Jalopnik: logos

The Art Of Car Logos

Matt Hardigree — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:45:00 EST

Artist Timothy Raines focuses much of his talent on automobile logos in his series "Brand As Art." He makes the Cavillino in these works Rampante and spreads Bentley's wings with a triptych. Glorious and gorgeous!

[Timothy Raines]

Girls Geek Out on Cars, Make Sushi

Peter Orosz — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 17:00:00 EDT

This is what happens when women with a peculiar attraction to seafood and automobiles bring out the sushi knife and the tuna.

Clockwise from top: Lexus, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Fiat (slanted logo in use between 1968 and 2000), Audi (on bottom), Toyota, Mitsubishi, Subaru.

Photo Credit: Eva Mercz

Awwww, Brand Logos When They Were Babies

Ben Wojdyla — Mon, 12 May 2008 18:00:00 EDT

We know where brand logos come from and what they mean, but what did they look like when they were babies? Thanks to Brazilian ad agency Dentsu working for Minichamps, a die-cast scale model company, we now know what the toddler versions of logos from Lamborghini, Ferrari, Maserati and Jaguar all look like. Wait — why is there a "baby" version of a trident? They don't make baby tridents do they? How many Zeus babies can there possibly be? That's like making a baby version of the Buick logo with cutesy shields. That doesn't make any sense.

[Lerr]

HuaTai Auto Comes Up With Most Suetastic Logo Ever

Matt Hardigree — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 11:20:00 EDT

Microsoft and BMW are both companies that have been willing to bend to governmental pressure to move product, but we don't see the companies abiding by the logo above from China's HuaTai Group. The company is about to launch a new line of SUV's at the Beijing Motor Show and has been purchasing expensive billboard space. The keen eyes of China Car Times noticed the clever compound logo. Let's see if BMW notices the HuaTai logo when walking by their stand at the show. Awkward! [China Car Times]

The Evolution of Automobile Logo Design

Travis Hudson — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 14:40:00 EST

Because they are the kings of all things neat, Neatorama took a look at the neat history of the big boys in auto manufacturing and how they came to develop their sometimes odd logos. The Ford and BMW logos are two that have stayed more or less the same over their respective lifetimes; Buick and Renault, by contrast, have experienced some significant changes in design since their inception.

The feature includes background and some history behind numerous automotive badges, such as Adolf Hitler's strong influence over Volkswagen's; the nobleman's family crest that inspired the Cadillac emblem; and the flow chart of ownership that eventually led to the creation of Saab. Check it out. [Neatorama]

Ever Wonder What Your Car's Emblem Means?

Ben Wojdyla — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 14:30:00 EST

Even though a recent trend with emblems is to use them as supersized chrome kitsch to draw attention away from an appealingly boring design, once upon a time they actually meant something. Like a family crest, most Automotive emblems represent something important to the maker—something historically important, ideals the brand strives towards, or a testament to someone's ego. We've stumbled across an index of sorts that catalogs the origins and meanings of most of the worlds major automakers, and we must say, it's pretty darn interesting. For instance...

...did you know the griffin head on the Saab emblem is derived from the coat of arms of Count von Skane and the symbol for the Swedish province of Skane, where Saab originates from? Neither did we, but we're not exactly experts on Swedish heraldry. Many more arcane gems of information await at The History of Car Logos.