The Definitive Guide Into Gucci’s Famous Logo
The Gucci logo is one of the most instantly recognizable badges in the world. The logo stands out for its simple and unassuming yet elegant and stylish design, which pretty much resonates with the company’s offerings.
We’ve prepared a comprehensive guide into Gucci’s striking emblem, including the duration the company operated without it. We’ll also explore some of the past intrigues that almost made Gucci lose its brand name and badge.
Gucci History
Gucci is an Italian luxury fashion house headquartered in Florence, Italy. The company deals in a range of high-end fashion accessories, including ready-to-wear, handbags, and footwear. It also designs and distributes fragrances, makeups, and home decorations.
Gucci was founded in 1921 by Guccio Gucci. However, the company achieved mainstream success under the stewardship of Guccio’s son Aldo Gucci. Gucci was run by Guccio’s descendants for years. However, cracks in the company’s leadership began to emerge in the 1980s due to incessant family feuds.
With no end in sight for the feuding family members, it was time for Gucci’s management to crack the whip in a bid to restore faith in the fashion brand. By 1993, the entire Gucci family had been ousted from the company’s leadership. And in 1999, French conglomerate Kering (formerly Pinault Printemps Redoute) acquired Gucci.
Gucci Logo Appearance
Logo Shape
The Gucci logo is made up of two capital ‘Gs.’ The letters are cleverly intertwined to resemble two interlocking circles. They may also look like a chain link image, such as the image of a jewelry chain.
While the design may sound simple and straightforward, the two letters create quite a stunning image. In fact, many people, including a considerable percentage of loyal Gucci clients, do not realize that the brand’s logo is simply made of two interlocking letters.
Another notable element of Gucci’s logo is the company’s wordmark. Although the brand has gradually transitioned into a stylish monogram-based badge, many of its logos still appear with the full name. The name is usually written above the stylized monogram.
Also, the interlocking letter Gs may change position occasionally depending on the needs. Sometimes, one letter may be slightly higher or lower than the other. In other versions, the Gs may be stretched further to the left or right.
Photo by James Ree on Unsplash
This flexibility makes it easy to use the Gucci badge on different products, including garments, wallets, jewelry, and even store signs.
Logo Colors
Gucci’s logo almost always appears in monochrome, whereby the interlocking Gs are executed in black on a white background.
But as with other popular logos, the Gucci emblem may adopt other colors depending on the need.
For instance, there’s a green-red color scheme generally visible on Gucci bags, shoes, and leather goods. The design appears as three horizontal lines made with two green lines and a red line in the middle, with the Gucci monogram positioned right at the center of the three lines.
Golden yellow is another common color variation that the logo occasionally appears in.
Logo Font
Gucci uses a font known as Granjon Roman. This is the font used for the two interlocking Gs on Gucci’s badge as well as for the company’s wordmark.
Granjon Roman is a Roman variant of Granjon, an old-style serif typeface created by George W. Jones between 1928 and 1929. Granjon was designed for the British brand of the Linotype company.
Besides Granjon Roman, George Jones also developed the font’s italic weight. The typeface was later expanded into additional weights by other font designers, including Chauncey H Griffith who came up with the bold version.
Gucci Logo Symbolism
The Interlocking Gs
The obvious meaning of the two interlocking Gs on Gucci’s logo is that they pay tribute to the company’s founder. The initials simply stand for Guccio Gucci. Interestingly, Guccio Gucci did not propose Gucci’s logo. The logo was adopted by his son, Aldo Gucci.
Aldo wanted a font that would immortalize his father’s name and also perpetuate his family’s legacy. Although the brand is no longer family-owned, the name Gucci lives on.
The Wordmark
Not all Gucci symbols come with the wordmark. But for those that do, the lettering is usually added to enhance the brand’s visual identity.
Symbolism of the Colors
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Black is a symbol of power, elegance, and sophistication. The color sums up the essence of Gucci products.
White connotes innocence, purity, virtue, and balance. However, this color is mainly used for the background of Gucci’s badge, where it helps accentuate the bold, black badge.
Also, as already indicated, the Gucci logo may often appear in other colors, including gold, green, and red.
Gold resonates with wealth and elegance. Green stands for growth and fertility, whereas red symbolizes passion and power. However, Gucci mainly uses these alternative color palettes for aesthetics than for their deeper symbolism.
Gucci Logo History
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Although Gucci was founded in 1921, the brand operated without a logo for more than 10 years. That’s because the company mainly targeted small, local clients whom it could effectively market to by word of mouth.
It was not until 1933 that the fashion powerhouse decided to develop its logo in an apparent attempt to adopt an official brand identity.
Aldo Gucci is credited with designing Gucci’s logo. Aldo joined the family business in 1933 as one of the executives. His first order of business was giving Gucci additional recognition, which included coming up with a logo.
Aldo crafted Gucci’s logo by simply combining two capital letter Gs, which were the initials for his father Guccio Gucci. He reckoned that doing this would immortalize his father’s name and perpetuate the family legacy. Besides, he simply opted to intertwine the letters as that would make the logo unique yet still memorable.
Gucci’s original logo has stayed with the company since then. The only occasional changes involve switching the color palette and the positioning of the two Gs.
Interestingly, Gucci almost lost its UK trademark in 2012, thanks to glaring ambiguities in UK’s copyright laws. Thankfully, the brand reclaimed its trademark after a bruising court battle.
Gucci is one of the premier fashion brands known for its high-end fashion accessories and exquisite logo. It’s also one of the few successful fashion powerhouses whose logos have remained unchanged since adoption.