M&M’s is a famous brand of chocolate candies, produced by Mars Company. The label is known for its funny and humorous advertising campaigns and colorful chocolates, which are introduced in two variations — with and without a peanut.
The label was introduced in 1941 and for the first design of its visual identity in the same year. The M&M’s logo was always composed of a wordmark with no extra details, the only difference was in the typeface used and the color palette.
What is M&M’s?
M&M’s is a brand of one of the world’s most famous chocolate snacks, which are small drages in a colorful glaze. The brand is globally loved not only for its flavor and quality, but also for its advertising campaign with the two funny candies, making jokes on everything and themselves.
The original M&M’s logo, designed in 1941, was set in a dark and intense color palette, composed of orange and brown, with the solid brown banner in a rectangular shoe, overlapped by a heavy lowercase serif lettering in orange, which looks professional and stable.
The first M&M’s logo featured lowercase lettering in a traditional serif-font, which was slightly narrower and stretched in its height. The letter “S” was smaller than “M”s and ampersand. The color palette of the original M&M’s logo was monochrome.
The typeface was changed to an uneven hand-drawn style lettering, which featured a yellow color and was placed on a black background. That was the brightest M&M’s logo in the brand’s history.
In 1970 the logo changes its color scheme to brown on white and the lettering gains a more confident typeface. This version of the visual identity design stays with the company for 17 years.
The darker and more chocolate brown is now the main color of the M&M’s logo. The wordmark features cleaner and stronger lines. It is a simple yet powerful logo, which stays with the brand for the next 13 years.
The redesign of the M&M’s badge, held in 1991, has switched the shade of brown on the heavy lowercase inscription, making it warmer, lighter, and more “chocolate”. The shape of the characters was also a bit refined, with the letters getting slightly wider and shorter.
The redesign of 2000 brings a new brighter tone of brown to the M&M’s wordmark. It also features a white and brown outline now, which adds some volume to the logo.
In 2004 the M&M’s logo is placed diagonally, the brown is now gradient with a black shadow, which adds dynamics and a modern feeling. The lettering is placed on a white background, that repeats the contour of the wordmark.
The redesign of 2019 brings back the flat two-dimensional shape to the M&M’s logo, making the dark brown the main color of the brand’s palette again. The lettering is still placed diagonally but looks more minimalist and confident now. The ampersand is located over the letters and has a white outline.
In 2022 the logo of M&M’s brand was redesigned again, with the diagonal inscription written in a straight horizontal line now. The shade of brown and the shapes of the characters have remained the same as in the badge, designed in 2019.
The heavy and stable lowercase lettering from the primary logo of M&M’s badge is set in an ExtraBold serif font with thick bars and thin geometric serifs on their ends. The closest fonts to the one, used in this insignia, are, probably, Stafford Serial Bold, or Pragmatica SlabSerif ExtraBold.
As for the color palette, it is based on a warm and deep shade of brown, resembling sweet milk chocolate, and evoking a sense of friendliness and tenderness, reflecting the taste of the product and its essence.
What does the logo M&M mean?
The simple yet modern and stable logotype from the official badge of M&M’s represents the name of the brand, and also the initials of its founders, Forrest Mars Sr. and William Murrie. So this laconic lowercase inscription is also a tribute to the company’s heritage and roots.
Why did M&M change its logo?
The logo of M&M’s was changed many times throughout the years, but always reflected its original idea and used a warm chocolate color palette. As for the latest redesign of the badge, held in 2022, it was important for the brand to show its ability to change and follow the modern trends in the visual identity design, which are minimalism and distinction.
Who invented the M&M logo?
The Jorginho logo for M&M’s was designed by Nicole Garcia, who introduced an idea with the lowercase lettering in a heavy serif font. The Garcia variant has become a basis for dozens of future redesigns and became an essential part of M&M’s identity. As for the current version of the brand’s logo, it was refined by the Jones Knowles Ritchie design bureau.
What was the original M&M slogan?
The original M&M slogan “Melts in Your Mouth, Not in Your Hands” was introduced in the 1950s, and is still used by the company today. Although, throughout the years, several more options for the brand’s slogan were created. They were: “chocolate is Better in Color”, and “Give Them a Home at Your Place”.