Indian Oil Corporation Limited is a state-owned enterprise accounting for approximately half of the country’s petroleum products market share. The company was founded on 30 June 1959.
The message of the Indian Oil logo may seem not very straightforward as it is primarily based on color symbolism and typeface. And yet, on the subliminal level, it can be perceived by the majority of those who see it. To put it short, this logo is all about energy and technology for harnessing the energy.
The emblem is an orange roundel with trim in dark blue and white. Like many companies in India, Indian Oil Corporation opted for a bilingual logo. In addition to the name of the brand in Hindi, there is also its translation into English, which is necessary for a global audience.
What makes it unusual is the way the two names are positioned. The Hindi version is built into the emblem – it is placed inside a dark blue stripe in the middle of the orange circle. The English name, in its turn, is placed under the roundel. However, this approach doesn’t result in a misbalance of any kind. Quite the opposite, the lettering “IndianOil” serves as a kind of base for the roundel and gives a sense of stability. Without it, the circle would have looked as though it is ready to roll away. So, while the primary function of the wordmark is just to show the name of the brand, it also plays a certain pictorial role.
Interestingly, the name “IndianOil” here is written as a single word. There is no space between its parts that could have helped to understand its meaning. This is a widely used approach for company names that are rather long. Omitting the space makes them easier to be squeezed inside a more compact shape. Instead of the space, designers have used another way to break the name into two meaningful parts – they capitalized the initials.
What is Indian Oil
Indian Oil is the country’s biggest commercial oil company accounting for around 71% of downstream sector pipelines through capacity in India. It is a public sector undertaking operated by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas.
Now that we’ve described the overall look of the Indian Oil Corporation logo, let’s decipher its meaning. Luckily, we don’t have to guess as the company gives a straightforward explanation on its official website. It says that the circle symbolizes “energy as a derivative of the Sun” and, as such, also alludes to “life and the future.” There is no doubt that the sun is probably the most obvious thing that comes to your mind when you see an orange circle. So in actual fact, the majority of us will understand this part of the message, even if unknowingly. It is especially true when it is paired with shades of blue as it is a universal symbol of the sky.
That said, blue in this logo has a slightly different meaning. According to the company, the ring and the blue stripe stand for “technology for harnessing this energy.” This is not the most obvious association. And yet, most of us will probably decipher it on the subconscious level and, even without being aware of the company’s industry, will make more or less accurate guesses.
The brand calls the shade of orange saffron. It creates a bright contrast with the dark shade of blue and also is one of the colors closely associated with India. The exact colors are as follows:
The name of the brand positioned below the Indian Oil logo is set in the font called Devanagri.