30 Comments

New York, New Haven and Hartford is very lovely. Am I the only one getting swastika and far right connotations with the NZ74 logo. Not so much the fault of the designers more the tragic way in which both the union jack and Swastika have been hijacked over the years. As soon as I saw it I just thought logo for some far right organization...is this just me?
A
A
2011-01-20 00:01:15

The Norwegian paper and office supplier Wittusen &Jensen have a logo that's quite brilliant - a paper mill made of the letters 'W' and 'J'.
Alexander Fjelldal
2011-01-20 07:57:47

Very nice selection.
Screaming Hand has been drawn by Jim Philips. (not John)
FBZ
2011-01-20 09:34:14

Ah, yes, the campagnolo logo is brilliant! Classic and iconic. Lovers of the Italian bicycle component maker are quite fanatical.
The winged shield version that is etched into various components is even better.
ShapeThings
2011-01-20 09:36:46

@ FBZ

Doh, yes, of course. The perils of late night blog posting. I once interviewed Jim for a book so I should have spotted that! Changed now.
 PatrickBurgoyne
2011-01-20 09:40:00

Rewarding to know you guys took the time to go through all our suggestions! I know mine came quite late down the list... I can't get over the NY,NH&H logotype – imperfect, yet brilliant. If anyone is interested there's a redrawn vector file available upon request from here: http://bit.ly/hyyVCq

Great to see such a range of gems – I know I was torn between posting what I consider to be the best/most successful logos, and those to which I have a personal or emotional connection. My lists for both would be completely different.

@ A – Sadly I too was taken to the swastika subconsciously.
Luke Tonge
2011-01-20 10:54:51

Check more about Stefan Kanchev here:

http://stefankanchev.eu
http://stefankanchev.com
http://logoblink.com/2010/12/24/vintage-logo-design-kanchev/

;)
Ralev
2011-01-20 11:24:54

I've posted this logo Brand New, but I'm posting it here too, as you requested logos from outside the UK and US:

The best Swedish logo of all time has to be the logo of Ica, the largest grocery store chain in the country. It has been used since 1964 without any changes. It is not particularly clever or anything, it is just a well crafted mark which is timeless, yet still with a bit of personality.

http://butterflower.blogg.se/images/2010/ica_logo_124229376.jpg
Simon
2011-01-20 11:56:22

Loving the suggestions so far but to go off on a slight tangent perhaps; logos created for movies. The Ghostbusters logo is now pretty iconic and was used again in the sequel the ghost holding up two fingers, also to create a peace 'v' sign. The Jurassic Park logo also deserves a mention. Created for an imaginary and it's merchandise but of course equally applicable to the met handising of the movie and extremely evocative of the mid nineties to me.
James Hobson
2011-01-20 14:06:33

@A / @Luke Tonge As soon as I opened this page, I thought "oh dear lord, somebody's gone an nominated a British Nazi logo."
Daniel
2011-01-20 14:31:15

Its a crap logo, but i quite like it - the shark energy drink logo.

http://www.sharkenergy.com/
Michael
2011-01-20 14:39:36

one glaring omission if you ask me:

the genius i-D magazine logo from terry jones and it's consistent use on the covers in combination with the 'wink' photography for many many years now
martin - me studio
2011-01-20 14:42:10

The logo of the Anglo-German Foundation: http://www.agf.org.uk/
Clare Gibson
2011-01-20 15:40:16

i think there are too many great logos for you to be able to successfully whittle it down to just 25. I dont envy you for trying haha.



how do u decide on it? if you go for logos based on how iconic they are, logos like the Nike swoosh surely must be near the top, but actually it's not a very good logo... it's a very awkward shape.



on the otherhand, do you go for logos based on how clever and/or beautiful they are, even if they have remained obscure?



personally i hope u go for the latter... afterall, most people (not just designers but the public at large) are all too familiar with the apples, swooshes, shells etc that are all around us every day. A bit of education and enlightenment in your selection would be more interesting i think



good luck

(and let's look forward to the hundreds of "i cant believe you left out.." comments when the time comes ;)

MS
2011-01-20 17:10:00

Aside from all the normal logos that everyone lists I would say:

Darkthrone logo, set a standard in the black metal music scene and created a whole style of its own (duplicated by thousands of bands). Kind of like the anti-logo as its hard to read and not very pleasant. It truly captures the spirit of the music: http://shop.scareystore.com/images/Darkthrone.jpg
Tomi Lahdesmaki
2011-01-21 01:47:44

Seeing the Leica logo reminded me of the lettering gem that is the Voigtlaender logo, which can be seen here:

http://www.taunusreiter.de/Cameras/Voigtlaender_logo_blau.jpg

Looking at their site now they seem to have adopted a rather bland sans serif treatment for their name. The old one is very idiosyncratic, but it has bags of character too!
Jono Lewarne
2011-01-21 12:11:34

I've said it before and I'll say it again - Ministry of Sound. Adaptation of Houses of Parliament logo but still working 20 years on when all around in the dance culture field have been redesigned - or gone completely
ChemicalX
2011-01-21 16:14:29

I love the red Danfoos logo but no idea who created it...
http://www.danfoss.com/
ben young
2011-01-21 16:15:17

Lovely, some really great ones there,
Another forgotten classic, the old RTE (Irish tv broadcaster) logo, from 1969.

http://thetvroom.com/images/pool-ex/ex-033/main-001-04.jpg
http://thetvroom.com/images/pool-1/121-a/main-000-123.jpg

Also, is it just me or is the 'Trollull' guy is getting a BJ?
He looks pretty excited...
james kelly
2011-01-21 16:24:31

FEDEX
Mark
2011-01-21 16:53:00

Just found that Wittusen & Jensen logo, and i agree it is a lovely logo...
GEORGE VRANJKOVIC (@GeorgeV69 on Twitter))
2011-01-21 17:36:00

TROLLULL is just brilliant. Always!
Willie Ryan
2011-01-21 17:47:38

A pair of classics from France:

Yves Saint Laurent’s logo and monogram, designed by Cassandre in 1960, still in use today
http://www.limprimante.com/Boyer/Yves-Saint-Laurent-s-not-dead_a33.html

Le Printemps by Jean Widmer in 1972, in use for twenty years, as far as I can remember
http://www.wmaker.net/imprimante/Boyer/le-printemps-c-etait-mieux-avant_a70.html
Bureau l’Imprimante
2011-01-21 20:36:01

How about the symbol of Christianity, the cross? I think it belongs somewhere here too.
Iro
2011-01-21 22:23:10

Like A, I also seen a swastika straight away... it's brilliant on closer inspection.
TM
The Mickey™
2011-01-22 10:25:35

Don't know if this has been mentioned yet...

http://www.planet13.com.au/2897/Him-Badges-b.jpg
Gavin
2011-01-23 13:52:18

The one of the NS (Dutch Railways) is one of my alltime favourites.

Take a look at Sun Microsystems: http://www.sunmicrosystems.com
Also swastika like. Either this reveils that the swastika is a brilliant logo (no, i'm not a neo-nazi) or it reveils that Sun Microsystems, the New Zealand logo and others are evil. Interesting food for philosophers.
Jeroen Deen
2011-01-31 09:33:21

I thought a logo was only called a 'mark' when trying to impress clients?
ross
2011-02-04 11:10:00

Check this out:

- Morrison Utility Services (immediately liked it when saw it on a fence of a road construction)
http://www.fmgsupport.co.uk/ClientResults/PublishingImages/Morrison%20Utility%20Logo.jpg

- Deutsche Bank (and other logos of Anton Stankowski)
http://www.stankowski06.de/basis/html/Hauptpunkte/presse/bildbase/marken_grafikdesign/Anton_Stankowski_Marken.pdf

- Polish celebrity designer Karol Śliwka:
http://www.karolsliwka.pl/znaki_s3/odziez_skora2.gif
http://www.karolsliwka.pl/znaki_s3/geodezja2.gif
http://www.karolsliwka.pl/znaki_s4/falapokoju2.gif
http://www.karolsliwka.pl/znaki_s6/tpw2.gif
http://www.karolsliwka.pl/znaki_s6/wlokna2.gif
http://www.karolsliwka.pl/znaki_s6/bibliotekanarodowa2.gif
and so on... :)

- Library of Congress
AL
2011-02-04 16:08:55

Ogden Plumbing
http://wadejohnston1962.files.wordpress.com/2009/12/ogden-plumbing.jpg

Elettrodomestici
http://wadejohnston1962.files.wordpress.com/2009/12/elettro-domistici.jpg
AL
2011-03-09 16:15:12

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