Browning Arms Company (known as Browning) is a major US manufacturer of fishing tools and firearms. The initial goal was marketing John Browning’s non-military (sporting) inventions.
The Browning logo has been around since 1977, and it was designed by Don Bailey, the company’s art director. The image depicts a mule deer’s head in a uniformly abstract way to emphasize the company’s contribution to the hunting industry. Today, the logo is referred to as the Buckmark until now.
Bailey chose the image because he felt there was something g special about mule deer, which singled it out from other big game species. Also, there is a dense population of mule deer in Utah, the company’s home state. The first place where the logo was displayed was the 1977 Centennial Catalog’s cover. In 1978, the catalog was presented at the Shooting Hunting and Outdoor Trade show.
Apart from the Buckmark, the Browning logo includes the company name written in a signature yellow typerface on a black background. The yellow color symbolizes integrity and passion, and black stands for the company’s devotion, purposefulness, and striving for perfection.
The wordmark features a geometric slab serif typeface called LHF Full Block. The font was created by Chuck Davis and published by type foundry Letterhead Fonts. The distinctive feature of the type is the unusual shape of the serifs. The exaggerated serifs create a visual harmony with the horns of the deer featured on the emblem. The first and the last letters are larger than all the rest.