AKG is a brand of an acoustic engineering and manufacturing company, founded in 1947 by Rudolf Görike and Ernest Plass in Vienna, Austria. The company is owned by Hartman International Industries, a subsidiary of Samsung Electronics.
AKG was founded in Vienna by Dr. Rudolf Görike and Ernst Pless in 1947, and soon became one of the largest representatives in the sound market. Today AKG is synonymous with good sound. The company stands for passion in music, producing high-quality equipment, and bringing constant innovation. The company was founded in 1947 and within a few months began supplying its microphones to radio stations, theaters, and jazz clubs. AKG products were handmade by only five workers at the time.
The first AKG headphones appeared on the market in 1949.The company continued to grow actively and in 1955 founded a subsidiary in Germany. By the end of the 1950s, the AKG distribution network covered other parts of Europe. And over the next decade, it began to actively market its products to other continents as well.
Today the AKG brand is synonymous with the highest class of audio equipment. AKG microphones and headphones have a rich history of studio and concert use by Frank Sinatra, Eric Clapton, Peter Gabriel, Stevie Wonder, Rod Stewart, Eros Ramazzotti, Keni West, Aerosmith, Rolling Stones, Simply Red, and many others.
What is AKG?
AKG is the name of an Austrian company, focused on the production of headphones and audio accessories. The company, established in 1947 by Rudolf Görike and Ernst Pless today is owned by Harman International Industries, one of the American subsidiaries of Samsung.
The first AKG logo used the same acronym as the following versions, except this one is colored blue and put in the bottom of a special emblem. The emblem is comprised of three blue petals united into a single pattern.
The following design uses a very similar acronym design with the words ‘by Hartman’ written below its right end. Both used a sans-serif font of the ocher color.
AKG standard for Akustische und Kino-Geräte Gesellschaft (the original name of the company, which means Acoustic and Cinema Equipment).
The AKG logo is a minimalist black wordmark on a white background with a “by Harman” tagline.
The brand uses a classic serif sans, which is Eurostile LT Pro Bold Extended font, with its clean and sharp lines, with work perfectly together with the monochrome palette.
The AKG logo reflects brand’s power and good reputation in the acoustic industry. Black color represents strength and gravity, making the brand’s logo look masculine, laconic and powerful.
The heavy and stylish uppercase lettering from the primary badge of AKG is executed in a custom modern sans-serif typeface with a slightly modernized contour of the letter “G”. The closest fonts to the one used in this insignia, are, probably, Miedinger Bold, or Joyride Ext, but, as already mentioned, the “G” was redrawn.
As for the color palette of the AKG by Harman visual identity, it is based on the most laconic and minimalistic monochrome combination of black and white, which is a win-win and an always relevant and elegant color scheme, which is timeless, confident, and powerful.