You Gotta Catch All These Cool Details About the Pokémon Logo
Pokémon is a role-playing video game (RPG) franchise developed by Game Freak (and partly by ILCA), and published by Nintendo and The Pokémon Company. The series was created by Satoshi Tajiri in collaboration with Ken Sugimori. It was composed by Junichi Masuda.
The first video game under the Pokémon franchise, called Pocket Monsters Red and Green, was released on February 27, 1996, in Japan. The game was later released to the rest of the world as Pokémon Red and Blue.
Pokémon Game Primer
Pokémon has since released over 20 other video games, with the latest installment being Pokémon Legends: Arceus (released on January 28, 2022). These games are available on multiple platforms. They include Game Boy, Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS, Nintendo 3DS, and Nintendo Switch.
Pokémon games fall into broad categories called “Generations.” Pocket Monsters Red and Green was the first installment in Generation 1 while Pokémon Legends: Arceus was the last installment in Generation VIII. Presently, there’s an upcoming game titled Pokémon Scarlet and Violet. The game is set for release in 2022 and will be the first installment in the Ninth Generation.
Despite the numerous releases, all Pokémon games basically follow the same script. Players attempt to catch and train fictional characters (also called Pokémons), then use them to battle other Trainers. Some of the most popular Pokémon characters include Misty, Pikachu, Mew, Charizard Mewtwo, May, Ash, Arceus, Brock, and Red.
Over the years, Pokémon has grown into one of the world’s most popular video game series. The series – alongside its spin-offs, related movies, and merchandise – comprise the Pokémon media franchise, which is currently estimated to be the largest and media franchise in the world. The spin-off game Pokémon Go alone has since registered over 1 billion mobile game downloads.
But Pokémon’s riveting gameplay isn’t the only thing that draws players to the series. The franchise also stands out for its unique logo.
Pokémon Logo Appearance
Logo Shape
Pokémon uses a basic wordmark for its logo. But the wordmark is incredibly captivating, thanks to its excellent color choice and the distinctive shapes of each letter.
All the letters in Pokémon’s logotype sport a unique design. The letter “P” is slightly slanted to the left. The letter features a significantly diminished bowl compared to its regular versions.
All the letter “Os” stand out for the shape of their bowls. In both letters, the negative space features what looks like a crescent.
The tail of letter “K” is slightly elongated and stretched towards the right of the letter, such that it forms the surface where the subsequent letter “E” rests.
The letters “M” and “N” also sport distinctive shapes. For instance, the right tail of the letter “M” is visibly slanted to the right, while the letter “N” is wider at the top but narrower at the bottom.
And as with the actual name of the video game series, Pokémon’s logo appears with a diacritical mark placed over the letter “e.”
Pokémon’s logotype has tons of other noteworthy design elements besides the shape of the individual letters. For instance, the letters “P” and “N” seem to be located on the same line. The other letters progressively occur above the baseline, making the logotype appear curved downwards.
There are also notable differences in letter shapes. The consonants (P, K, M, and N) are large and in the UPPERCASE, while the vowels (é and the two Os) are smaller and in lowercase. Also, the vowels seem to overlap into their neighboring letters.
Lastly, the entire Pokémon wordmark is outlined in a different color shade.
Logo Colors
Yellow and blue are the primary colors for the Pokémon logo. Much of the wordmark appears in yellow, with blue mainly used for the outlines. Blue is also used for the letter bowls, as well as for the crescent shapes found inside the bowls of the letter Os. The entire wordmark is commonly placed over a white or transparent background.
Logo Font
The font used for Pokémon’s logotype is unique and not inspired by any pre-existing typefaces. However, the font looks a lot similar to Pokemon.
Pokemon is a freemium display font whose designer is largely unknown. The font is widely published by Fontmonger. It comes in a range of characters, including UPPERCASE and lowercase letters, integers, punctuation marks, and other special characters.
Pokemon is available in two styles, namely Pokemon Solid and Pokemon Hollow. Interestingly, this typeface isn’t a trademarked property of Pokémon despite the name similarities.
Pokémon Logo Symbolism
Symbolism of the Wordmark
Pokémon uses its full brand name as the only visual element of its logo. The logotype mainly helps to highlight the video game series behind the name.
As we’ve already pointed out, Pokémon’s logo sports tons of quirky design elements. Examples include differently-shaped letters, beautiful outlines, and a curvy shape. The logo’s designers implemented these features to make the wordmark look unique and captivating, despite its simplicity.
Why the name Pokémon?
Pokémon traces its roots in the Japanese language. Actually, the name is derived from Japan-made English. The word ‘Pokémon,’ written in Japanese characters as ポケットモンスター, means Poketto Monsutā.
Poketto Monsutā was Pokémon’s original name. The phrase stands for “pocket monsters.”
Symbolism of the Colors
According to color psychology, blue mainly symbolizes peace and serenity. Blue also resonates with professionalism, especially when used in the corporate world.
On the other hand, yellow conveys happiness, hope, and optimism. Yellow also stands for youthfulness, health, and vitality.
However, not all brands choose color schemes for their logos based on the hidden meaning behind these colors. In many cases, the choice of a suitable color palette for a logo depends on aesthetic appeal. Pokémon might have used bright colors to appeal to the younger generations, which happen to comprise the biggest share of the brand’s target market.
Pokémon Logo History
The Pokémon video game franchise has been around for more than two and a half decades. But the series’ logo has largely remained unchanged, and it’s easy to see why.
Each game in the Pokémon series is unique. The various Pokémon characters may also differ in their shapes and personalities. However, all Pokémon games follow a fairly similar concept. The logo’s designer probably saw no need to perform significant design changes if the gameplay was going to be the same anyway.
It’s also worth noting that all Pokémon logo variants, except for the Japanese logo versions, look the same. However, the wordmark may be tweaked a bit depending on the game installment.
Pokémon’s logo hasn’t changed for the entire duration the video game series has been in existence. It has attracted millions of users since the first installment in the series that debuted more than 26 years ago. The franchise owes its popularity largely to its scintillating gameplay (and perhaps in part, to its timeless logo).