The Key is a symbol of mystery. It evokes a sense of curiosity and a premonition of something magical, wonderful, and life-changing. It also symbolized protection and security, letting you know, that all your secrets are safe. These two main meanings make it possible for the key symbol to be used in the logos of companies from completely different fields — from IT to event planners.
In our today’s review, we will have a closer look at the world’s most famous badges with the depiction of a key. We will see different styles, color palettes, and compositions, and try to figure out, which meanings the brands put into the key, and how well it works for them.
The brands in the list are arranged in alphabetical order, and today we start with a beer and finish with the Vatican City. Surprises, surprises.
Beck’s
Beck’s is the name of a German beer brand, which was established in 1873, and for the most part of its history has been using a key as the main element of its emblem. The logo of the brewery is composed of an enlarged bold inscription in uppercase, with heavy white letters, outlined in black, and a classy heraldic emblem, with the white old-style key drawn diagonally over a solid red crest with a traditional shape and a contrasting white and black outline, set in the top part of the badge.
Corum
Corum is a luxury watchmaking company, which was founded in Switzerland in 1955. Today the brand is known all over the globe for its chic and elegant watches. The logo of the company is designed in a sleek and sophisticated style, with the custom sans-serif lettering in black or brown, written with smooth lines, slightly elongated tails of some bars, clean contours, and a bold emblem, placed above the inscription against a white background and executed in the same shade as the characters of the wordmark. The emblem depicts a vertically oriented key with traditional shapes of the elements and bold lines.
Food Darzee
Food Darzee is an Indian service of healthy food delivery, which was established in 2018. The platform helps people get healthier by watching what they eat, providing them with fresh and balanced foods on a one-time or a subscription basis. The logo of the company is executed in a light gold and white color palette, with the geometrically drawn note, which also looks like a key, as the central element. The image is accompanied by two lines of lettering above and beyond it, written in the same color, and evoking a sense of caress and tenderness.
IRS
IRS is shortened name of the Internal Revenue Service, the American governmental agency, responsible for taxes collection. The logo of the service is based on heraldic element — a solid yellow crest set in the middle of a blue roundel with a wide frame and white uppercase lettering in an elegant serif font written around its perimeter. The crest is divided into two parts by a wide blue triangular chevron with white stars on it. The upper part boasts an image of a scale, while the bottom one — is a horizontally oriented key in two shades of blue.
Key Club International
Key Club International is the name of an American leadership program, created for high-school students and operating internationally. The logo of the organization is pretty simple and literate — with the key and the letter “K” as two central elements of the badge. The letter in solid blue is crossed by a vertically oriented key in thin gold lines and placed against a white background, enclosed into a wired circular frame with the complete name of the service written in bold blue capitals around its perimeter.
KeyBank
KeyBank is one of the largest banks in the United States, which was established in 1825, and today has over a thousand branches across the country. The key in the name and logo of the bank is a symbol of confidence and protection, which shows the bank’s customers that they do not have to worry, about keeping their savings in KeyBank. The badge is composed of bold black sans-serif lettering in a modern font, followed by a horizontally oriented red image of a key with classic contours and bold lines.
Keymaster Games
Keymaster Games is a company, engaged in the publishing of board games. The brand offers a variety of games, which are always fun, mysterious, and interesting. Both the name and the visual identity of the company brilliantly reflect its essence and values. The Keymaster Games logo is composed of a bold golden key in dark gold, set diagonally and having its top part stylized as the letter “K”. The emblem is followed by a modern black title case logotype in a slightly narrowed sans-serif typeface with thick lines and straight cuts of the bars.
Microsoft Access
Microsoft Access is software, developed by Microsoft in 1992 for managing database systems. The software saves the passwords and the accounts info, hence the key in its logo. The emblem of Microsoft Access is composed of a gradient red square with the top left corner rounded. The bold uppercase “A”, overlapping an enlarged white diagonally oriented key, takes the central part of the badge, standing for the “Access” and the purpose of the service.
PreVeil
PreVeil is a company, engaged in cybersecurity services, and it’s only logical to see the key as the main part of its visual identity. The badge of the company is composed of a strict geometric logotype in black capital letters of a modern sans-serif font, underlined by a red contoured image of a key, located horizontally and having its left part stylized like a letter “P”, mirrored and facing down. The black and red color palette of the badge only elevates the feeling of protection and security, evoked by the design of the logo.
UBS
UBS is the name of a bank, which was established in 1862 in Switzerland. The bank values its heritage and traditions and has its logo brilliantly reflecting its priorities and essence. The logo of UBS is composed of a black emblem, formed by three crossed keys, drawn in an old-style gothic manner, with many vignettes and curves, and a narrowed serif logotype in scarlet-red, with the capital letters executed in an elegant typeface with clean contours and elongated serifs.
USAL
USAL is the shortened name of the University of Salamanca, one of the high educational institutions in Spain. USAL is considered to be the oldest Hispanic university, with the date of its establishment in 1218z The visual identity of the University is based on historical heraldic symbols, which reflect its value of heritage and roots. The logo is composed of a circular medallion in black and white, with many small images (lion rampant, castle, king, people), and decorated by two crossed enlarged keys at its top part.
Vatican City State
The official badge of the Vatical City State is also a symbol of papacy, with two heavy crossed keys in gold and silver, decorated by a triple golden crown on top. The keys are tied up with the red rope, which forms a cross in the center, and has its ends hanging to the bottom part of the logo. The crown has two white ribbons coming out of it to the two parts of the keys, being decorated by gold crosses, supporting the cross on top of the crown. It is a very elegant and traditional logo, based on heraldic and religious symbols, which brilliantly reflects both the City and the papacy.
