Avery Products Corporation, the office and consumer products brand known for self-adhesive labels, binders and organizational supplies, has used a distinctive visual identity since its founding era. The company traces its origins to 1935, when R. Stanton “Stan” Avery invented the first self-adhesive label, and it was renamed Avery Products Corporation in 1964.[1]
Design and History
For nearly four decades, the Avery brand was identified with a logo created in 1975 by designer Saul Bass: a leaning red triangle formed of paperclips.[2] That mark appeared on binders, labels and packaging throughout the Avery Dennison era.
In 2013, CCL Industries Inc. bought the Office and Consumer Products division from Avery Dennison and renamed it Avery Products Corporation.[1] The new parent company sought to separate the consumer products brand, now known simply as Avery, from the primarily business-to-business Avery Dennison company.[2]
Chermayeff & Geismar & Haviv was commissioned to create a new visual identity for Avery.[2] The firm is credited with the Avery Office Products logo and identity program on its own portfolio.[3] The redesign was reported in February 2014.[2]
The new mark places a red box at a slight angle behind the Avery wordmark.[4] The angled box was described by one design commentator as representing paper.[4] The solution kept the tilted square that had enclosed the paperclip triangle in the final years of the previous logo, while shifting focus to the Avery name.[5]
The redesign was intended to be seen as “modern and forward-looking” while retaining familiarity by focusing on the name.[6] The parent company Avery Dennison continued to use the Saul Bass paperclip triangle identity after the split.[4]
Meaning and Symbolism
One design commentary suggested the angled red box represents paper, though this interpretation was offered by a commentator rather than by the designers or client.[4] The Branding Source noted that the new logo retained the tilted square element from the previous identity, which had enclosed the paperclip triangle.[5]
Typography and Design
The current Avery logo consists of the wordmark “AVERY” with a red box placed at a slight angle behind it.[4] The redesign changed the logo font, removing the distinctive detail in the “R” crossbar that had appeared in the earlier wordmark.[4]
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