Starbucks
Starbucks, the famous and ubiquitous coffee shop, was established in 1971 with a retro, brown version of its now well-known circular logo. It first added the green and white color scheme in 1987, then updated it with a sleeker style in 1992.
In 2011, Starbucks dropped the text – which read “Starbucks Coffee” – from its logo entirely, leaving it with just the central image. Each rebrand was a new iteration of the same logo, with minor changes, often in the direction of a sleeker, more minimalist style.
Apple
Founded in 1976, Apple launched with a drastically different logo than the well-known apple it boasts today. The very next year, Apple underwent a drastic redesign that introduced the first apple logo, with a rainbow color scheme. In 1998, Apple rolled out two new logos based on the same image: one in black and the other in a light blue. In 2001, Apple’s chrome logo debuted. Then the company started to increase sales, and in 2007 debuted another chrome apple logo, with a shimmery new age finish. Finally, the company introduced a new iteration of the simple black apple logo, which it still uses today.
Apple’s logo redesigns almost always seem to be moving forward toward a “futuristic” or “advanced” feeling. These types of efforts would naturally be especially useful to a big technology company’s brand.
Amazon
After incorporating in 1994, Amazon rebranded in 1997 with two new logos, one of which would go on to serve as the basis for its modern Amazon.com imagery. One year later, the company developed two more logos. In 2000, Amazon rebranded yet again, this time sticking with the logo for the long haul.
Amazon has cultivated a brand around one image after iterating six separate logo designs in its first six years of existence. Importantly, Amazon began as a bookseller, then expanded to “books, movies, and more,” and now has a hand in seemingly everything. It’s common for a company to rebrand when the business model changes or expands.
Levi’s
Levi’s is known for one major product: jeans. This famous denim company was established in 1853 and only once changed their logo to the red and white Levi’s imagery of today in 1936. Since then, the brand has used the same logo.
With such an iconic name – Levi Strauss – attached to an easily identifiable product, it’s worth asking if Levi’s ever really needed much of a logo redesign beyond the simple, recognizable logo designed in the ’30s.