SpongeBob SquarePants Logo PNG
SpongeBob SquarePants is an animated comedy TV series. Its countries of origin are the US and South Korea (animation). The series was created for Nickelodeon by Stephen Hillenburg, animator and marine science educator.
Meaning and history
SpongeBob SquarePants is Nickelodeon’s longest-running and most legendary animated series, which began in 1999, and to date has produced over 270 episodes and even a full-length movie.
Ten years before its release, SpongeBob was a character in the comic book Tidal Zone. The comic strip was created in 1989 by an employee of the California Oceanology Institute to tell children who came on field trips to the institute what animals lived at the bottom of the ocean. The employee was Steven Hillenberg, the creator of the animated series SpongeBob SquarePants.
Interestingly, Stephen originally named the character SpongeBoy, but the name had to be dropped when it turned out that the name was patented by a mop production company.
What is SpongeBob SquarePants?
SpongeBob SquarePants is the name of one of the most famous animated tv-shows in history, which was created at the end of the 1990s by marine scientist Stephen Hillenburg. The shows premiered on Nickelodeon in 1999, and by today 13 seasons of almost 300 episodes have been released.
1996 – 1997 (Concept logo)
The original name, which was used during the early development stage, was SpongeBoy Ahoy! Interestingly, the concept logo already played with the “sponge letters” approach. All the glyphs forming the first word in the name of the series looked as if they were made out of sponge (like in the current SpongeBob SquarePants logo).
Yet, while the style was the same, the details of the shape were different.
1997
The original version of the pilot episode featured a different emblem. To begin with, it sported the new name “SpongeBob SquarePants.” While the letters did not have the dots, like in the previous version, they still had something “spongy” about them. The reason for this was that the “sponge” there was already introduced by the depiction of the cartoon character himself, so to repeat it in the lettering was unnecessary.
1999 – 2016
On the whole, the emblem became simpler, easier-to-grasp and to reproduce.
The “sponge” design disappeared altogether. A bright and sweet shade of purple (close to fuchsia) replaced the brownish red of the previous palette. The “flower” from the old logo grew more prominent. Another important improvement was that the letters grew better legible.
This version has been nicknamed “The Colored DoodleBob.”
2016 – Today
It is basically the same logo, with a couple of updates. The colors have grown brighter, which is especially noticeable in the case of the fuchsia lettering.
The shape of the glyphs has grown slightly more squarish to better fit the shape of SpongeBob. Also, the letters were capitalized. The outline of the flower was made lighter (so as not to steal the limelight).
This version is used in full-screen episodes.
Merchandise logo
In addition to the animated series itself, the SpongeBob SquarePants franchise encompasses a myriad of other businesses, including print media, toys, as well as accessories, merchandise, and even apparel. For these needs, it was necessary to stylize the recognizable logo, making it more concise, balanced, and digitalized.
As a result, the Merchandise logo of the franchise is simpler than the main SpongeBob SquarePants logo. The character himself has disappeared. While the original version (introduced in 1999) featured flat letters, they were replaced by spongy ones in 2008.
Meaning and history
The story of a comic book about a funny yellow deep-sea dweller named SpongeBob started back in 1989, and for almost a decade, the brand didn’t need a separate logo for its marketing needs. However, as the popularity of the franchise grew, such a need did arise. Thus, in 1999, the first commercial logo of SpongeBob SquarePants was drawn. Since then, several more versions of the brand’s merchandise logo have been introduced.
1999
The first merchandise logo of SpongeBob SquarePants was based on the emblem of the series, drawn in the same year. Yet the drawing of the main character was removed from the composition, and the colors of both the puddle-like banner and the geometric lettering were a bit more intense.
2000 – 2008
The redesign of 2000 has kept the contours and style of the previous version, but played with the colors of the logo, repainting the fuchsia wordmark in bright yellow, and making the background of the badge lighter, which created a more vivid and friendly overall image.
2003 – 2004
A completely different logo was used for the commercial needs of the franchise in 2003. It was a more laconic version with the solid slanted oval on the background. It was colored in a like-green shade and featured a thick black outline. As for the lettering, it was written in the same typeface as on the previous badges, but in a new gradient creamy-yellow palette.
2008 – Today
The redesign of 2008 has returned to the original concept, however several changes have been made. The puddle background got smaller respectively to the stylized inscription, which now gained spongy patterns, bolder characters, and thick light-blue shadows. Yet the typeface still looked pretty close to the one, used in the badge from the beginning of the 2000s.
2018 – Today
Another version of the merchandise SpongeBob logo was created in 2018, with the gradient blue puddle growing a bit to fit the small yet bright orange Nickelodeon insignia, which is now placed in the upper left corner of the composition. As for the other elements, they remained relatively the same, with just minor tone corrections.
Font and Color
The bright and eye-catching logo of the SpongeBob SquarePants animated series features two levels of lettering; with the upper line set in a custom unique hand-drawn font, and the bottom line executed in a stylish sans-serif typeface, which looks pretty close to Malamondo Expanded Regular, but with the contours of some characters slightly modified.
As for the color palette of the SpongeBob SquarePants visual identity, it is composed of yellow and blue, with white as an additional color. The blue is represented here in two shades: a very light one, and a smooth dark hue, which adds a sense of professionalism and reliability. As for the yellow, it reflects the color of the main animation’s character and adds a sense of happiness and joy to the badge.
