Johnnie Walker Logo PNG
Johnie Walker is a brand of Scotch whisky, first brewed in 1820s by John “Johnnie” Walker in Kilmarnock, Scotland. The company joined Distillers Company in 1925 and became a part of Diageo Group in 1997. Johnnie Walker is the most widely distributed brand of Scotch whisky in the world.
Meaning and history
The Johnnie Walker man is one of the most iconic drink-related logos in the world. A logo that has been a part of the brand for over a century, the Striding Man was first created by Tom Browne in 1908. This iconic logo has been often edited and refined by many designers, cartoonists and illustrators over the years.
This is a great example of logo evolution and proof that you have to keep reinventing yourself over time to appeal to society or your newfound goals in your business.
What is Johnnie Walker?
Johnnie Walker is one of the world’s most famous whiskey brands, which was established in 1820, and today is owned by one of the global leaders in the beverage industry, Diageo. Today the brand, founded in Scotland, has its products for sale in hundreds of countries across the globe.
1908 – 1932
The Walkers created their primary marketing strategy in 1908 with advertisements featuring Browne’s Striding Man, using the slogan, “Johnnie Walker: Born 1820, still going strong”.
1932 – 1939
The 1930s saw a shift away from drawings into photos. Striding Statuettes were featured in 1932, followed by a series in which the Striding Man featured only as a logo.
1939 – 1950
Clive Upton reduced Striding man significantly from his full-size self into a logo. Now the logo is in color.
1996 – 2015
A famous “Keep Walking” campaign was created in 1999, and it was designed to take Johnnie Walker back to its roots but also forward into the new millennium. The figure that appears in the campaign was created three years earlier by John Geary. It’s here that the Striding Man achieved his current delicate assertiveness, a nod to the charm, elegance, and charisma of the dandy.
2015 – now
The final redesign took place in 2015. Today’s Striding Man, by Gary Redford for Bloom, got his smile back, as well as a hat tip, and boots that presumably zip up the inside of the leg, rather than the outside. His shirt and jacket got buttons, and his coattails got longer.
The new Johnny Walker’s logo rendering is quite good, capturing a lot of personality, even at small sizes. The new serif typeface adds a touch of sophistication and works well with the new Striding Man. It creates a youthful, energetic, and unexpected aesthetic.
Font and color
The elegant uppercase logotype with two enlarged letters at the beginning of the two parts of the wordmark is set in a classy serif typeface, with medium-weight lines, a delicate curl on the end of the “J” and the small yet visible serifs on the ends of the letters’ bars. The closest fonts to the one used in the Johnnie Walker primary logo are, probably, Arlt Blanca Versalita and Hess Old Style RR Expert, but with some contours modified.
As for the color palette of the Johnnie Walker visual identity, it is based on a classic combination of black and white, but can change depending on the packaging, thus you can see it drawn in white or gold, on a red, black, or dark green background. As for the primary version, it looks timeless and sophisticated in its black-and-white color scheme.
