One of the most popular restaurant chains in the US, TGI Fridays belongs to TriArtisan Capital, a New York-based private equity firm.
Meaning and history
1965 – 2004
The first TGI Fridays location was opened in 1965 in New York. The original TGI Fridays logo contained by far more details than the current one. To begin with, the type was a pretty elaborate one, with lots of tiny decorative details. There was even a purely decorative element reminding a curly bracket below the word “Friday’s.”
The lettering was housed inside an intricate shape with its border made up of red and white stripes.
Some locations used different logos. For instance, the lettering “Friday’s” with a striped bar below.
2003 – 2013
The design was somewhat simplified. The type was replaced by a more utilitarian (although still playful and casual) sans. The curly bracket disappeared. The red grew darker, while the border of the logo grew wider.
2013 – Today
The emblem was updated by Jane MacDowall and her creative team based in Scotland. The design made one more step towards simplicity and minimalism.
To begin with, the logo now had a clean rectangular shape. In the center, there was the word “Fridays” (it dropped the apostrophe). The type lost the playful style of its predecessor – it was now a generic, rather bold sans. The lettering “TGI” (without the dots, to make it look simpler) was moved to the right of the “Fridays” and was rotated.
You can also come across a wordmark in red without the red-and-white border.