Crayola Logo PNG
The logo of the US-based manufacturer of arts supplies Crayola has a positive and artistic mood. The design has gone through over ten complete overhauls since 1903.
Meaning and history
1903
The company was established in 1885. By 1903, it already used an intricate logo with plenty of decorative details. The “c” was almost lost (it looked like part of the frame), which made people suppose that the name of the brand was “Rayola.”
Even now, the company still uses the design as a secondary logo.
1928
The new Crayola logo was by far better legible due to a type featuring the letters of single height and width. It didn’t look cluttered, too, as the intricate frame disappeared.
1930
The elegant serif type was replaced by a heavy and straightforward sans. The letters were now red.
1939
The glyphs grew slightly flatter and wider. The artistic theme was emphasized by the slightly uneven, “dancing” letters.
1941
The letters grew more “serious” and bolder. They were now dark red on the yellow background.
1944
The wordmark lost some weight and became flatter. The lettering grew light, while the background grew dark.
1967
The Crayola logo adopted a totally new palette, with the green letters over the yellow background.
The type was a different one. First, the glyphs became more elegant, with their curves and varying widths of the strokes. Also, the lettering “rayola” was lowercase.
1972
A simple black-and-white color scheme was adopted. The type was bolder (Futura Bold). This wordmark was easier to reproduce on various surfaces.
1997
The design adopted an optimistic and artistic mood. The wordmark was now dark green with gradient and shades adding some volume. A rainbow-colored stroke below embodied the artistic spirit of the brand.
2002
The heavy, rectangular glyphs were replaced by an elegant type with varying widths of the strokes (Cronos Bold). The green grew darker and more serious. Even the friendly plump “shades” and the yellow color couldn’t return the happy touch of the previous design. This was probably due to the dark hues.
2006
This one, on the contrary, is both friendly and optimistic.
For one, the combination of yellow and green has grown lighter and brighter. New colors (rainbow) were added as a symbol of the endless creative possibilities offered by the brand’s products.
Also, a smiling face was used as a background. It was slightly tilted (as if it had been rolling). The typography remained unchanged, but it didn’t look “serious” in any way.
Font
The earliest logos featured serif typefaces, while, in 1930, the era of sans serif fonts started. The current type (Cronos Bold) looks plump and rounded, which creates a friendly impression.
Colors
Yellow and green have been present in the Crayola logo, in one form or another, for much of its history. And yet, the company has experimented with the palette a lot, changing the hues and the proportions, as well as adding various other colors.