for inspiration. The result takes the best elements from the many versions of an identity that Norton bikes have sported since 1915...
The Norton Commando 961SE, complete with the new identity by Carter Wong
The Norton Company was founded in 1898 by James Lansdowne Norton. Norton also designed the company's inaugural logo, which didn't actually appear until the 1913 catalogue and on bikes until 1915. Company legend has it that the identity was created at the family dining room table with help from his eldest daughter, Ethel. The "curly N" logo has since been redrawn, adapted and embellished upon on numerous occasions.
It was design studio Carter Wong's belief that their work should result in a subtle shift from the existing logo where some careful detailing would, they say, "retain all the positive and ownable assets of the logo as it stood, but do away with the awkward shapes, nuances and curves that had appeared over time." Carter Wong were aided in the redesign of the identity by master typographer Geoff Halpin.
Norton motorcycles' new logo
"On a project such as this, looking back is always a sound place to start moving forward, and this proved a true revelation to us on a number of scores," says Carter Wong's Phil Carter. "The first was our initial idea of doing away with the double crossing of the "t" as we thought that the one provided by the dynamic swoosh should prove sufficient."
Norton logo iterations through the ages, 1907-2009
It was only when researching the development of the original logo that Carter Wong realised that in their own redesigns they were honouring the very first configuration of the identity, designed by Norton and his daughter.
By 1924, however, the double crossed "t" had made an appearance, possibly so the letter would not be mistaken for an "l'. Further enquiries into the company's heritage brought up other elements that Carter Wong thought should be readdressed.
"The two ‘o's had an element of speed to them, both leaning at an angle to create this illusion," says Carter. "It was only after manipulating these shapes that the correct amount of motion was achieved by turning the counters only – the inside shapes – rather than the whole letterform. By doing this we created the element of tension as in the original, just where these ‘tyres' would touch the surface."
Other minor changes included creating a more voluptuous and dynamic swoosh and various tweaks of serifs and spaces to create a balanced logo with a distinct nod to the company's long heritage.
Sketches from Carter Wong's work on the Norton identity
51 Comments
Proper.
2010-11-08 11:15:13
Fantastic
2010-11-08 11:38:18
Beautiful, intelligent, simple.
A classic example of it it ain't broke.
2010-11-08 11:39:53
Nice. Always great to see 'the workings' too as my old maths teacher used to say...
2010-11-08 11:47:13
Nice to see he's given the N a whiff, a nod to the 50s Rocker heritage that will sell the new Nortons today... Alastair Walker. T. @alastairw99
2010-11-08 12:25:28
Fuck me! They got paid for that? It's an amalgam of all the old logos put into one! Fantastic work if you can get it. You're right, it wasn't broke - so why the hell pick up a bill?
2010-11-08 13:17:47
Hello Emperor, here's your new clothes!
2010-11-08 13:31:14
Wowee
2010-11-08 13:44:34
Its all about adapting to a new industry and this new logo gives them a new and needed face lift
2010-11-08 14:12:00
Nicely done. Superb balance of negative/positive spacing. Just "looks" right, in my opinion. Obviously Mark and John have no inkling of the amount of work that goes into this, so I suggest they shut their cake holes.
2010-11-08 14:57:20
@John I think you need to calm down a little. It's clear that a lot of work has gone into re-inventing this classic marque and it looks great. The fact that the logo has a story behind it is a great thing and gives a nod to the unique heritage of the Norton brand as a whole.
Also it's such a relief that there are those out there who can still produce a logo without jumping straight on Illustrator.
A huge improvement. Great work.
2010-11-08 15:04:40
Beautiful motor :)
2010-11-08 16:35:13
lovely, elegant and refined.
Nothing more to be said.
Great Work!
2010-11-08 17:11:39
Wonderful.... applause!
2010-11-08 17:33:00
Great work, subtle and exquisite just like the bikes.
2010-11-08 18:04:43
The logo matches the product. Well crafted.
Which is interesting when you compare the Gap logo to its product.
Crap!
:)
2010-11-08 19:38:24
Bravo.
2010-11-09 00:14:46
I think it is really nice that they went back to the old logo for the inspiration / basis of the new. This gives the logo an additional depth and certainly shows the character. Excellent redesign process.
2010-11-09 08:55:45
@Joseph Wholeheartedly agree. The refinements and enhancements are clear - the intersection on the 't' simplifies and brings clarity, and the 'o' and 'r' are much improved. The elegance of the earlier logos has been reintroduced. And it looks great on the bike.
Nice job.
2010-11-09 08:58:43
traditionally modern, love it
2010-11-09 12:50:55
Appropriate. Elegant. Excellent.
2010-11-09 12:52:45
Spot on Mark - 'The Emperor's New Clothes'. It's got nothing to do with how much time and effort went into the project, who's kidding who? It may well be beautifully crafted but the question is, was it all worth it?
2010-11-09 13:10:00
@Terry
Yes.
2010-11-09 13:22:14
Only thing I miss is the flat-head screw type 'O'. I always thought that was a nice touch. A slightly on-the-nose metaphore but subtle enough to not be cheesy.
2010-11-09 13:23:43
Is the N supposed to look like a dog on a lead?
Just wondering.
2010-11-09 13:29:49
Good to see the use of tracing paper, scalpel and pen again.
Geoff is a legend.
2010-11-09 13:30:15
It's an elegant development. Nice typo and good to see some hand-lettering along the way.
2010-11-09 13:33:33
So nostalgic for the 1972 version and my aspirations of owning a Norton Commando in my early teens. This is really great, a respectful re-birth, brilliant work.
2010-11-09 13:34:02
Is the N supposed to look like a dog on a lead?
Just wondering.
2010-11-09 13:34:10
I disagree with the 'Emperor's new clothes' label, I think this does something quite different to the previous, most recent incarnations at least.
At first glance this looks like it probably is the original logo. The type feels as if a hundred years old, and it is beautifully crafted. When you look back you realise that it is much stronger, and in fact more elegant than the original logo. Those developed through the sixties took on a 'modern' approach, attempting to make the type feel solid and of the time, losing some of the heritage. The Os are feeling quite out of place with the rest of the type, and these logos now feel dated.
I think this is a really good update; its respectful of the heritage, whilst creating something new, but timeless looking.
2010-11-09 13:44:18
John, if a business is happy to spend good money with a top-flight design company rather than one of a million freelance designers (arguably just as competent), so what? Even I could have done it but I didn't get the call!
2010-11-09 13:47:43
Nice clean-up. It looks very similar to the 1924 version, which looks mostly right in the first place.
2010-11-09 14:48:40
Is there a possibility you could add a blue box and make the type Helvetica?
Sorry... it's beautiful. Bike and logotype. Heritage lives on!
2010-11-09 14:48:58
nice, very nice
2010-11-09 15:39:38
Beautiful...
2010-11-09 16:55:09
For interesting home-made hybridisation of this and the Triumph logo, just look at Tritons and Norvins. Triton = Triumph engine in a Norton frame, and Norvin (sacreligious to Vincent purists) = Vincent engine in a Norton frame. Both were (and still are) home workshop attempts to combine the best performance features of both brands, and it's nice to see the resulting effect on the logo.
Surely the real test of a Brit bike logo is whether you'd have it tattooed on your bicep - and good that some of those earlier iterations have the wonky typo tattoo feel.
2010-11-09 17:15:09
Very nice logo design. Beautiful hand drawn artwork too.
Note: This type of logo problem, where you have this intersecting line above the logo, that in the mind's eye of the creator should create the perfect cross in a "t", is difficult to resolve in the real world. I would have been inclined to cut the line to emphasize the cross and give a better read to the"t" so it looses that confusing "l" reading. Cutting the line to emphasize the "t" cross would have resolved a nearly century old problem with this logo.
Don't know why, but I feel there is too much space between the "N" and "o".
2010-11-09 17:16:44
When my kids were little we had neghbours who called their children Douglas and Vincent. They were true fans!
2010-11-09 18:42:43
I think sometimes, just sometimes, It's good not to 'clean up'... not to re-work, not to have to feel that an identity needs 'refreshing'...
Sometimes, it's good to let these old anomalies shine through - the double crossing of the T was just this - a slightly off kilter way of making a mark, but nonetheless made the mark.
2010-11-09 20:06:22
It might have been stronger to face the centres of the 'o's the other way for a change to follow the line of travel towards the front of the bike? At the moment the swoosh travels forward and the wheels travel backwards which cancels out the sense of movement a little. Mind you, if they've been happy with the wheels speeding backwards for 103 years who am I to criticise?
Tattoos? That's nothing. I had a friend at Uni who's first name was Norton and it was no coincidence...
2010-11-10 09:13:02
Graphic design is dead - long live graphic design... this is the business.
*S
2010-11-10 09:57:59
Beautifully executed and refined.
2010-11-10 11:43:22
Good to see that the re-rendering of an old classic logo can create such debate on the blog and interested in all opinions as everyone is entitled to their own. At the end of the day we had one satisfied client so I suppose that was the one that mattered most.
Good to see my pens and trace get a mention too.....perhaps being completely inept on the mac has its advantages with some projects.
Phil C
2010-11-10 14:02:53
As someone who has Norton tattooed on my wrist. Nice work.
2010-11-10 18:09:06
So, they added a ®?
2010-11-10 18:44:06
Nice bit of logo work, well done. I don't think eneptness on the mac has its advantages, the logo had to be digitised at some point.
2010-11-12 15:14:35
the 2010 Norton in the 8-spread comparison chart is incorrect. the 'counters' are wrong !
for somebody born in England I hadn't realised how awesome Norton were till I watched this video...
http://www.b3ta.com/links/The_Norton_Project
2010-11-14 10:44:50
YES, I love the new logo!
@Kris - was it the old logo tattooed? Can you update that now? lol
2010-11-18 21:40:17
Hmmmm...That may very well have taken three minuntes to come up with. Perhaps four...
2011-01-05 07:18:55
Does anybody else see a dog waiting to go walkies with the treatment of the first 'N' (visible in all but the very test logo)? Proudly wearing a t-shirt with a previous version of the logo on it as I write.....
2011-01-06 02:20:55
The original N was drawn to resemble the family dog by the daughter, is the story I recall.
2011-05-10 17:31:51
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