Corporate Identity - Visual Identity History

Visual Identity History

Nearly 7,000 years ago, Transylvanian potters inscribed their personal marks on the earthenware they created. If one potter made better pots than another, naturally, his mark held more value than his competitors’. Ancient religious sects created some of the most recognized logos: the Christian cross, the Judaic Star of David, and the Islamic crescent moon. In addition, Kings and nobles in medieval times had clothing, armor, flags, shields, tableware, entryways, and manuscript bindings that all bore coats of arms and royal seals. The symbols depicted a lord’s lineage, aspirations, familial virtues, as well as memoirs to cavalry, infantry, and mercenaries of who they were fighting for on the battlefields.

A trademark became a symbol of individuals’ professional qualifications to perform a particular skill by the 15th century. For example, the caduceus on a physician’s sign signified that the doctor was a well-trained practitioner of the medical arts. Simple graphics such as the caduceus carried so much socioeconomic and political weight by the 16th century, that government offices were established throughout Europe to register and protect the growing collection of trademarks used by numerous craft guilds.

The concept of visually trademarking one’s business spread heavily during the Industrial Revolution. The shift of business in favor of nonagricultural enterprise caused business, and corporate consciousness, to boom. Logo use became a mainstream part of identification, and over time, it held more power than being a simple identifier. Some logos held more value than others, and served more as assets than symbols.

Logos are now the visual identifiers of corporations. They became components of corporate identities by communicating brands and unifying messages. The evolution of symbols went from a way for a king to seal a letter, to how businesses establish their credibility and sell everything from financial services to hamburgers. Therefore, although the specific terms "corporate image" and "brand identity" didn’t enter business or design vocabulary until the 1940s, within twenty years they became key elements to business success.