Fisher Price was founded in 1930 by three Americans, and at that time represented a small factory for the production of children’s toys. But the founders of “Fisher Price” – Herman Fisher, Irving Price, and Helen Schelle did everything to ensure that the quality of toys produced by their brand was at the highest level.
In 1930, American Herman Fischer came up with the idea that children’s toys needed to be improved. Children need toys that “spark the imagination and offer lots of new, surprising and fun things to do”. He joined forces with Irwin Price and Helen Schelle and created a toy company, giving it the name Fisher-Price. As early as 1931, the company produced its first collection of toys, called 16 Hopefuls.
At first, the company produced toys made entirely of wood, with metal parts, they were covered with non-toxic lithographs and polished, but in the early 1950s, after the Great Economic Depression, the company made the transition to a new production material, plastic. Soon the brand had more than 40 plastic toy models in its assortment, which were brighter and more durable than their previous counterparts.
Since the 1990s Fisher Price have focused their production on the production of educational toys for the youngest. Today, Fisher-Price has its own research and development center, which develops all new toys for the company, focused on helping in the development of babies.
Fisher Price always listens to the opinions and advice of parents of babies, and with their help always improves its products, which brings new success to a series of products. The brand cares about children, so all products comply with quality certificates and are safe for health.
What is Fisher Price?
Fisher Price is the name of a world-famous toy manufacturer from the United States, whose history began in 1930 in the town of East Aurora, which is located near New York. Fisher-Price games and toys for preschool children have been repeatedly awarded prestigious prizes at international competitions.
In terms of visual identity, throughout its nearly century-long history, the company has changed the concept of its logo several times, and as technology has evolved and the range of Fisher Price toys has expanded, its logo has become more confident and modern.
The original Fisher Price logo, designed in 1932, stayed with the toy manufacturer for two decades, with no changes at all. It was a very stylish and elegant badge, executed in a terracotta and black color palette, with the custom sans-serif lettering inscribed into a vertically oriented rectangular frame. The vertical bar of the “F” was elongated, reaching the stretched horizontal bar of the “T”, which became a separation line in the composition.
The redesign of 1956 marked the new era of the company’s development. The new concept was built around two stylized lowercase letters, “F” and “P”, drawn with thick white outlines against a black background. The body of the “F” featured red color, and had a black dot for an eye and an arched smile line. As for the “P”, it was colored bright blue. The full name of the brand was written along the horizontal edges of the banner in sans-serif capitals, in white.
In 1957 the badge of the company was changed again. The shapes of the lowercase letters were kept, but the concept was switched to a lighter one. Now the white “F” with a smiling profile was set on a solid red circle, while the white “P” — on the solid blue one. Both rounded were set against a plain white background and accompanied by black lettering in small caps, arched at the bottom of the badge, making up another smile line.
Another redesign was held by the company in 1962, but it was more about minor details of the composition. The red and blue shades brightened up, creating a friendlier image. Another thing was in the framing of the badge — it was now repeating the shape of a rectangular price tag, executed in thin black lines. The full wordmark at the bottom of the logo got larger and more readable.
In 1971 the typeface of the brand’s name was changed to a fancy and bold font, which will stay with the company for decades and become its main signifier. All other elements remained in their places, but the shades of blue and red intensified. This version of the Fisher-Price logo will be used by the brand for thirteen years, along with the newer version.
The Fisher-Price badge, introduced in 1975, only featured the brand’s name written in the new corporate typeface, with thick and smooth black lines, against a plain background with no graphical or colorful additions. The logo looked elegant and stable, showing a confident and professional brand.
In 1984 the designers created one of the most recognizable logo versions for the brand. The bold lettering in a corporate typeface was now written in white characters against a solid red banner, which had the shape of an awning. This shape of the badge is still used by the company today, and it became the Fisher Price signifier along with the typeface.
In 1996 the Fisher-Price logo was slightly refined. The lettering has become slightly larger relative to the banner, which made the image more balanced. The shade of red was also a bit different from the previous version, with more intense tones.
Just three years later the logo of the fit manufacturer was revamped again, with a delicate dark red shadow added to the white characters. This small detail has made the whole banner look more modern and added volume to it. Also, due to the shadowing, the letters of the inscription became more readable and distinctive.
The shadow was removed from the composition in 2012, literally bringing back the Fisher-Price logo from 1996, but with a slightly more intense shade of red on the awning.
In 2019 the logo of the company was significantly changed. The Pentagram design bureau has rewritten the name of the brand in lowercase and switched the color of the awning banner to a more orangy one. The “-“ between the two parts of the brand’s name changed its shape and now looks like a geometric smile.
The bold lowercase lettering from the primary logo of the Fisher Price brand is set in a custom typeface, which is Let’s Be Glyphs. The closest commercial fonts to the one, used in this insignia, are, probably, Spirits or Latte, but with significant modifications of the characters’ contours.
As for the color palette of the Fisher Price visual identity, it is based on the combination of coral red and white, which evokes a sense of passion and love and also shows the brand as a confident and professional one.