JBL is an American brand of the manufacturer of loudspeakers and headphones. JBL was founded by James Bullough Lansing in 1946. The company is owned by Harman International Industries, a subsidiary of Samsung Electronics.
Meaning and history
The JBL brand’s name is taken from the initials of its founder — James Bullough Lansing (1902-1959), he also established Altec Lansing company.
The JBL logo consists of a wordmark and the iconic exclamation point symbol. The exclamation point was created by Jerome Gould, a legend in the world of design, the person, who created the Pepsi logo. He cultivated an impressive roster of clients including Anheuser-Busch, JBL, Wedgwood and the Ford Motor Company, and created clever, functional packaging solutions for a range of household brands.
The original logo by Jerome Gould had a black and white color scheme with more feminine lettering, where the company’s name, JBL, was placed inside the circle of the exclamation point.
The Jerome Gould’s logo was redesigned by Arnold Wolf, the president of JBL. He integrated the basic iconic symbol with new lettering and placed them in a solid box. The new logo bristled with strength and memorability. People who might have trouble recalling a Bose or even a Sony logo, could spot a JBL logo right off.
Arnold Wolf also changed the color scheme of the logo. He picked a bright scarlet red for the background and white for the lettering and the symbol, and made the brand’s name the center of the logo, placing the exclamation point above the tail of the letter “J”, balancing the height of all the letters.
Combination of the new color of the logo with its lettering produce a strong and confident look. The JBL logo with its distinctive exclamation point is an example of timeless style.
The red color symbolizes energy of sound and passion for music. While white adds purity and sense of high quality of all the brand’s products.
