Buick is a legendary American brand of a car manufacturer, which was established in 1904 and considered to be one of the oldest in the world. The brand is a part of GMC which is the leading company in the USA automobile market.
Buick brand, named after its founder, David Dunbar Buick, has a long and very colorful visual identity history. The company’s logo was redesigned more than a dozen times and came to its widely known today style in the 1950s.
During its history, the brand used wordmarks, shields and even a hawk as the part of its emblem. But it was always a representation of a strong and powerful company.
The first known Buick logo was designed in 1904 and featured a man walking on a globe. It was executed in a sepia palette and stayed with the brand for only one year, but is one of the most symbolic car logos in history.
In 1905 the brand gets a new design, which features a circle with a thick frame, where “The Car of Quality” lettering is located, with the brand’s name in the center. The wordmark is executed in a custom hand-drawn typeface with a curved tail of the letter “B” and two vignettes on the top and the bottom of the nameplate.
In 1911 the Buick logo design gets more contemporary and graphical. It is composed of a wordmark, which is all placed in the enlarged first “B”. It is a stylish and interesting design, which didn’t stay with the brand for long.
In 1913 Buick created a new wordmark-based logo. It is a diagonally located lettering placed on a two colored square. The white cursive of “Buick” is balanced by the sharp angles of the background, which is either and blue. It is a bright logo, which perfectly represents its times.
The new wordmark was designed in 130. It featured red color and a more modern typeface. The “B” became bigger and the is now more space between the letters. The red color of the wordmark is accompanied by the silver outline.
The first Buick crest was created in 1937. It was based on the ancient coat of arms of the company’s founder’s family. The crest features orange-terracotta color with a thick diagonal line in a monochrome checkered pattern. The upper part contains the gold image of a deer, while the bottom part — the golden cross.
The crest was modified in 1939. Now it is narrower and has its upper part arched. The orange background was changed to calm red, which made the logo look more powerful and bright.
In 1942 the brand placed its crest on a black circle and adds golden ornaments. The crest itself now featured a new, more complicated and wide shape. And the monochrome checkers are switched to white and blue rhombus patters.
In 1947 the brand removes the round frame and ornaments, keeping a strict wide crest as the only element of its visual identity. The color is back to the orange palette.
The golden tones are changed to silver, the shield gets a thick frame and the background is back to red. It is a fresh and crispy color combination, which makes the logo bright and remarkable.
The prototype of today’s Buick emblem was designed in 1959. The crest was replaced by three narrow shields, which were enclosed in a circle. Each shield was colored in its own tone — blue, white and red, to celebrate the three-car models (Electra, Invicta, LeSabre respectively).
A very interesting time period for the Buick visual identity started in the 1970s. The brand wanted experiments and code a hawk as its symbol. The Buick Skyhawk model was launched at the same time.
The hawk is more detailed and the wordmark appears on the logo. It is executed in white, which created a bright contrast with the red background. The “Happy Hawk” stays with the brand for four years.
The Hawk was replaced by the tri-shield emblem in 1980. The version of 1959 was refined and got a blue background. The wordmark in black capital letters was placed underneath the emblem.
The deer and cross left the crests and the diagonal line is solid silver now. The logo is modern and sleek.
The Buick logo redesign of 2002 simplifies the iconic emblem, keeping the only silver color. It is a modest three-dimensional badge with three shield-silhouettes in a thick circle frame. The wordmark gains a more modern sans-serif typeface with clear bold lines.
The Buick logo is timeless and elegant, keeping all the milestones of the brand and celebrating the progress of the company.
The redesign of 2022 has introduced a strengthened and modernized version of the Buick logo, with the main elements still there, but the style slightly changed. The famous emblem composed of three narrow and tall crests was simplified, with more silver surface and reduced color elements. The crests are now set against a plain white background without any framing and are accompanied by a bold uppercase wordmark in black, executed in a modern geometric sans-serif typeface with lots of character and brutal elegance.
What does the Buick logo mean?
The monochrome geometric logo of the American automaker Buick depicts three narrow crests, which are a link to the historical coat of arms of the brand’s founder, David Dunbar Buick, family, the logo of the company boasts three minimalistic crests, which are only slightly resembling the original heraldic symbol.
Is Buick a Chevy?
Buick and Chevy are two independent American brands of automobile manufacturing companies, that both belong to the General Motors Group, one of the three largest automakers in the United States. Buick has never been a part of Chevy but has always been considered one of its main competitors.
Is Buick a luxury brand?
The American automaking market does not have many luxury brands but has a lot of upper-medium car manufacturers, and Buick is one of them, although some can call it a luxury brand.
Where is Buick made?
Buick is an American company, and historically most parts of the brand’s vehicles are manufactured in the United States. However, today the company has several production facilities across the globe, including China, South Korea, Germany, and Canada, which makes the international distribution of the Buick cars easier.