Goldwell is a stylist-exclusive brand of hair color and haircare products. It is part of Kao Salon Division.
In 1948 in Darmstadt, Germany, the 27-year-old hairdresser Hans Erich Dotter founded the company Goldwell (translated from German as “Golden Curl”), whose goal was to create professional hairdressing products for exclusive use in beauty salons.
Dotter began with hair styling products, investing all his savings into development and production. The first styling lotion was a huge success, and the quick-drying polish became instantly popular with the craftsmen in Europe. The next step was the creation of a perm that did not damage the hair and was very easy to use because it was in the form of foam.
The founder’s ability to anticipate the future contributed to the rapid progress of Goldwell. After combining their efforts in a research project, Goldwell and KAO decided to merge. In 1989, Goldwell became part of the Japanese KAO Group.
What is Goldwell?
Goldwell is the name of a German brand of professional hair cosmetics, founded in 1948. Since the late 1980s, the brand is part of the Japanese concern KAO. In addition to caring and restoring cosmetics, the brand is engaged in the production of various hairdressing tools, quality products for coloring and even created a separate line for men.
The Goldwell logo, introduced in 1966 featured a bold yet smooth inscription in monochrome’s which looked stable yet friendly and playful. The thick sans-serif letters of the logotype were waved, which made the whole look of the emblem elegant and soft and reflected the purpose of the brand, reminding of smooth curly hair.
The logo was redesigned only once, in 2005, and the company decided to keep the massive sand-serif lettering as the main brand’s signifier. Though the typeface was changed to a more modern and laconic one, the original mood of the inscription remained. The wave turned into a strictly straight line, black color was switched to gray, and on the right from the lettering a solid burgundy square appeared.
The highlight of the Goldwell logo is a red square following the name of the brand. The square replaces a full stop and is supposed to mean that Goldwell is your ultimate destination: once you have found these products, you do not need to look for anything else. The square is even used as the company’s emblem on its own (without the wordmark).
The type featured in the wordmark is a utilitarian and rather heavy sans.
As for the color palette of the Goldwell visual identity, it is based on a strong and stylish combination of black and red, which stands for precision, excellence and professionalism. Red here is also a color of passion, which the brand puts into the development of each of its products.