Warner Bros. is one of Hollywood’s oldest and most recognizable studios, founded in 1923 by brothers Harry, Albert, Sam, and Jack Warner. The studio’s shield emblem, containing the “WB” monogram, has served as its signature mark for most of the company’s history, appearing before films and across the studio’s many divisions. The shield has been periodically updated over the decades, with significant redesigns in 2019 and 2023.
Design and History
The first Warner Bros. logo appeared in 1923 as an elegant, serif, all-uppercase logotype. Two years later, in 1925, the shield made its first appearance with the now-famous “WB” monogram inside, destined to become the core of the studio’s identity. From that point on, the logo evolved through several iterations without ever losing its essential shield-and-monogram form. In the 1930s the design became more streamlined, giving more space to the letters, while the post-war period added curved banners and more decorative lines. The 1950s brought a more essential version that removed stripes and three-dimensional shading. A radical departure came in the 1970s with the famous “Big W” designed by Saul Bass, but the shield always returned as the connecting thread across all versions. The 1980s introduced what many consider the most iconic form: a three-dimensional shield floating in a bright sky with golden reflections and an elegant ribbon. [1]
In November 2019, Warner Bros. unveiled a new brand identity designed by Pentagram partner Emily Oberman and her team. The project updated the iconic “WB” shield and made it the foundation of a comprehensive identity system, including a custom typeface inspired by the logo. The previous iteration, introduced in 1993, was highly detailed and hard to use at a small scale and in digital contexts, which were becoming increasingly important. The update streamlined the logo to its key elements, returning the shield and monogram to prominence and losing the sash. The shield was refined using the classical proportions of the golden ratio, and the “WB” letterforms were redrawn to preserve their quirkiness while making them more modern. The letters of the monogram align as though made in one continuous gesture, emphasizing unity and connection. The logo was optimized to perform across various platforms and scales, from small digital spaces to giant installations like the iconic water tower on the Warner Bros. studio lot. [2]
In 2022, Chermayeff & Geismar & Haviv (CGH) created a new corporate identity for Warner Bros. Discovery, including a newly drawn WB shield. From May 2023, this new shield took over as the official logo for the consumer-facing Warner Bros. family of brands. [3] Sagi Haviv of CGH described the new logo as a “distillation of the classic 1948 Warner Bros. emblem,” refined through “reductive geometry, streamlined curves and bright colours.” The redesign fattened the shield up again, brought back its border, and generally brought the design back to life compared to the slimmer 2019 version. [4]
Meaning and Symbolism
The Warner Bros. shield has been described by Pentagram as “one of the most iconic logos in the world, visual shorthand for entertainment recognized around the globe.” The symbol has been used going back to the company’s roots and periodically updated over the decades, occasionally replaced by something else only to be resurrected in subsequent versions. [2]
For the 2023 redesign, CGH sought to improve the harmony and consistency of the logo’s line weight by “reimagining the shield from its original three-dimensional rendering,” redrawing it from scratch, and “equalizing the weight of the W and B letterforms with the stroke of the encasing shield shape.” [4] The 2023 version also brought back the classic blue-and-gold color combination, with the shield appearing larger and the top trapezoid and pointed edge decorations becoming softer. [5]
Typography and Design
Pentagram expanded the distinctive “WB” monogram into a custom typeface called Warner Bros. Condensed Bold, used for the wordmarks of the various divisions and other display typography. Designed by Pentagram and expanded into a full family of fonts by Jeremy Mickel, the typeface has condensed letterforms that relate to the elongated “WB” in the shield, with details in the logo’s letterforms echoed in the font. [2]
For the 2023 identity, CGH developed an all-capital sans serif wordmark drawn to accentuate the sharp, pointed ends of the new contemporary shield. This reflects not just in naturally linear letters including N and W, but also in the curvilinear C and S, along with the legs of the four Rs in the company name. [6] The 2023 redesign also benefited from the creation of a new typeface, Warner Bros. Bold Condensed, a strong sans serif used in all caps in the logo, echoing the letterforms in the mark itself. [4]
Logo Index is an independent educational archive covering logos, visual identities and graphic design history. All trademarks and brand assets remain the property of their respective owners.
