The Westinghouse brand is well known as the world leader in ceiling fans, which are manufactured in US. Westinghouse models operate efficiently in many private homes and industrial sectors. They are appreciated for their high quality and reliability.
In 1886, George Westinghouse, the great American inventor, created one of the largest corporations the world has ever seen, the Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company. With little or no education behind him, he developed over four hundred inventions, some of which are still in use today.
George was one of the most famous people at the time, in part due to his friendship and business relationship with Nikola Tesla, from whom he bought patents for his company. But at the time, Westinghouse Electric was not even thinking about appliances, as it was busy with more global projects, such as lighting the Chicago World Fair and building hydroelectric generators.
It wasn’t until the acquisition of the Copeman Electric Stove Company in 1917 that Westinghouse Electric entered the appliance industry. In 1975, the appliance part of Westinghouse Electric was acquired by White Consolidated Industries (WCI) and changed its name to White-Westinghouse. In 1986, it was absorbed by the global giant of home appliances – Electrolux. And part of it remained as Westinghouse.
What is Westinghouse?
Westinghouse is the name of an American company, which was established at the end of the 19th century as The Westinghouse Electric Company, specialized in developing AC electric infrastructure in the country. Today it is a highly-recognized brand, which produces home appliances and ventilation units.
In terms of visual identity, Westinghouse does have stories to tell. The company has undergone half a dozen logo redesigns throughout the years, going from traditional simplicity to modern geometry.
The original Westinghouse Electric Company logo from 1886 featured elegant uppercase lettering written in black serif characters against a transparent background. The letters of the wordmark were slightly narrowed and had quite massive serifs on the ends of the bars.
In 1900 the Westinghouse logo got significantly more complex. The simple lettering turned into a circular seal with a dark outline where the bold serif “Westinghouse Electric” inscription was engraved, and the transparent central part with the wavy lettering in a dark shade.
The redesign of 1913 has created a minimalistic modern version of the Westinghouse logo. The new badge featured a bold black “W” in a geometric sans-serif typeface, inscribed into a thin circular frame and accompanied by the “Westinghouse Electric” additional lettering in a softened horizontally stretched outline.
Another redesign has brought the historical heritage to the Westinghouse visual identity. The logo, created by designers in 1916, boasted a bold softened title case lettering in a serif font, with the “W” significantly enlarged and shifted a bit down, so that the lowercase characters were placed right at its middle point.
The Westinghouse badge, designed in 1936, was the first to be executed in a color palette, different from black-and-white. The circular medallion was set in blue and white, with the horizontally striped pattern of the central part where the massive geometric “W” in white was set. The full name of the stand was written around the top part of the medallion’s perimeter.
With the redesign of 1960, the Westinghouse brand has received a super cool and unique logo, which is still in use. The “W” was rewritten in thin black lines with solid black circles on the peaks, which makes the letter look like a stylized crown. Under the character, there is a thick horizontally-stretched line with rounded ends. The element is drawn against a plain white background and enclosed into a circular frame.
The primary Westinghouse logo has no traditional lettering in it, but a graphical element with a stylized letter in a designer font. The massive circles here play the main role.
As for the color palette of the Westinghouse visual identities, there are two options: a classic black and white, which is always actual and elegant, and blue on white, which evokes a sense of trustworthiness and professionalism.