In the early 1970s, the pioneers of the young tech firm Microsoft had a very different brand image with a groovy feel. Then, it was disco curves and capital letters and splitting the names 'micro' and 'soft.'
Other world-famous logos have had radical transformations from their original designs - McDonald's once had no iconic yellow 'M'; Nintendo was branded in a Japanese typeface; and Apple... think Sir Isaac Newton.
Evolution of the logo (original one on the left, current one on the right)
Bill Gates left Harvard in 1975 to form Microsoft with his childhood friend Paul Allen. The company would become famous for aggressive business deals and its computer operating systems - including Microsoft Windows in 1983
In 1940, brothers Dick and Mac McDonald opened their McDonald's barbecue restaurant in San Bernardino, California. Ray Croc joined the business as a franchise agent in 1955, bought the chain from them and oversaw its worldwide expansion
In 1889, Fusajiro Yamauchi began manufacturing Hanafuda (flower) Japanese playing cards in Kyoto and by 1933 was established as an unlimited partnership, Yamauchi Nintendo & Co. In 1951, this changed to Nintendo Playing Card Co. Ltd. By the 1970s, it had expanded into videogames that would become a byword for interactive entertainment
Japanese car giant Nissan Motor Company was established in June 1934, taking over the manufacturing of Datsuns. By the 1960, it had made a strong impression on the U.S. market, with its Datsun Roadster. Innovations continue today with such breakthroughs as the Leaf electric car
In 1932, master carpenter Ole Kirk Christiansen made wooden toys, stepladders and ironing boards in his small shop in Billund, Denmark. It wasn't until two years later that the business took the name of Lego, which came from the Danish words 'LEg GOdt' meaning 'play well'
With the slogan 'you press the button, we do the rest', George Eastman put the first simple camera into the hands of a world of consumers in 1888. From its offices in Rochester, New York. After years of domination in the world of photography, it failed to gain a foothold in the digital era and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in January this year
The Mozilla project was created in 1998 with the release of the Netscape browser suite source code. Within the first year, new community members from around the world had already contributed new functionality. After several years of development, Mozilla 1.0 was released in 2002. By this point, over 90% of Internet users were browsing with Internet Explorer. Not many people noticed at the time, but the first version of Phoenix (a bird reborn in flames) - later renamed Firefox - was also released by Mozilla community members that year
IT behemoth Apple started out as Apple Computers inc in 1976, the brainchild of friends Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne. The company was founded in the garage of Jobs' California home and its simple logo was a reference to Isaac Newton's gravity brainstorm. Five decades on, Apple's macs, iPods, iPads and iPhones are must-have products and the company is worth a breathtaking $600billion
Shell, the world's second-largest oil company, was founded in 1907 by the merger of Dutch and British petroleum giants. More than a hundred years on, it retains its continental flavour - based in the Hague but listed on the London stock exchange. Its logo has also changed little through the years, and its trademark scallop shell is one of the most recognisable brands in the world
The camera giant was founded in Japan in 1934, as Kwanon - named after the Buddhist goddess of mercy. The following year it rebranded as Canon to coincide with the launch of its first ever 35mm camera. Exactly half a century later, the company launched its first digital camera. In 2012, Canon enjoys a 20 per cent share of the digital camera market, offering hundreds of models for amateurs to professionals. In 2007 alone, the company sold more than 25 million cameras, more than any other brand
Xerox was founded in 1906 in Rochester, New York as a producer of photographic paper and equipment. Fifty years later it manufactured its first modern-style photocopier, the Xerox 914. It became a huge success, earning the firm $60 million in revenue in two years alone - and helping to give birth to a modern manufacturing icon. Nowadays few offices are without a Xerox printer or copier. Even the Queen has one. Xerox holds a Royal Warrant from HM Queen Elizabeth II and the Prince of Wales.
British Airways marked its 90th anniversary in 2009 with a special heritage site online, to celebrate its proud history as a pioneer of aviation. Possibly the world's most famous airline it started out in 1919 as Aircraft Transport and Travel Limited (AT&T), offering the first daily scheduled flight from London to Paris - in a single-engined biplane. It assumed the British Airways name in the 1970s when BEA and BOAC merged and adopted its distinctive blue and red log in 1973
The General Electric Company started with a simple product that virtually everyone in the world uses every day. It was founded in Menlo Park, New Jersey, in 1878, by Thomas Edison, the inventor of the light bulb. Over the years GE has diversified, contributing to the development of radar and the first jet engine. Today the company is a complex conglomerate making dishwashers, microwaves, cameras, telephones and even wind turbines. It even owns 49 per cent of TV and movie studio NBC Universal, which explains how it came to be the 6th largest firm in the U.S.
During its peak in the 1950s and 60, telecoms giant AT&T was an unstoppable telecoms giant. The firm, which founded in 1885, employed a million people and made $300 billion a year (modern equivalent) - benefiting from a complete monopoly over the telecoms market. This came to an end in 1984, when the government forced it to break up into seven regional Bell operating companies. In 2005, one of those bell companies, SBC, bought back the name, rebranded and breathed new life into the famous AT&T brand
If you're in Austria, it's Eskimo, in Britain it's called Wall's, in America it's Good Humor and in France it's Miko. The same ice-cream, made by the same company and with the same logo - but a different name depending on what country you're in. The modern-day logo is known as the Heartbrand, and was launched in 1999 by Unilever, a British-Dutch company and the world's biggest ice cream manufacturer, with an annual turnover of 5billion Euros
Computing giant IBM started life in 1900 as the mystically-named International Time Recording Company. It later merged with two rivals and became IBM in 1925. It's now considered ancient history in the fast-moving world of computers, but to many IBM is most fondly regarded for its role in the invention of the floppy disc, back in 1971. Ten years later it launched the first ever PC. Today the firm - nicknamed 'Big Blue' - places a greater emphasis on software development, but it's still one of the largest and most profitable information technology employers in the world
Named after the god of wisdom, intelligence and harmony, Japanese auto giant Mazda will celebrate its centenary in 2020. The earliest logo (left) was launched in 1936 and featured on the company's first product, a three wheeled truck. Mazda fell into American hands during the Asian financial crisis of the late 1990s, when Ford bought a large stake in the firm - but as the recession hit American auto firms in the late 00s, Ford was forced to sell most of its shares, now holding just a 3 per cent.
Fritos, Doritos, Ruffles, Cheetos, Rold Gold pretzels, and Sun Chips are all part of the Frito-Lay family founded in America by Herman W. Lay in 1932. PepsiCo bought the potato chip empire in 1965 and helped it become the biggest snack brand in the US - holding a 59 per cent market share. If the logo looks familiar, it's because the brand is known as Walkers in the UK
The Discovery Channel is still producing the same award-winning science, technology, and history documentaries it set out to create in 1985 when it was founded by the BBC and other investors. And its logo still features a simple globe, but with a more modern twist. Popular current Discovery Channel shows include Mythbusters and Deadliest Catch
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2172120/From-McDonalds-big-yellow-M-large-firm-featuring-Isaac-Newton-iconic-brands-changed-years.html#ixzz20RtXjIRW
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