Gibson is an American brand of one of the most famous guitar manufacturers in the world, which was established in 1894 in Michigan. Since 2018 the company is owned by KKR&Co and known as Gibson Brands Inc.
The brand is named after its creator, Orville H. Gibson, who always had a huge passion for music. The first version of the logo appeared in 1908, when the brand started using its seal on the inside of the instruments. However, the famous logo was always composed of just a wordmark, which became iconic in the music industry.
There were a few redesigned of the Gibson logo, but every time the brand’s visual identity remained elegant and strong.
The Brand’s wordmark is executed in a calligraphic typeface, with elegant italicized lettering and placed on the pegbox. The first versions of the logo was composed of “The Gibson” lettering.
The first logo redesign made the wordmark bolder, the lines of the lettering are thicker but the signature letters “G” and “N” remain the same.
“The Gibson” was changed to “Gibson” in a script lettering. During this period of time the brand had several versions of its logo, which varied in thickness and inclination of the typeface.
The Gibson logo has undergone a few experiments with color and thickness of the lines. The lettering is more confident and strong, and the color waited from gold to black and white combination.
The most significant period of the Gibson logo history. The base of the today’s logo is created.
The brand changes its script lettering to a more modern block-style typeface, with the letter “G” having a long tail and the dot above the “I” is very close to “G”. The “N” tail is also elongated, and the lowercase “b” and “o” ore open.
The logo style remained the same, but the lettering became slanted and the dot above the letter “I” doe not touch the remarkable “G”.
The typeface of the wordmark features more square forms now, the straight lines with the rounded angles are strong and bold. The “b” and “o” are closed now and the dot above the “I” does not exist at all anymore.
The brand replaces the peg head with a black fiber and placed the logo into it, which made the letting a little bit smaller and more delicate. The style of the typeface remains the same.
The only change of the wordmark during this period what the reappearing of the dot above the letter “I”. The wordmark still features the same strong and stylish typeface.
The last changes were made to the Gibson logo in 1981, and they brought back the open letters “b” and “o”, with the letter “n” connected at the top of the “o”. The Pearl Gibson logo is timeless and elegant, it has gone through many slight redesigns, but always kept the brand’s unique style and passion.