Dolby Digital is brand of a surround sound audio coding technique, which was created in 1991 by Dolby Laboratories and was known as AC-3. The codec is being used for DVD’s, Blu-ray and TV.
The Dolby Digital is named after its inventors, Ray and Dale Dolby, who founded the Dolby Laboratories in 1965 in London.
The Dolby Digital logo is one of the most recognizable in the world, as almost every person has seen it at least once in his life. We see the Dolby Digital icon in the cinemas and when watch movies at home on DVD or Blu-ray.
The Dolby Digital logo is a legend, as well as the technology the brand offers. It is a strong and powerful visual identity design for one of the most respected brands in the entertainment industry history.
The original logo for Dolby Digital was introduced in 1995 and stayed with the brand for eight years. It was a monochrome composition, with an emblem formed by two mirrored fragments, a rectangular frame with the “Dolby” lettering on its right, and a “Digital” inscription under it. The emblem featured two black vertically oriented rectangles with solid white “D”s on them. The “Dolby” part was written in a bold sans-serif typeface and had its letters placed close to each other, while the “Digital” had more air between its thinner lines.
The redesign of 2003 slightly refined the lines of the Dolby Digital h by usual identity by enlarging the “Dolby” lettering inside the rectangular frame and making the emblem a bit more delicate and elegant. As for the bottom, “Digital”, line, it was left untouched.
In 2007 another version of the logo was introduced. The icon emblem now had no vertical separation line between two fragments and began looking sleeker and more modern. As for the lettering, it’s typeface was shanked to a smoother custom sans-serif with the open contours of the letter “B”.
The “Digital” part was now written in smaller letters and placed under the thin black angle, which was underlining the “Dolby” lettering.
The redesign of 2012 removed the framing and underlining from the Dolby Digital visual identity, keeping just its solid emblem and the two levels of the wordmark. The typeface of the inscription remained unchanged, but the letters became a bit smaller and more sophisticated.
The original Dolby Digital logo was created in 1967 and the current logo is based on its idea. The “double D” is an iconic emblem. It has a double meaning as well.
The first meaning of the Dolby Digital emblem is representation of two funnels, through with the sound moves and comes out cleaner. That is what the Dolby Digital Technology was created for.
The second meaning is initials of the founders, Dolby brothers. It shows the brands roots and heritage values.
The icon in black and white resembles of the window or old video cassette and is the symbol, which everyone knows as “Double D” and nothing else.
The monochrome palette of the Dolby Digital logo elevates its emblem and typeface. The lettering with clean strong lines looks confident and evokes a sense of authority. The “B” adds uniqueness to the logo.
The closest font to the Dolby Digital typeface is Gustan Medium, designed by Lux Typographic.