AT&T / Bell Logo - Design History & Evolution!

[pannoni1]

Then of course you have the 2005 logo in a lower-case, Clearview font (the same font that many road signs are being replaced with replacing Highway Gothic).

[nightowl8936]

@pannoni1

I DO like the 3D globe aspect of the very newest AT&T logo, but I agree that the typeface they chose is somewhere between a driveby shooting and a head-on collision in terms of overall ugliness.

AT&T Bell Labs - will be missed .. so many incredible things they made ... information theory ... transistor ... laser ... Unix ... C .... C++ ... etc.

[Elli21486]

I am quite surprised that some people actually think this is a waist of time. First off, read the title, plain and simple, since it is your own fault for finding this a waist of time, not the publishers. Now back to my opinion. I enjoy history, although I never studied it, and so I found this interesting, especially those that showed how something changes over time.

[nightowl8936]

@Elli21486

YouTube is full of retards, just like the internet itself is. There was a time before the web, when internet was academic, government, and military and the quality of discussion was WAY higher than it will ever be again.

So whenever someone stupid catches my notice, I just practice my smack talk.

===

But yes, logos change over time, I notice they become more abstract and graphical with time, and with less text, and this video shows a typical evolution.

[Elli21486]

@nightowl8936 The internet isn't that old either. I believe it is around 30 years old but was made for public use in the late 80's early 90's. Something like that.

[nightowl8936]

@sygo7g

I'm partial to the 1983 AT&T logo because thats the one I remember in my Science Digest magazines when I was growing up.

I think Bass-Yager logos are world class overall.

[ComradeSlice]

When did it become the swastika and start dropping my phone calls?

[MyRoflCopt3r]

i thought it used to be cingular wireless

[ithinksnakesarecool]

also, you used the words "cool" and "very interesting" in your comment description. what the fuck kind of bull shit is this?

[nightowl8936]

Immature brat.

[ithinksnakesarecool]

God in heaven, who on earth could possibly give a fuck about the Bell logo? Or is this how they are trying to kill the prison inmates on death row in canada, boring them to death?

[nightowl8936]

Hahah ... thanks for visiting my video collection snakesarecool ... I've seen your videos and I can tell you mine inform and educate people.

You, well ... we'll read my private e-mail to you ...

[ithinksnakesarecool]

yes, thank you so much for informing and educating me on what the at&t logo looks like. i was unfamiliar on this subject and needed to be enlightened. this was so informing and educating, this series of images.

[laurensadriaanse]

the western electric logos were nice as well

[Teflon65]

You can still see old Bell System logo plates, on old telephone poles.

[queensplazasouth]

the 1969 logo was by far the best, closely followed by the 64 logo, and the 84 a distant 3rd.

[TheRealAbeFroman]

Eat a bag of hell, corporate monsters.

[nightowl8936]

Hey man relax.

I know AT&T might not be universally liked, but keep in mind that the very computer you're using to type your stuff is made of millions of transistors.

The very first of transistor was made at Bell Labs in 1948 out of germanium.

Add to this the Unix operating system, C, & C++ programming languages, and even "Information Theory", and I think you have a fairly generous corporate monster.

Microsoft is more in line with a corporate monster if you ask me. Nasty company.

[Teflon65]

Bravo. You may have to slow down, and tell me all that, again, but again, I say Bravo. I like it when somebody knows their stuff.

[futureforscenerios]

dang dude, thanks. i haven't logged in for 2 months... thanks for the in depth response! when i left that comment i was querying into possible majors, graphic designing being one of them. i'm starting a third year at my university now and i'm officially a pre art/studio major going into graphic designing. thanks again!

[nightowl8936]

Hi. Best of luck in your career choice. If you make a point of studying the most gifted artists, regardless of the era in which they worked, you will become more like them.

I'm just getting around to finishing the logo for my own company at long last, to launch it by the end of July. I gave a presentation to some investors on my ideas and I used a draft of my logo on the slides.

Anyway, remember to work hard and manage your time as you complete your degree. Keep in touch.

[futureforscenerios]

really interesting video man. so is design simplifying? but i guess the simplest things can speak many words.

[nightowl8936]

Hello. You did notice a trend from complex and ornate to simple and direct, before they started fresh with AT&T in 1983, and then simplified yet again in 1999.

Logo design is very interesting in that you're sort of making a modern-day heiroglyphic, but one packed with as much meaning as possible.

As an organization matures and grows, its logo can be simplified over time, as it becomes an icon, but if it no longer represents the company it needs to be re-done.

[nightowl8936]

In other words, if the organization as changed where the old logo no longer can represent succinctly what its about, they need to start over, which is what AT&T did.

A logo's value with a _young_ company comes from its ability to convey with simple elements what the company is about with flair/style.

A mature organization has familiarity on its side, but still needs a simple elegant logo for instant brand recognition for people to differentiate its offerings from others in the marketplace.

[nightowl8936]

Oh yes, one other thing to add in about design. I quote:

Antoine de Saint-Euxpery famously described the point at which design perfection is achieved — "not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away"

To apply this to logo design I think is a balancing act. I tend to think of a logo as somewhere between a glyph and an illustration:

glyph < logo < illustration

Too simple logos are just symbols; overworked logos become illustrations. Balance is best.