Apple. History of the sign
Secret meanings, which do not exist. Some associate the bitten apple with original sin. According to another version, the logo was created in memory of the founder of computer science, Alan Turing, who died with a bitten apple in his hand. Despite this, the designer who developed the logo has a rational explanation for this choice.
Specialist Rob Yanov, who created the color Apple logo, told Logo Design Love why the company's 1977 logo looked the way it did.
1977 Apple logo creator Rob Janow
Logo Design Love: Is the Apple logo the best thing you've ever designed?
Rob Yanov: Yes, nothing compares to this work.
Have you ever asked Jobs why he named the company Apple?
Honestly, no. I know that for a while Steve ate only fruit. He then lived on a ranch or farm in Northern California and maintained an apple orchard (he considered apples the ideal food). He had a list of ideas for what to name the company, and he had to choose one in order to sign all the documents the next day. The name Apple was at the top of the list, and the company's creators could not come up with anything better. Jobs and Wozniak chose this name despite the threat of a lawsuit from Apple Records.
Why is the apple bitten?
Like many stories, the “legend” of the bite has been retold and changed many times. I created a silhouette of an apple, but it needed to be distinguished from other fruits round shape. Then I did what everyone does with an apple - I “bite” it. It's funny that 10 years after creating the logo, I started seeing stories about why the apple wasn't whole. Admittedly, many of these stories are more interesting than my logical explanation. The fact that people believe in mysterious stories, tells me that the Apple brand means more to them than just their love for the company's devices.
How did Jobs react to the presentation of the logo?
He just smiled, nodded and didn't say anything. I didn't have to describe my idea for long; we both liked it.
You said that the logo consisted of colored stripes to represent the full color of Apple monitors. How did the audience receive it?
The colorful stripes did illustrate the main difference between Apple and its competitors, but they served another function. My biggest challenge was to design a logo that would show that the computer was friendly enough to be brought home and used by the family. While (in 1977 - editor's note) computing machines rather caused negative associations. I wanted to create a positive connection with Apple devices.
Apple II computer released in 1977
How do you think the logo contributed to the company's success?
The company's success lay in the fact that Steve Jobs knew well what people needed from technology even before they knew about it. He developed standards very High Quality, and product design also had great importance. Therefore, I feel that the logo did not play a big role in the company's success. People love the Apple brand name because they like the technology of this manufacturer. If they didn’t like the brand name, they wouldn’t put it on the rear window of the car.
In our turbulent times, people do not have enough time to sleep, let alone remember all sorts of different brands. However, even in such conditions, there are several logos that almost every inhabitant of the Earth knows. For example, you can recall the ideal Mercedes star, the well-known Coca Cola inscription, the outline of the Nike symbol, the white and blue circle of BMW. Among these leaders we can highlight the Apple logo. Many people often wonder about the history of the origin of the Apple logo, and how it has changed over the decades.When did the Apple logo appear?
Apple owes its first logo to Ron Wayne. Now the name of this man has almost been forgotten and it is unlikely that people well versed in the history of Apple remember him. Although this man was the third co-founder of the tiny Apple company. But no one remembers him for a very simple reason, this loser, what else can you call a person who got rid of the shares of a young company just 11 days after its founding. He sold them for $800. Imagine how much money he would have now. After all, he had 10 percent of the shares, and in modern times this is a cosmic amount.
The symbol that Wayne came up with for his company has nothing in common with the current emblem. It was a carefully designed picture in which Isaac Newton occupied the main place, with an apple on top, symbolizing insight. Much later, Apple will remember Newton when it begins to develop the first PDAs.
The first Apple logo has small words written on it, if you look closely you can read " Newton... A Mind Forever Voyaging Through Strange Seas of Thought... Alone", which can be translated into Russian as " Newton...The mind always sails through many seas of thought...alone". This paragraph was borrowed from a fairly well-known poem in the West by William Wordsworth called “The Prelude.”
And indeed the symbol turned out to be very sensible. All these mysterious references to Isaac Newton gave the logo a certain air of mystery. However, this logo was very unsuitable for modern business. It is for this reason that a year after the founding of Apple, Steve Jobs decided to find a completely new symbol. So he went to a wonderful designer named Rob Janoff. Steve Jobs gave the task to create such an emblem so that it would look modern and at the same time be perfectly recognizable among many others like it.
Within a week this Graphic Designer was completely occupied with solving the task at hand. Many years later, he was interviewed in which he revealed the secret of how he came up with this logo. Rob went to the store where he bought apples of various shades, then he put them in a vase and began to draw. Gradually removing various elements. He drew that very bite quite deliberately, because his task was to depict such an image of the fruit so that it would be firmly associated with an apple, and not, say, with berries, vegetables or fruits. Moreover, in English language the word byte and bite off are written almost identically (byte/bite), this added even more meaning.
Myths of the appearance of the Apple logo
The first legend. Rob depicted the company logo with rainbow colors. Subsequently, many people began to slander that this coloring was somehow very similar to the symbolism of gay minorities, and, speaking in Russian, to the symbolism of homosexuals. Although this is fundamentally wrong, because that famous emblem began to be used on whole year before the buggers invented their rainbow logo.
Second legend. It is believed that the apple painted in rainbow colors is a kind of tribute to A. Turing. This man is famous for being able to hack Enigma and Kriegsmarine code, and after the war had a strong influence on the development information technologies. For example, he came up with a special intelligence test, which later became known as Turing test.
However, there were some buggers here too. In the West, there is no escape from this, total pederasty. So, it turns out that Turing was gay and the authorities began to persecute him for homosexuality, and a not very bright future awaited him. After all, serving two years in prison, where every prisoner knows about your inclinations, is not very similar to a walk through a flowery meadow. As a result, he was forced to undergo a course of hormone therapy, as a result of which many women develop breasts and experience infertility. Moreover, the tolerant authorities forbade this talented pederast to do his favorite thing. No, in this case we mean not love games with men, but cryptography.
This was a cruel blow to the fragile and tender soul of the gay scientist. As a result of mental anguish, he committed suicide some time later. Yes, being a homosexual in the West is a thankless task, and sometimes even dangerous for the psyche. What does an apple have to do with it, you ask? The thing is that Turing decided to leave this life that was disgusting to him in an unusual way. After all, homosexuals are creative people. So he bought an apple at the store and entered it lethal dose potassium cyanide, after which he took a bite of it with gusto. However, alas, he did not have time to chew this juicy piece.
However, Rob Yanov has his own opinion on these legends. He believes that there is no double bottom in the Apple logo. The company's rainbow symbol was supposed to represent the fact that their company is engaged in the development and production of computers, and specifically with color monitors. At that blessed time, the Mac computer screen had the ability to transmit six shades. It was these colors that were included in Apple logo. Moreover, all shades were installed in random order, and only green color Rob placed the first one on purpose.
This rainbow logo has existed for twenty-two years.. After the “prodigal son” Steve Jobs returned to the company in 1998, who had previously been expelled in disgrace, positive changes began. In those distant times, this corporation had very big problems With in cash. Most of Apple's competitors slept and saw that this company was about to go down. In order to survive it was necessary to radically change the company's policy.
And you ask, what miracle helped bring the dying company back to life? And everyone was saved by a wonderful designer named Jonathan Ive. He created the latest case for the brand new IMAC G3.
This Mac pulled Apple out of the financial abyss and opened up new horizons for it. Moreover, from that moment on, this company was noticed in the very high level, its logo began to be used in glossy magazines, TV series and films.
It became clear that the "rainbow apple" logo would look very strange on the Macintosh g3. Therefore, reluctantly, the company’s managers decided to rebrand and make new design. Therefore, starting in 1998, instead of the color “bitten apple” emblem, a monochrome logo appeared. So the company crossed the threshold childhood and has become mature and strong, and it seems that nothing can shake her unshakable confidence, except perhaps the “Financial Apocalypse”.
The evolution of the Apple logo
Today Apple is the leading manufacturer of mobile phones, software, players, tablets. The history of Apple is certainly connected with Steve Jobs. Today, the equipment produced by the corporation is highly valued for its impeccable quality. Currently, the total value of the corporation is estimated at more than 500 billion US dollars. The company carefully monitors trends in IT technologies and implements them in manufacturing process. Surely readers of the site will be interested in the history of the creation and development of the company.
History of the name
The official date of birth of the organization is April 1, 1976. It was on this day that Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak built their first computer by hand. It was called Apple Computer. You should understand how the company got the name Apple.
First Apple Computer
There are several versions. One of them is Jobs's desire for the name to be more conveniently located in the telephone directory. So the “name” of the company occupied a line immediately below the name of the Atari organization involved in the development computer games. In addition, the apple symbolizes the fight for the preservation of nature and the environment, and the corporation was the first in the world to use old Consumables for the production of new equipment.
History of the logo
The history of the creation of the Apple logo is quite interesting. Its original symbol was a man sitting under a tree with a falling apple above his head. It becomes immediately clear that this picture depicted the great scientist Isaac Newton. Most likely, there were also references in the Bible, because a bitten apple symbolizes temptation. It is worth noting that Macintosh computer models were named after a variety of apples that the developer of this product line was very fond of.
Apple's first logo
However, the original logo was not memorable and was not suitable for mass sales. Then the story of the creation of the Apple logo moves into a different direction. The company's designer (Rob Yanovu) was walking down the street when he stopped by a local supermarket and bought some apples. Arriving home, he began to cut them and examine them with different angles, after which he depicted one monochrome fruit. True, for some reason he drew the apple slightly bitten.
Jobs liked Rob's sketch, but decided it would be better to color the apple. The head of the advertising agency was against this decision, because at that time printing using color ink was many times more expensive than it is now. However, Steve insisted on his own, and soon the apple that everyone knows today appeared on computers.
The evolution of the Apple logo
The colors for this were chosen in random order. The only thing Jobs insisted on was that a green tint should decorate the design at the top. The type of fruit did not change until 1998. However, then logos began to be placed on devices, painted in black, white and silver colors. This is the history of the Apple logo.
First computers
In the spring of 1976 in American stores household appliances The Apple Computer I model appears, costing $666.66. Over the course of several months, its creators collect and sell 175 items of goods. Outwardly, it looked like a motherboard with no sound, no case, no keyboard. On next year Michael Scott takes over as director of the company.
Appears new model, which was named Apple II. It was the first PC equipped with color graphics. At this stage, the history of Apple's development takes a new turn. The equipment had special commands for working with sound, as well as a small built-in speaker. In addition, a power supply and keyboard were available. At that time, the computer became a real breakthrough, and its sales for the first time in the history of PCs exceeded a million units. It is only worth mentioning that until 1993, more than 5 million models were assembled and sold. Initially, options with an 8-bit operating system were developed, and a little later 16-bit computers appeared on sale.
Apple II model
Lisa and Macintosh
Beginning in 1979, Apple brand employee Jef Raskin began working on a new PC, which was named Macintosh. In fact, this was the first technology, the monoblock of which contained everything that the average user needed to work. At the same time, in 1983, another model appeared on the household appliances market. She was named Lisa - that was the name of Steve Jobs' daughter. However, unfortunately, it did not become popular and in demand.
Model Lisa
The beginning of the 80s turned out to be quite a difficult time for the company. Due to regular absenteeism, Steve Jobs was forced to fire forty company employees. At the same time, Apple Computer was launched for an initial IPO and the owners began to sell shares on one of the largest financial exchanges in the world - NASDAQ. However, this step did not give desired effect and articles began to appear in newspapers reporting the imminent decline of the corporation.
The situation began to change in 1983, when a talented top manager named Scully John became the president of the organization. Before working at Apple, he successfully managed the affairs of PepsiCo. True, friction immediately began between him and Steve Jobs.
On January 22, 1984, the first Macintosh was introduced to the public, radically changing the way ordinary people to personal computers. This event became a new milestone in the history of Apple Corporation. By the way, an advertising clip, filmed specifically for the release of the Macintosh based on the plot of D. Orwell’s work, was awarded the Grand Prix in Cannes. Even today it is considered one of the most original commercials in history.
First Macintosh
The model received the prefix 512K and began to be sold at a price of 2,495 US dollars. Its creators try to make a technique that any user who does not have the proper qualifications can master in a matter of minutes. True, the first Mac OS microprocessors were not very powerful and efficient. They lacked such things as, for example, the ability to simultaneously solve many problems and protected memory. However, over time, developers eliminated these shortcomings, and the Macintosh was able to compete with other similar technology.
Time passed, and the need arose to create a new operating system. Having carefully considered all the nuances, the company's owners decided to use modern developments from a company called NeXT in their new computers. It used an operating system under the general name UNIX. The next system was called Mac OS X and was designed so that users could smoothly migrate from older models to new ones.
The departure and return of Steve Jobs
In 1985, Apple history is experiencing crucial moment. It was at this time that the President of the United States of America, Ronald Reagan, awarded Steve Wozniacki and Steve Jobs a medal for a powerful breakthrough in IT technology. At the same time, Jobs, who is the ideological inspirer of the corporation, leaves it, having quarreled with members of the board of directors. At the same time, sales of personal computers and the value of the company's shares plummet. Experts attribute this precisely to the departure of Jobs, because he was able to advertise the technology he was creating in a very original way. Many believe that this will be the end of Apple's development story.
Ronald Reagan presents Steve Jobs with a medal for a powerful breakthrough in IT technology. 1985
In the period from 1995 to 1997, the development, assembly and sale of equipment began to cause serious losses. At the end of the 90s, their amount tended to 2 billion US dollars. The board of directors decides to ask Steve Jobs to return to the corporation.
Revolution in the 2000s
In 2001, the iPod audio player appeared on the computer market. Thanks to its capabilities, this compact media player instantly gained well-deserved popularity. In 2003, an online store opened online that sold music and listened to it in the players of this manufacturer. The newly opened supermarket was called the iTunes Store. In 2007, the corporation demonstrated new development- the company's first mobile phone, called the iPhone. Since then, the popularity of the device has been growing every year, and its sales have broken all records. Since 2008, another online store has appeared on the network. It's called the App Store. The principle of operation and payment system of the resource is not much different from iTunes.
The first iPod audio player
Appearance of the first iPhone
As of 2010, the company has unquestioned authority among computer equipment manufacturers. It was at this time that the first tablet computer, called the iPad, went on sale. In the first month of its release, more than 1 million copies were sold. From this moment on, the corporation's success story leaves no doubt about the genius of the brand's creators.
This is what the first iPad looks like
Since 2011, Apple has become the most valuable commercial organization in the world. True, its owners failed to establish themselves at this peak for a long time. In 2013, its factories began producing 64-bit chips designed to work with ARM architecture. The company produces a 2-core microprocessor, which was named A7. In 2014, compact portable Apple Watch devices appeared on the electronics market.
Apple Watch
Acquisition of companies and appearance in Russia
Naturally, such a large giant as Apple acquired shares of smaller organizations. So, from 1996 to 2012, the corporation absorbed such companies as NeXT, P. A. Semi, Quattro Wireless, Siri, Anobit Technologies.
The success story of the concern in Russia begins in 2005, when the first Russian store Apple Center. Just two years later, in 2007, the company’s official representative office was opened in the country. In 2012, the owners of the corporation registered the Apple Rus company, which to this day is engaged in retail and wholesale sales of electronic equipment.
The first Apple store in Moscow
How is the company doing today?
During the development of the company, it experienced both successes and severe failures. Today, in order to manage such a giant, its own corporate culture. Before starting to create new device models, management clearly defines the responsibilities and roles of each employee. Any product of the company is developed in an atmosphere of strict secrecy.
The company also has its own sales concept. It clearly describes how stores should be decorated. For managers and sellers, principles of trading in equipment and psychological techniques used on buyers have been compiled.
Sellers are dressed in blue uniforms. Before starting their duties, they must complete a 14-day training course. During their work, managers undergo additional training. In addition, they are trained to use services to diagnose devices.
While still alive, Steve Jobs independently developed the company's advertising strategy. Today tablet computers are coming off Apple's assembly lines, Cell phones, audio players, watches. In addition, specialists are constantly working to improve the software.
In 2016, the company's management made an interesting statement that soon the concern's technology would operate on the principle of end-to-end encryption. Its essence lies in the signal transmission algorithm: data will be encoded on users’ gadgets, then transmitted to the receiving equipment and decoded. This innovation is connected with the fact that people are increasingly talking about tracking citizens by the US government.
Used commercial organizations to attract buyers' attention. Every company tries to acquire original sign differences, but, unfortunately, not everyone succeeds. The famous “bitten apple”, which is the logo of the world’s largest company producing computers, phones and software, is one of the five most recognizable emblems in the world. And over its history, the Apple logo has undergone many changes.
A few words about the company
The official date of creation of the company is April 1, 1976. The founders of the company are three Americans: Steve Jobs, Ronald Wayne and Steve Wozniak. Friends who managed to assemble a PC with a MOS Technology 6502 processor and, having sold several such samples, obtained funding and officially registered their company.
In the beginning there was Newton and the apple
- simplicity
- modernity
- good recognition.
A week later, the designer presented to the customer finished work: colored apple with a bite. To create the image, Yanov bought apples from a nearby store, put them on a plate at home and made sketches, constantly trying to remove more and more unnecessary details. It was decided to make the apple bitten in order to distinguish it from other similar fruit and berry crops.
Speculation and rumors
Apple's colored logo has given rise to various rumors that the company supports sexual minorities. But supporting the LGBT community, the company did not seek to openly advertise this with its logo. If gays chose the image of a rainbow as their sign, then this has nothing to do with the multi-colored Apple apple. Rob's work was created much earlier than these events.
Also, those who like to look for hidden meaning in everything began to claim that the colored apple is a tribute to the memory of the Englishman Alan Turing, the famous mathematician and cryptographer.
Alan tried to fight fascism using his knowledge and skills, breaking the codes of secret organizations. When the Second World War ended Turing became, was engaged in developments in the field artificial intelligence. But scientific works could not help Alan avoid criminal punishment for homosexuality. The scientist faced a difficult choice: two years in prison or hormone therapy. Alan was also deprived of the opportunity to study cryptography. As a result, Turing began to lead a reclusive life. At the age of 41, he committed suicide by biting into an apple laced with poison.
Why was the apple colored?
The logo designer urges you not to look in color scheme hidden meaning. Rob claims that the logo he developed reflected the company's scope of activity. Apple produced a PC with a color monitor - that's why it's an apple and colored. Six is exactly what the display could convey in those days. Comparing an apple to a rainbow is unacceptable, because a rainbow uses seven colors, not six. Green is the only color that Yanov gave special attention to - first place. All other colors were randomly placed by the designer.
From color to monochrome
The painted apple has been attracting customers' attention to Apple products for 22 years. The company itself has undergone a number of changes over such a long period of time.
Problems began in the 1980s. First, the failure of the Apple III project, then the plane crash in which Wozniak was injured. Unable to cope with the responsibilities of a leader alone, Jobs invited John Sculley to work. But disagreements increasingly arose between the leaders. Steve was very worried about the company's problems. And although in 1985 Jobs and Wozniak received medals for the development of technical progress, Steve decided to leave the company. Which is what he did in the same 1985. Jobs was able to return back only after 13 years. The company at that time was in a deplorable state. The financial problems were so serious that competitors more than once advised the company to declare itself bankrupt.
Only a miracle could save the company. The design of the new building was such a miracle iMac G3. The author of the work was Jonathan Ive. Ive's new case design turned computers into candy. With his development, the industrial designer literally saved the company from ruin. A series of new all-in-one PCs became the basis for the development of the home computing sector. The compact case contains everything necessary for uninterrupted operation elements. The computer was equipped with a webcam and wireless devices for receiving and transmitting data. For full operation it was only necessary to connect the keyboard and mouse included in the basic package. The computer came with a remote control remote control, to control playback of multimedia files.
The new product gained enormous popularity among users. Computers in unusual design have become an integral attribute of the heroes of films and TV series. So about the iMac G3, which combines Beautiful design and the whole world recognized the efficiency. Increased attention to the new product forced management to change the colorful logo, which looked out of place on an already colored computer. In 1998, it was decided to use a monochrome apple instead of a colored one. This replacement only added originality to the company’s logo.
What does the monochrome apple mean? The evolution of the Apple logo shows us that the company has matured. She went through difficult times, but was able to move on. The company continues to develop and delight fans with new developments.
Gratitude for the success of the logo
It is worth noting that Apple did not appreciate the merits of Rob Yanov. Although it is thanks to his services that the company’s products are recognized all over the world. But Jobs forgot the person who created the “face” of his brainchild. Having a huge annual income, one could somehow further distinguish the designer, as, for example, Phillip Knight, the founder of Nike, did. Ten years later, the company thanked the creator of its logo by donating a block of shares and an expensive diamond ring.
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The evolution of the Apple logo
History of the origin and development of the company Apple interests many. Many books have been written and films have been made about this “two Steves” phenomenon, but the riddle of the logo remains unsolved.
There is an assumption that the sign depicted on Apple logo- nothing more than a “symbol of sin”, which Adam received from the hands of Eve in garden of paradise, having learned the taste and sweetness of vice. The second, most common, says that a bitten apple is the fruit of knowledge, and every person, “biting” science, learns something new and keeps a little for himself. The third, most unexpected version of the origin of the logo is at the same time the most shocking: a bitten apple means death.
The death of the man who was at the origins of the invention of the computer, who was the first to create an “automatic computing device” in 1947 and came up with the theory of artificial intelligence - Alan Turing(Alan Turing).
Dubbed the “Da Vinci of the computer world,” the genius scientist committed suicide in 1954 by biting into an apple doped with cyanide. The one-bite fruit was found on his bedside table the morning after his death.
In search of the truth, I plunged into the network and found an interview with the designer Rob Yanov(Rob Janoff), who designed the company logo, in which he shed some light on the mystery of this fact.
Rob Yanov. The designer who created the Apple logo
“I bought a whole bag of apples, put them in a bowl and painted them for a week, trying to simplify the details. Biting into the fruit was part of the experiment, and by complete accident " byte"("bite" - author's note) turned out to be a computer term, and it is not true that it symbolizes the "fruit of knowledge." I cut apples, quartered and cut out shapes, bit with different sides, but I thought the idea of a monochrome apple with a one-sided bite on the right side was the best.”
I would like to note that, according to Rob Yanov, for the work done, which was ordered to him by the advertising agency Rigs McKenna, he did not receive a single word of gratitude: “Even greeting card they didn’t send it,” complained the elderly creator of the rainbow logo.
Initially the logo was one color, but Steve Jobs I decided to decorate it with a rainbow. The bright version existed for 23 years, until 1998, until it again became the usual monochrome.
Whatever the original idea for the company symbol was Apple, we already accept all the facts of its creation as a given and another fact of history, since love for the logo is born from love for their products. And already in every bitten apple, carelessly left on the table, we notice something familiar: the Apple logo, and not vice versa. [reverttosaved]
