Koll Guitar Co. is a Portland, Oregon-based manufacturer of handcrafted electric and semi-acoustic guitars, founded in 1986 by luthier Saul Koll. The company’s visual identity was designed by Aaron Draplin of Draplin Design Co., who also created graphics for Koll’s High-Rise effects pedal and other merchandise. Koll’s own site describes Draplin as “the graphic design mastermind behind the Koll logo.” [1]
Design and History
Draplin’s involvement with Koll began through an introduction by filmmaker Gary Hustwit, who partners with Koll on sales and marketing. According to Draplin’s project notes, the brief was straightforward: the existing Koll logo needed to be easier to inlay on the guitar headstock. Draplin describes the result as a “wordmark refresh” for the indie guitar brand, completed in 2017. He worked up a script mark for the project, noting it was appropriate to the 30-plus years of Koll Guitar Co. history at the time. [2]
Koll’s website confirms that the “new logo and graphic identity” were designed by Draplin, and the company has continued to use his designs across its product line. [1] The logo appears as a decal on the headstock of models such as the Super Cub, which is described in the guitar’s specifications as featuring a “Koll logo decal.” [3]
Meaning and Symbolism
Koll has also adopted an alternate logo by Draplin, which the company calls the “Bendy K.” According to Koll’s product description for an army green hoodie featuring the mark, the name comes from the design’s resemblance to a power bend of the top three guitar strings. [4]
Beyond the logo itself, Draplin’s work for Koll extended to the High-Rise overdrive pedal, which launched with graphic design by Draplin alongside circuit design by Saul Koll and Jack Deville. [5] Draplin’s portfolio also documents a separate “Brutalist” distortion pedal graphics project for Koll from 2019. [2]
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