Cape Universal Building Products was a British manufacturer of building materials, formed in 1968 as a subsidiary of the Cape Asbestos Company. The company’s logo, created that same year, is a notable example of late-1960s British corporate identity design.
Design and History
Cape Universal Building Products Ltd was established in 1968 to merge the operations of Universal Asbestos Manufacturing Co Ltd, which Cape had acquired in 1967, with the production of Asbestolux fire-resistant boards.[1] The new subsidiary brought together two major lines of asbestos-based building products under a single identity.
The logo was designed in 1968 by the London studio Crosby, Fletcher, Forbes, the partnership formed when Theo Crosby joined Alan Fletcher and Colin Forbes after Bob Gill’s departure from Fletcher-Forbes-Gill in 1967.[2] The studio would later become Pentagram in 1972.[2]
The mark is a logotype built from the initials “C” and “U”, incorporating circular forms and punctuation marks.[3] It was classified as a logotype with initials, a common approach for corporate identity work of the period.
Crosby also designed the Cape Universal Building Products display at the International Building Exhibition in London in 1969, extending the brand’s visual presence into exhibition design.[2]
Meaning and Symbolism
The logo’s use of the letters “C” and “U” directly references the company name Cape Universal.[3] The circular elements in the mark give it a geometric, modernist character consistent with the design language of Crosby, Fletcher, Forbes during this period. No documented symbolic meaning beyond the initials has been recorded.
Typography and Design
The logo is a two-letter logotype incorporating circles and punctuation marks.[3] The specific typeface used has not been documented in available sources. The design reflects the studio’s broader approach to corporate identity in the late 1960s, which favored clean, geometric forms over decorative treatments.
The company was later split into separate entities, including Cape Boards and Panels and Cape Universal Claddings, which continued to operate under the Cape name.[4]
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