Sanyo Electric Co was an electronics company headquartered in Osaka, Japan. In 2009, Panasonic purchased a 50.2% stake in the company. In 2011, Sanyo became its wholly-owned subsidiary.
For the first two years of its history, the company used the National logo, which was then owned by what is now Panasonic Corporation.
For the first two years of its history, the company used the National logo, which was then owned by what is now Panasonic Corporation.
The earliest Sanyo logo that featured the company name was introduced in 1949. Below the cursive script wordmark, there was a lightning bolt design.
This time, the script grew lighter. The wordmark looked as if it had been quickly written by hand. There was an emblem with Japanese hieroglyphs and a lightning bolt.
The designers opted for another script without changing the overall style. The wordmark still seemed to have been written by hand. It was now oriented not diagonally but horizontally.
The era of script logotypes lasted until 1956, when a logo in a simpler, cleaner type was introduced.
In 1958, the company adopted a script wordmark once again. It was unlike its predecessors because it was much bolder.
Eventually, Sanyo opted for a clearer font in 1961. This time, the wordmark was paired with a roundel housing three arrowheads.
The current Sanyo logo looks perfectly legible due to its classic sans serif typeface. The unusual ends of the “N” resemble combs.
The earliest logo that belonged to Sanyo itself and featured the company name was introduced in 1949. Below the cursive script wordmark, there was a lightning bolt design. The era of script logotypes lasted until 1956 when a logo in a simpler, cleaner type was introduced. Although in 1958 the company adopted a script wordmark once again, it eventually opted for a clearer font in 1961.
The typeface bears an uncanny resemblance to the grotesque font Helvetica Neue Black Italic. It is a classic typeface developed by Eduard Hoffmann and Max Miedinger.