Introduced in 2016, Jio is an Indian telecommunications company operating a national LTE network. It is considered the country’s largest telecom company and the world’s third-largest mobile network operator in terms of the number of subscribers. It belongs to Reliance Industries Limited.
The Jio logo is minimalist and, at the same time, diverse and flexible. There is power in its pure simplicity.
The brand’s roots can be traced to 2007, when Infotel Broadband Services Limited was founded. Three years later, a 95% stake was purchased by Reliance Industries. Infotel Broadband Services Limited went on working as Reliance Industries’ subsidiary.
In 2013, Infotel Broadband Services was renamed Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited. Shortly after, the concept version of the logo was introduced.
The logo was dominated by a vivid multicolor curve. Its beginning was sharp and red, while its end was purple and flat. In the middle, there was also a sky blue streak.
Below the curve, the lettering “Jio” in a darker shade of red could be seen. The dots over the “j” and “i” echoed the circular shape above. The tiny details in the shape of the glyphs also “rhymed” with the emblem. For instance, the lower end of the “i” was sharpened like the left end of the curve above.
The overall shape and proportions of the glyphs, though, were pretty straightforward and regular. Interestingly, the letters were slightly tilted to the right, which gave a subtle dynamic touch.
Another unusual detail was a flame in white and red. Its lower end was positioned in between the “j” and the “i.”
In the summer of 2015, Jio informed its target audience that it was going to begin working throughout the country in late 2015. Yet, the launch didn’t take place until early 2016.
The new Jio logo looked pretty different than the one introduced for the prelaunch. Although some of the visual themes were still present, this version looked by far simpler.
The logo now featured nothing but the word “Jio” inside a circle. The shape of each glyph was carefully adjusted to be as minimalist as possible and to better fit the shape in the background. Most of the ends of the glyphs were rounded. The “i” had a dot, not a square or a rectangle. Interestingly, both the dot over the “i” and the “o” weren’t regular circles. If you take a closer look, you may notice they’re more like ellipses.
What is Jio
Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited is a mobile network operator based in India. It has 426.2 million subscribers, as of 2021. It competes with Vi, Airtel, BSNL, and MTNL.
Another unusual element is the top part of the left-hand end of the “j.” While all the other ends are rounded, this one has a pronounced sharp part. Moreover, it is somewhat similar to the main theme of the concept logo of 2014 with its subtle sharp elements. We can assume that the designers who worked on the emblem added it as a kind of edge, to slightly stir up the logo that would have looked too rounded and bland.
This strict adherence to shape minimalism allows the Jio logo to take liberties in the palette. The white letters can be placed inside either a red or a blue circle. In both the cases, the colors are quite saturated, although the red version is by far more eye-catching.
There is also a version, where the dark blue logo is placed inside a square box filled with light blue.