The history of the Fossil logo shows the brand’s evolution towards a simpler, easier-to-grasp design.
Fossil is considered one of the world leaders in the production of designer quartz watches, very popular among young people on different continents. The company was founded by Tom Kartsotis in 1984 in Dallas, Texas, USA. Its first and important contribution to the watch industry was the invention of a new trend known as the fashion-watch.
In the very beginning of the Fossil history, the businesswas oriented on the resale in the United States of vintage watches made in the Far East. But pretty soon the brand started designing and manufacturing its own models, which became popular incredibly fast.
The interesting name of the luxury watch brand comes from the childhood of the company’s founder. “Fossil” was the playful nickname the Kartsotis brothers gave their father, when they were kids.
What is Fossil?
Fossil is the name of an American luxury watch brand that appeared in 1984. From the very beginning of its existence, the company was focused on the production of watches primarily as an attribute of style rather than a functional accessory.
Fossil Group, Inc. is a US fashion designer and manufacturer established in 1984
The current logo is utterly minimalistic. It features nothing but the name of the brand in a generic sans serif type. The classic proportions of the letters provide excellent legibility. The fact that the distance between the letters is slightly larger than average is probably the only distinctive feature. Even the color scheme – black and white – does not add anything memorable.
If this logo could speak, it would probably say: “Reliable, durable, without anything unnecessary.” Also, the generous breathing space between the letters may imply luxury.
The previous logo for the Fossil Group was by far more complex than the current one. Interestingly, there is something in common between them. To preserve the heritage of the old brand identity, the design forces behind Fossil decided to leave the wordmark unchanged, so it looks exactly the same in both the versions, apart from the color.
On the old Fossil logo, the word “Fossil” was white. It was placed over a navy blue stripe. The stripe, in its turn, was placed inside a gold ellipse with blue and red trim. Above the wordmark, the writing “Authentic” in red letters with blue trim could be seen. The type was different from the wordmark.
The modern and bold uppercase lettering from the primary Fossil badge is set in a classy geometric sans-serif font with distinctive contours and straight cuts of the capital characters. The closest fonts to the one, used in this insignia, are, probably, Knight Sans Bold, or XXII Centar Bold, with some minor modifications of the contours, and the letters are set pretty far from each other.
As for the color palette of the Fossil visual identity, it is executed in a powerful and minimalistic combination of black and white, with black standing for confidence, excellence, and professionalism, and white adding such qualities as loyalty and reliability. The badge looks very strong and progressive and can be placed on any background without losing its uniqueness and power.