HSV is the abbreviation for Holden Special Vehicles, a Holden subsidiary, specializes in the design and production of high-performance cars. The brand was established in 1987 in Australia and by today it has already released more than a dozen models, based on the most popular Holden vehicles.
The iconic Australian automaker, Holden, decided to establish a high-performance cars subdivision in the middle of the 1980s, as saw a huge market opportunity in it, and already in 1987, the HSV was formed.
The logo of the luxury car brand hasn’t changed much since the first day of the company’s existence, it just got refined and accompanied by massive lettering, which only frames and adds freshness to the original emblem.
The HSV badge, designed in 1988, featured a solid black circle with a double red outline and a white image in the center. The image depicted a lion’s head placed next to the man in a racing helmet. The lion is a symbol of Holden, the mother company of the brand, so it’s only logical to place the animal’s image on the HSV badge.
As for the second part of the drawing, the stylized profile of a man, executed in black and wearing a white helmet, it reflects the purpose of the luxury brand — racing high-performance cars.
A few years later, the badge was placed inside a new composition — on a silver “HSV” lettering between “H” and “S”, with the lines of the letters elongated and connecting behind the black circular badge. The inscription features all letters in the same size as the emblem and is executed in a matte monochrome gray, looking like real metal, with the “H” the darkest, and “S” — the lightest.
When placed on the car, the black and red emblem turns into a silver three-dimensional badge with a glossy surface. All white elements change their color to metallic, and the double red frame turns solid silver. The lines on the three-dimensional badge are refined and made sleeker and more diagonal, evoking a sense of motion and dynamics.
As for the lettering, it is written in the same typeface as on the printable version, though without any extra space between the letters (where the badge was placed), and with the “H” and the “S” connected by a bottom line.
The bold yet elegant HDV logotype is executed in a custom sans-serif typeface with thick lines and massive shapes of the letters. The main unique feature of the italicized inscription is its letter “S”, which has both tails elongated and merging with the neighboring “H” and “V”. The HSV typeface was created exclusively for the brand, though it has something in common with Aspire SmallCaps Black Oblique, with most lines modified.
The official color palette of the Holden Special Vehicles sub-brand is black, white, red, and silver. The timeless and the most powerful color combination works just right for HSV, representing it as a strong, exclusive, and confident brand, which values design and quality above all.
When placed on the car, the badge and the wordmark both turn silver, adding a luxurious touch to the company’s high-performance cars, and making them look timeless and sophisticated, despite their color and shape.