The Coca-Cola wordmark is a flowing script logotype based on Spencerian penmanship, created in 1887 by Frank M. Robinson, the bookkeeper and business partner of Coca-Cola inventor John S. Pemberton. Robinson suggested the name “Coca-Cola,” believing “the two Cs would look well in advertising,” and he experimented with an adaptation of the elaborate Spencerian script, a popular form of penmanship at the time. After consultation, the others working at Pemberton’s company adopted the script by unanimous consent. [1]
Today the logo appears as white cursive lettering on a red background, a combination that traces back to Robinson himself, who liked the contrast of red and white and wrote “Coca-Cola Delicious and Refreshing” in red lettering over a white background on the company’s earliest signage. [2]
Design and History
The Coca-Cola Company’s own trademark chronology documents the evolution of the script. From 1887 through the 1890s, the words “Trade mark” appeared in the tail of the “C” in Coca. The version used from 1890 to 1891 showed the greatest departure from Robinson’s original script. From 1893 to 1941, trademark wording appeared again in the tail of the “C.” Between 1941 and the 1960s, the trademark notice moved out of the tail and appeared as “Reg. US Pat Off.” below the name. [1]
From 1958 into the 1960s, the logo appeared on an arciform or “fishtail” background shape. [1] The company’s Swiss site notes that until 1890 the logo was printed in black and white, and only from 1891 did it appear in red on a white background. [3]
In 1969, the company introduced the Arden Square with the Dynamic Ribbon Device, commonly called the “wave.” [1] The white swirl was part of a graphic redesign in the late sixties, and the logo design for Coca-Cola in the 1970s was based on a bold, dramatic curve reflecting the unique shape of the Contour Bottle. [4]
The 1969 overhaul, known as Project Arden, was spearheaded by Walter Margulies, a partner at the design firm Lippincott & Margulies. The project was nicknamed as a nod to the Elizabeth Arden beauty salon, known for its signature fire engine-red front door. Project Arden maintained Coke’s script logo and core red, substituted the former circle background for a square that could be elongated into a rectangle, added Helvetica as the brand’s main typeface, and created the Dynamic Ribbon, a fluid white band described as the “connective tissue” supporting the branding. [5]
In the 1980s, a modified Dynamic Ribbon Device appeared with the ribbon integrated within the “Coca-Cola” name, and the lower loop of the “L” in Cola was missing only in that treatment. In 2003, with the introduction of the “Coca-Cola… Real” campaign, the Dynamic Ribbon Device was enhanced in the logo. In 2007, a simpler design with a single white ribbon was introduced. [1]
Meaning and Symbolism
The red color has become so synonymous with Coca-Cola that the company’s vice president of global design, James Sommerville, considers it the company’s “second secret formula.” Former Coca-Cola Archivist Ted Ryan noted that the red disc icon on a storefront became “a promise in a way,” signaling that customers could get ice-cold Coca-Cola there. [2]
The company states there is no Pantone color for Coca-Cola red. [2]
Typography and Design
The Coca-Cola wordmark is custom lettering based on Spencerian script, not a standardized typeface. Robinson wrote out the name using an adaptation of the elaborate Spencerian script, a form of penmanship characteristic of that day. [1] The company’s Swiss site notes that the Ford logo, created shortly after, also drew inspiration from the same Spencer script style. [3]
As part of Project Arden in 1969, Helvetica was added as the brand’s main supporting typeface. [5]
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