The Kellogg’s wordmark is a red script logotype based on the signature of company founder William Keith Kellogg. For more than a century, the mark has served as the master brand identity for Kellogg’s cereals and related products, evolving through periodic refinements while retaining its handwritten character.
Design and History
W.K. Kellogg founded the Battle Creek Toasted Corn Flake Company in February 1906. To differentiate his product from competitors, he placed his own signature on each box of Corn Flakes, a practice that later developed into the company logo. The master brand logo dates to 1906 and has since received only occasional minimal changes. [1]
The logo was initially designed in 1907, based on the founder’s signature. It was made more stylized in 1916 and cleaned up further in 1955. Apart from color changes, the mark has barely changed since then. [2]
In May 2012, Kellogg Company announced what it described as the most significant update of its marquee identity in company history. The refresh, created with Interbrand, included a contemporized version of the classic Kellogg’s script logo. [3] The new logo and website launched in the US and Canada, with a rollout to the UK and the rest of the world to follow. [4]
In 2018, Loop Brands, in collaboration with the Kellogg Europe marketing team, created a new Kellogg Signature identity and range. The project referenced the original Kellogg signature from the 1900s as well as various iterations of identities created over the years. Typographer Keith Morris explored versions of the new signature identity, and the letterforms were inspired by marks made with a traditional fountain pen. The identity departed from the recognizable red color, a change made to distinguish the new “signature” portfolio from the traditional Kellogg portfolio. [1]
Following the 2023 separation of Kellogg Company into two independent public companies, the North American cereal business became WK Kellogg Co. The company’s logo stems from the iconic signature of Mr. Kellogg, with the instantly recognizable script underlined and the “Co” elevated. [5] The WK Kellogg Co logo resembles the corn flake maker’s traditional branding. [6]
Meaning and Symbolism
The wordmark’s core meaning derives from its origin as the founder’s personal signature. W.K. Kellogg added his signature to each box of Corn Flakes to differentiate his flakes from fierce competitors, and this later developed into the company logo. [1]
When WK Kellogg Co adopted its name and logo in 2023, company leadership emphasized the founder’s legacy. The name honors the legacy of founder W.K. Kellogg, celebrating his spirit of innovation and entrepreneurship. The logo takes his instantly recognizable script and underlines and elevates the “Co,” emphasizing the company’s ambition as a 117-year-old start-up taking Mr. Kellogg’s original company to new heights. [5]
Typography and Design
In 2024, WK Kellogg Co and advisory firm Brunswick tapped type foundries XYZ and Plau to expand the historic red script wordmark into a complete typeface called “WK Kellogg Co Script.” The idea came from Harlie Brindak, creative director at Brunswick, who envisioned a working font based on the founder’s iconic signature. [7]
XYZ Type’s Ben Kiel had been refining the final lettering for the new WK Kellogg Co logo. For the typeface project, XYZ collaborated with Rodrigo Saiani at Plau. Together they researched the history of Kellogg’s packaging and advertising, cross-referencing it with lettering and sign-painting manuals from the early 20th century, when the original logo was created. [7]
Designers reduced the K’s unusually steep incline for a better fit between capitals and lower case, and decided against a cursive structure for the Q, F, and T to improve letter recognition. OpenType contextual alternates allow glyphs to be automatically substituted at the beginning, middle, or end of a word, producing a more natural effect closer to hand-drawn lettering. Special glyphs like the stair-step “ll” and the “e” with an entry stroke match the spontaneity of the logo. [7]
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