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Mystery Logo #1
This familiar logo launched all the way back in 1905, along with the brand’s iconic slogan. Replacing the original “chameleon” logo, which was designed by one of the company’s two founders, the new logo was one of the first to establish a brand identity and seek to tell a story, not just sell a product. It was designed by George Ford, an ad man from Cleveland, Ohio, which is also the home of this 160-year-old company. At the time, the iconic sideways globe, red paint and Cover the Earth slogan symbolized the reach the company hoped to achieve, and with more than 5,000 stores worldwide, it’s clear they succeeded.
Answer: Sherwin-Williams
Mystery Logo #2
Here’s another Ohio company popular with DIYers, though this one started much more recently, in 1994. The idea for the product came during a trip to Indonesia, when the company’s founder noticed locals making teak furniture with a particularly strong adhesive. The brand and its iconic logo immediately conjures strength, as does its slogan: For the Toughest Jobs on Earth. The Cincinnati-based company now sells tape and other adhesives alongside its familiar and famous glue, and its muscular simian mascot is immediately recognizable.
Answer: Gorilla Glue
https://gorillatough.com/pro-tips
Mystery Logo #3
This might be one of the most recognizable logos in history, though we’ve been debating what this smiling character actually is since 1958. The company behind the logo wanted to convey to the public that their product cleaned “like magic,” according to a New York Times obituary of the person who created it. And what conveys magic in a bottle more than a genie? Yep, you heard it here: Procter & Gamble’s famous cleaning pal is a genie, not a sailor or whatever other strapping, earring-wearing persona you may have guessed over the years. Fun fact: He almost had a nose ring!
Answer: Mr. Clean
https://www.mrclean.com/en-us/about-mr-clean
Mystery Logo #4
Where would we be without this DIY and home improvement juggernaut? No cute characters here; this famous logo has a utilitarian vibe in keeping with the company’s no-nonsense, do-it-yourself ethos. In the late 1970s, when this company was founded in Georgia, several designs were discussed and discarded before the marketing team landed on a plain square stamped with the company name on an upward slant. The idea was to evoke freight shipping crates, and the logo’s bright background color, which can also be seen on the warehouse giant’s friendly employees, was chosen to simulate activity. One step inside these stores and you can see the choice was the correct one.
Answer: Home Depot
https://corporate.homedepot.com/media/home-depot-logojpg
Mystery Logo #5
This logo depicts a real person, 9-year-old Michael E. Brady, who was a neighbor of the man commissioned to design the logo. The company dates back to 1907 and started as a subsidiary of the National Lead Company, now called NL Industries. As you can probably guess, the product contained lead—at least until 1978, when it was banned. But the company is still going strong (and was bought in 1980 by another company on this list), and the same child adorns every can to this day. Oh, one final hint: The boy was Irish, not another European nationality that, if I said it, would give away the entire answer.
Answer: Dutch Boy
https://www.dutchboy.com/en/about-us
Mystery Logo #6
Logos don’t have to be particularly flashy to be memorable. The solid, dependable design of this popular home improvement brand’s masthead has gone through many changes since North Wilkesboro Hardware started in 1921—but every single one is instantly recognizable. The founder, whose name preceded the store name, partnered with his brother-in-law Carl Buchan in the 1940s, and that’s about the time the logo started to take shape. At first, it was simply the founder’s name in solid block letters with Thousands Do … You Should Too underneath. Buchan bought out his brother-in-law in 1952 but kept the original owner’s name, which can still be seen on the bright blue house logo that we know today.
Answer: Lowe’s
Mystery Logo #7
Henry Ford had a hand in this company’s founding. In 1918, he asked tool and die maker A.H. Petersen to manufacture a light, portable power drill so that workers on the assembly lines of the Ford Motor Company could use it with one hand. In the 1920s, the company was bought and rebranded as the name we know today, and the logo was set soon after—and has barely changed since. Featuring the name of the company in white against a bright red background, the trademark lightning bolt that underlines the company name—which also happens to be the name of a good-sized Midwestern city—is a nod to the company’s dominance in the electric power tool industry.
Answer: Milwaukee Tool
https://www.milwaukeetool.com/
Mystery Logo #8
This brand’s logo is synonymous with strength, and it hasn’t changed for nearly 160 years. The company it represents is even older than that though: It started in 1846 in the kitchen of the company’s co-founder, John Dwight, when he and Dr. Austin Church started packaging a powerful yet gentle cleaner and all-around useful household product. When Church retired, his son James came on board and brought the logo with him from his other company, the Vulcan Spice Company. If you’re not up on your Roman mythology, Vulcan was the god of fire who, with his mighty hammer and anvil, forged the weapons of the ancients. Did you guess it yet? Just look in your fridge or cupboard for a hint.
Answer: Arm & Hammer
https://www.armandhammer.com/en/about-us
Mystery Logo #9
Electricians will get this one right away because this tool brand is synonymous with quality and has been since 1857. The familiar logo came a little bit later, in the early 1900s, when the electrification of the U.S. was in its infancy. Featuring a lineman atop an electrical pole, this brand logo can be found on everything from pliers and screwdrivers to tape measures, fish tapes and circuit tracers. The company also has an entire line of occupational protective gear, toolboxes and just about everything else a tradesperson could need.
Answer: Klein Tools
https://www.kleintools.com/content/logos
Mystery Logo #10
Here’s a tough one! This logo is known as an “armature in a circle,” and if you can get this without looking it up, you officially win the quiz and the day. It was designed in 1918 by the company’s chief engineer, Gottlob Honold, who modeled it after the armature in a magneto ignition device. If that doesn’t help (totally understandable), a magneto is a type of electrical generator and the armature is what moves through the magnetic field to induce voltage. It also kind of looks like a double-sided mushroom. However you picture it, this logo was trademarked in 1919 and has been stamped on power tools, measuring devices, spark plugs and (spoiler alert) dishwashers ever since.
Answer: Bosch
https://www.bosch.com/stories/creation-of-the-bosch-logo/
Sources:
Sherwin-Williams: “History”
Gorilla Glue: “Our Story”
New York Times: “Richard Black, 92, Artist Who Conjured ‘Mr. Clean,’ Dies”
Home Depot: “Before the Orange Sign: Building the Home Depot Brand”
Brittanica: “Home Depot”
Dutch Boy: “About Us”
Lowe’s: “Our History”
Milwaukee Tool: “History of Milwaukee Tool”
Arm & Hammer: “About Us”
Klein Tools: “History”
Alloy Artifacts: “Klein Tools”
Bosch: “Armature in a circle”
The post Think You Know DIY Brands? Try Guessing These Blurry Logos appeared first on Family Handyman.
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