9 weird original logos of powerhouse tech companies
Few symbols a brand can produce are as important to their identity as their logo.
Apple, Microsoft, Sony. Seeing their logos can evoke an emotional response, linking their userbase with their ideals. On the flip side, if poorly designed, these symbols can also make a company look out of touch, or a little strange.
As tastes and trends change, some brands change their logos to keep up, or realize that their original vision may not be representative of what they want their most public image to be.
Here are some examples of logos that haven't quite held up to the test of time.
Apple
Wikimedia Commons
The simplicity synonymous with Apple's brand is actually absent from this portrait of Sir Isaac Newton sitting under an Apple tree. They course corrected only a year later to the significantly more iconic colored Apple logo, but this still remains a part of their history.
Interestingly enough, the company name actually didn't come from Sir Isaac Newton's famous apple (a common misconception), but instead from one of Steve Jobs' "fruitarian diets").
Sony
Sony
The font Sony currently uses for their logo is sleek, giving off the same impression as some of their products. The logo they used in 1958, however, eschewed the idea of timelessness in an attempt to seem futuristic.
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Amazon
Amazon
Amazon's original logo lacks the subtlety of its current "A to Z" design. Instead, it's a road leading into an A. This image lasted until 2,000, but it's strange that Amazon's logo didn't depict its main product at the time, books. That stands in contrast with...
Best Buy
Best Buy
Best Buy launched in 1966 under the name "Sound of Music". The logo resembles more of a CD than record, but at least the logo matched the product.
Xerox
Xerox
Xerox may have had a fall from grace in the public eye, but no one should forget that it was their PARC division that invented the graphical user interface. Their original logo, however, gives off a slightly different context than it did in the 1950s.
READ ALSO: The 10 best brand logo changes of 2015
Nintendo (1950)
Nintendo
Nintendo was in the games space nearly a century before its world-famous "Mario" games came along. Although the company has soared in popularity over the past three decades, it had its humble start as a card company. This logo, used from 1950 until 1960 illustrates that.
Logitech
Logitech
Many of the logos here are a brand's first attempt. This was Logitech's third, and while it's the first iteration of their current logo, its seemingly free-form design hasn't stood the test of time.
Microsoft
Microsoft
Like Logitech, Microsoft's original logo was pretty solid. The one they used from 1980 through 1982 looks like a company trying to be edgy and cool, just a sign of the times.
Wikipedia
Wikipedia
Wikipedia recently turned 15, and its site has stayed largely the same in its overall design, but that's not the case with its logo. The site that has given billions of people a chance to contribute to arguably the most organized set of information on the web didn't have much of a logo at its start in 2001.
BONUS: Delta Airlines
Delta Air Lines
While its not strictly a tech company, Delta's original logo is quite something. The well-known airline used this logo during its first year of operations in 1928.
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