Norton is the name of that be of the most well-known digital-security software companies; which was established by Peter Norton. Today the Norton Software is a part of NortonLifeLock which was acquired by Symantec at the beginning of the 1990s.
The software, specialized in digital data protection, has a very rich and long history, which started at the end of the 1980s, and by today has evolved into one of the most used antivirus programs ever created. Although, in terms of visual identity, Norton was less inventive and creative, compared to the number of its software updates. The whole logo history of Norton can be divided into two eras: the first, from 1989 to 2001, when the simple banner used an intense color palette and simple yet bold lettering, and the second, started in the 2000s, with a modern and fresh mood and laconic color palette.
The original name of the company, the name of its founder, is reflected in this logo. It is printed using free brush strokes with pointed ends and no serif. The bold lines and close spacing gave this logo a confident look and reflected that one should not be afraid of anything with Norton protection. The “Computing” portion of the name was added underneath in a simpler, smaller font.
The very first logo for the digital security software was designed in 1989 when the program was released. It was simple in its geometry yet intense in terms of color rectangular banner, oriented horizontally. There were three color palette options for the original version of the logo: yellow and dark red, yellow and black, yellow and medium-gray. And the bold black uppercase “Norton” in a slightly narrowed sans-serif typeface, was always set on a narrow yellow line, on top of the badge. The bottom part in red, black or gray, was wider and featured the white bold “AntiVirus” written over it.
This version gave birth to simpler, minimalistic logos. It was just the name of the company printed in black with the first letter capitalized. The font had no serifs and featured closely spaced letters. It looked a lot like FF Fago OT Cond Bold.
The new visual identity design concept was implemented by the brand in the middle of the 2000s. It was something fresh and modern, based on the black logotype, with the letter “O” replaced by a yellow graphical element. It was also a circle; but an open one, with one end sharpened as an arrow, and the second — cut straight. The logotype was underlined by a thin lowercase “From Symantec” in a very simple Sans-serif typeface, with the letters in light gray.
Apart from the yellow “O” ring, another recognizable detail in the new Norton logo was in the letters “R” and “T”, which had the horizontal bars of both lowercase letters merged in one, smoothly and elegantly.
In 2010 the Norton logo was redesigned again, in the same yellow, black and gray color palette, keeping the typefaces and the merged letters from the previous version, but moving the yellow graphical element out of the logotype, and placing it to the left. The new emblem featured a bold yellow ring with a black pixel tick over it. The main part of the tick was solid, with just the elongated right bar, which was going out on the circular framing, boasting a black and yellow pixel pattern. The lowercase underline from the previous badge was replaced with “By Symantec” in a lighter shade of gray and smaller size of the sans-serif letters.
The redesign of 2019 kept the graphical part of the Norton logo untouched, but removed the underline and refined the main black wordmark. The merged letters were still there, but the whole inscription became lighter, with the bars thinner and more elegant. The typeface turned into a more full-shaped sans-serif, with the letters slightly extended, compared to the previous versions. The redesign was held after the name of the mother company was changed from Symantec to NortonLifeLock.
In 2021 the software changed its logo again. It is still a black and yellow combo, with the geometric emblem and bold sans-serif logotype, but both components of the badge changed their style and contours. The tick on the emblem became bold and straight, while the yellow ring itself got its contour open again. As for the inscription, it is now set in the lowercase, with the bold black letters are written in a modern and strong sans-serif typeface with straight cuts and slightly flattened shapes.