American Apparel Logo

American Apparel logoAmerican Apparel Logo PNG

The simplicity of the American Apparel logo has always been an essential part of its appeal. The letters seem to be “wearing” too little “clothes” – very much like the models seen in the brand’s sexually charged advertising.

Meaning and history

American Apparel logo

American Apparel Inc. was established in 1989. It used to be a brick-and-mortar store operator, one of the best-known apparel manufacturers and marketers in North America. Today, it is an online-only retailer.

The logo is just the wordmark. There is nothing apart from the name of the brand and the registered trademark symbol in the top right corner. Even the color scheme – black on the white background – does not seem to add anything unique.

And yet, taking into consideration the type of brand American Apparel is, this approach can be beneficial at least in two ways.

First, most of us know the label for its basic cotton knitwear such as T-shirts and underwear. The word “basic” describes the typeface well, so we can say it fits the brand.

Also, American Apparel has been notorious for its provocative and controversial advertising campaigns. When this simple type appears in ads, it does not steal the limelight from the main image.

Font

The type featured in the American Apparel logo looks very much like Helvetica Black with tighter than usual spacing. It is a grotesque sans serif type developed by Max Miedinger and published by Adobe. Another similar type is Helvetica Bold.

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