Http://www.Theguardian.Com/artanddesign/2014/sep/10/cnd-coca-cola-penguin-michelin-how-the-worlds-most-famous-logos-were-born From cnd to Coca-Cola: how the world's most famous logos were born
A dignified penguin, a drunk rubber man, a tree of life and a brain tonic for curing feelings of constant dread … here are the fascinating stories behind classic logos
theguardian.com, Wednesday 10 September 2014 18.20 BST
Michelin
Man. Click
here to view full poster.
Image courtesy Laurence King Photograph:
PR
Michelin
The aim of advertising is first to create recognition for a brand, and then, ideally, affection and loyalty. One of the best examples of this is found in a symbol that’s 116 years old: the Michelin Man, or Bibendum as he was formally known. Four years before the man made out of tyres was first drawn in 1898, the Michelin brothers – Édouard and André, of Clermont-Ferrand in France – attended the Lyon Universal Exposition. Legend has it that on seeing a pile of tyres on the Michelin stand, Edouard said to his brother: ‘Look, with arms and legs, it would make a man.’
The first iterations are shocking to modern audiences: in the early 20th century he was a sinister figure, chomping permanently on a cigar. Initially he was shown drinking champagne, reinforced with a strange tagline: “À Votre Santé: Le Pneu Michelin Boit L’Obstacle!” (The Michelin tyre drinks up obstacles!) This led to the character being known as the “road drunkard”, which would be abhorrent to any car-related company today.
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1970s Michelin poster. Image courtesy Laurence King
In 1920, he discarded his pince-nez and the cigar (at the dawn of the motor age, these had helped him appeal to the small, wealthy section of society that had the power to buy a car). The white tyres remained, however – an important throwback to his origins, as tyres were originally light in colour; black versions only appeared in 1912 when a preservative, carbon black, was added in the manufacturing process. By the 50s he had become rotund, and 20 years later had become a true cartoon, in one iteration dancing euphorically below the slogan: “I’m clinging in the rain.”
Heritage has played a big part in his success story. As design historian Alain Weill says: “Once a character becomes a popular icon, you don’t have to question if it’s good or bad. At different points Michelin stopped using him, but they always came back. He has lasted so long because the brand did.”
British Rail
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British Rail travel centre in 1964. Image courtesy Laurence King
Arrows of indecision. Barbed wire. Crow’s feet. In the 50 years since he drew up one of the UK’s most recognisable symbols, designer Gerry Barney has probably heard them all – but he doesn’t mind.
The story of the British Rail symbol began in 1960 when a 21-year-old Barney successfully applied for a job as a lettering artist at the prestigious Design Research Unit (DRU) in London. He sketched his idea for the British Rail brief “on the back of an envelope” while taking the Tube to work. “When I got to the office I drew it up,” he says. “It was exactly how I drew it the first time … I just had to formalise it.”
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British Rail blue carpet, 1964. Image courtesy Laurence King
DRU produced 50 different symbols and taped them to the studio walls to share with the head of the company, the director of industrial design for the railways and the British Railway Board’s design panel … this eventually came down to two: a design of two circles and an arrow, by Collis Clements, and Barney’s symbol. “Arrows were in fashion,” he recalls. But in an interesting twist, Clements’s design was leaked to the press and subsequently abandoned. That left only one. “It worked because it was obvious,” says Barney. “When you think of railways, you think of parallel lines … there was a certain logic to the way it looked, then it was a question of stylisation. I’m proud it’s lasted so long. And I’ve never thought, ‘I wish I could do it again because I’d do it better.’ I actually wouldn’t know what to do.” Fifty years on, those arrows seem far from indecisive.