The origins of Apple's logo?

[LogoTheories]

Hello! I'm new to this forum.

I've heard some interesting theories about the origins of Apple's logo.

I've emailed Apple and they just said that because they had not publically commented on it they couldn't help me.

Any theories??

 

[pigoo3]

I've heard some interesting theories about the origins of Apple's logo.

Why don't you post the theories that you've already heard of to start the conversation?

- Nick

 

[Nethfel]

This might help a little bit:

Apple Inc. - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

scroll down to the logo section. Now why they went monochrome and the version with the slash through it, I have no idea.

 

[LogoTheories]

Well I heard it was something to do with Alan Turing who many refer to as the founder of modern computer science. I know that he took a bite from poisoned apple and apparently that is why Apple's logo is an Apple with a bite out. As a homage to Turing and the work he carried out.

 

[McYukon]

In early 1977, Jobs hired Regis McKenna Advertising, which defined a new logo and logotype (Motter Tektura) and created Apple’s first professionally produced ads. Working under account executive Bill Kelley, art director Rob Janoff started with a black and white silhouette of an apple, but felt something was missing. “I wanted to simplify the shape of an apple, and by taking a bite—a byte, right?—out of the side, it prevented the apple from looking like a cherry tomato,” explains Janoff. Furthermore, the lowercase company name could snuggle into the bite. At Jobs’ insistence, Janoff added six colorful, horizontal stripes that paid tribute to the Apple II’s impressive color capabilities. Although separating the green, yellow, orange, red, purple, and blue bars with thin black lines would have reduced registration problems during reproduction, Jobs nixed the proposal, resulting in the world famous Apple logo, which Scott called “the most expensive bloody logo ever designed.”
Scource: Apple Confidential 2.0

APPLE CONFIDENTIAL 2.0: DEFINITIVE ... - Google Books Scroll down to page 12 where the colorful apple is.

Apple Confidential 2.0: The Definitive History of the World's Most Colorful Company: Amazon.ca: Owen Linzmayer: Books

 

[csixty4]

A short article unearthed from the defunt Sync magazine: I Invented...the Apple Logo

 

[MrCrilly]

Very interesting. I had always believed that the logo was created to pay homage to Alan Turing too. Alan Turing took a bite from a poisonous apple in order to take his own life because he was persecuted for being gay.

Now I know better!

 

[eyePawd]

This is awesome. I think it's great to understand the roots and background information of all companies, especially if the company has played a significant role in changing the world, like Apple.

I remember in one of my advertising courses, we learned about the logo history of Nike and Starbucks and it got me hooked to learning more about the history of other famous logos.

 

[stans34]

Never once gave the logo a thought, but would be interesting to find out

 

[VegasGeorge]

I read a more detailed description from Janoff about his design process. In it he said that he included the bite out of the apple as a matter of scale so that the fruit wouldn't look like a cherry.

 

[the8thark]

The movie Forrest Gump. We all know it's based on a real person. Well sort of. And in that movie Gump says he invested in what he thought was a fruit company. This company turned out to be Apple Computers.

Is this true? Or just hollywood adding a nice story to a movie?

 

[ShawnBoucke]

I remember reading a while ago that the apple was to symbolize the apple Eve took a bite out off because it was from the tree of knowledge, and the company wan't to be a tree of knowledge for the technology world.

 

[god0fgod]

I never thought about it much. It's an apple so it makes sense in that way. That's all I've ever thought about it.

 

[chas_m]

The movie Forrest Gump. We all know it's based on a real person. Well sort of. And in that movie Gump says he invested in what he thought was a fruit company. This company turned out to be Apple Computers.

Is this true? Or just hollywood adding a nice story to a movie?

The latter.

 

[BillKelley]

The Linzmayer quote is correct. I helped Owen after the first edition of his book had Steve (J) requesting a logo directly from Rob Janoff. Ad agencies don't work that way. The AE interfaces with the client. That was me. Rob did design the Apple logo and the first iteration was olive colored and the 'bite' complemented the shape of the small 'a' used in the corporate name.
Rob was being literal, using an apple to represent Apple. The bite gave it scale, as correctly stated by Vegas George.
This was March of '77 and the Apple II had one advantage over the Apple I and everything else out there: Sol, IMSAI, etc.: color. Steve wanted to reflect color capability in the logo. Rob was not happy about it and simply put color bands across the apple. The logo was accepted, although it took several meetings to settle on the final PMS colors of each stripe, with Steve personally selecting the tone of yellow and orange that suited him. Steve could be exhausting to work with for most people. Even at 21, he had a crystal clear vision of what he wanted.

Bill Kelley

P.S. I have told people over the years that I thought the bite represented the acquisition of knowledge. But Rob denies having thought that at the time. Truth is, artists at times channel subconscious messages, and/or leave open the doors to multiple interpretations. Whatever, the logo was a great design and Rob deserves all the credit.