KWS is a German plant-breeding and seed company, founded in 1856 in Klein Wanzleben and now headquartered in Einbeck, Lower Saxony. Its logo combines the black wordmark “KWS” with a picture mark showing an orange circle above a green trapezoid divided into horizontal fields. The company describes the full mark as consisting of both the wordmark and the picture mark, which together form the registered KWS trademark. [1]
Design and History
The current KWS logo has been in use since 1972. According to the company, the historical trademark was modified over the years, and in 1972 the present brand logo was introduced. [2] The symbol of an orange sun rising above green fields, together with the three letters, has represented KWS values for more than four decades. [3]
In 2016, KWS lightly revised its corporate design to reflect innovation and modernity in its external appearance. The change was made visible at the Einbeck headquarters with the installation of a large cube bearing the KWS logo and the claim “Zukunft säen – seit 1856” (Sowing the future – since 1856), replacing the old wordmark on the building. The updated design was rolled out worldwide on brochures, flyers and advertisements. [4]
Meaning and Symbolism
KWS itself explains the symbolism of its logo: the orange sun evokes associations with seed, while the tapering field plots symbolize the diversity of crop cultivation. [2] The company’s trademark registrations describe the design as the letters “KWS” in black above a circle in orange and a trapezoid in green. [5] An earlier registration specifies the orange as HKS 7 and describes the trapezoid as taking the form of four horizontal green fields. [6]
Typography and Design
The KWS corporate design manual notes that the logo is made up of the wordmark (KWS) and the picture mark (sun and fields), and that only both elements together form the registered and protected trademark. [1] The manual also references a specific “KWS Orange” used for trademark protection reasons. [1]
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