Apple seems to be one of the most tightly managed brands in the world, but they actually use their logo much more whimsically than any other big brands. I’ve written in the past about logo usagethat runs against typical brand management best practices. On the eve of their 50th anniversary, I’ve come across two more examples. I wanted to share them as a way to continue to document Apple’s approach to visual identity:
The 50th Anniversary “Logo”
Apple has artwork that essentially serves as an alternate logo for their anniversary. It’s a stylized treatment of their logo (below), which includes a rainbow of colors that harkens back to their old six color rainbow logo.
Both examples take the Apple logo shape and use it as a structure for artwork. You typically don’t see large companies allowing or promoting this kind of variability with their logo. And you rarely see an old logo pop up, even during an anniversary. The artwork feels true to the Apple brand, but runs counter to what other brands do. In brand management, rigid consistency is king. As designers, it’s worth noting that Apple of all companies allows such flexibility within their visual identity guidelines, and maybe we can learn something from how they use their logo and brand creatively.
Bob Wertz is a type designer, Ph.D. student and researcher living in Columbia, South Carolina. He’s been blogging since 2008.
Proud of this kiddo. Ryan’s worked incredibly hard the last year to make Chapin’s JV team as a goalie. Late last night, we found out he made the team. And today, he got his new uniform. Excited for the season ahead.
Realized I hadn’t shared a picture from the window of my new office on the third floor of the old State Archives Building. The Palmetto Tree screens are over all of the windows, but I can see the Statehouse dome clearly from my chair.
I recently created a couple of new fonts over on Fontstruct: SbB Crunch’d and SbB Papaya 26.
SbB Crunch’d
SbB Crunch’d is a little random. Normally when I start working on a type design, I have an idea of how it will be used. In this case, I started with the shape of the “scalloped edges” and built out the font from there. I like how it turned out, even if I have no idea how I’d use it in a layout.
SbB Papaya 26
Last year, I built a font based on the numerals on McLaren’s F1 livery. The new SbB Papaya 26 updates the font to align with the look of the 2026 preseason McLaren social media graphics. Compared to my original interpretation, the 2026 font is a little more conservative and more readable.
I shared a post earlier today about Honda’s logo change and included two inline links to connect something I wrote in 2024 with a recent press release. Micro.Blog posted it to my site, and then crossposted it to Bluesky, Threads, and Mastodon. Here’s how it looked on the Micro.Blog timeline:
Including multiple links is how the web works, but I know that’s not how social media typically works. So how did other services render the two links?
Threads and Mastodon take the typical social media approach. They only shared the first link, and instead of it being an inline link, it was in a box below the post.
Threads:
Mastodon:
Bluesky, however, handled it perfectly, including both inline links. I was pleasantly surprised:
In this case, the links were just to provide background for anyone that wanted it. To share two links using the social media approach, I’d need to post the first link and then follow up with a comment and second link. In my opinion, that approach puts way too much emphasis on the links.
Hopefully, these newer social media sites will realize that communication is more clear when they allow basic HTML including inline links. And while they are at it, these services should allow basic formatting like bold and italic. Availability of basic formatting is one thing I really like about Micro.blog, and it really does enhance the reading and writing experience.
Bob Wertz is a type designer, Ph.D. student and researcher living in Columbia, South Carolina. He’s been blogging since 2008.
Even though it rained earlier, we got out to Gather Columbia late this afternoon. Lots of great food options. Fun atmosphere. Another cool addition to Columbia.
Today, I saw another couple of variations to add to my list from the Apple Japan web site as part of their New Year’s Celebration:
For a company known for their branding, I think it’s fascinating to see all of these variations from Apple. Especially since it runs counter to what most brands do.
Bob Wertz is a type designer, Ph.D. student and researcher living in Columbia, South Carolina. He’s been blogging since 2008 and an Apple user since 1994.
The renovated Finlay Park in Columbia is gorgeous. They did such a great job with the update and it’s now such a vibrant space for the community. Love it.
