In this article we’ll share some lesser known information on a selection of 7 of the bigger brands out there.

You will see that many times there has been coincidences shaping the brands of several of these. We’ve selected a smaller portion of each of the company stories. If you want more in-depth information, Wikipedia or the companies own websites are the great sources we’ve used.

Nike

Track and Field coach Bill Bowerman and medium-distance runner Phil Knight are the two men that stand behind this huge success.

The company was founded in 1964 as Blue Ribbon Sports. The company grew quickly.

In 1971, some changes were done and the logo was created by graphic design student Carolyn Davidson. As they didn’t have any better option at the time, the company decided to accept her logo suggestion. It was paid 35$ and the “Nike Swoosh” is today a vital part of one of the worlds most famous brands.

Sharp Corporation

This Japanese company was founded in 1912 and started it’s brand by selling a mechanical pencil (the Ever-Sharp). This is where the name comes from still today even if they’ve turned into a multi-national electronics company. After a big earthquake that destroyed the business completely in 1923, Sharp started producing the first generation of Japanese radio sets. The logo was drawned by the original founder as part of the pencil invention and has gotten a few adjustments along the years.

Adidas

This company was founded by the two German Dassler-brothers, Adi and Rudi. The story of the brand is a long one. They started up shortly after World War I. The “three stripes” concept was bought from a Finnish company in the 1950′s.  The logo as we know it today was drawn by Adi Dassler himself and first used in 1967. The peaks on the logo are said to represent a mountain pointing towards future challenges.

Brother Rudi left the company in 1947 and formed Ruda company, which was later rebranded and today is known as Puma.

McDonalds

This very well known chain of fast food restaurants is one of the biggest in the world today. The golden arches that look like an M, were introduced and created by Jim Schindler in 1962 after and idea from the McDonald’s brothers. Originally these arcs were used on the sides of the hamburger restaurants. After they saw that the arcs looked like an M when viewed from an angle, they decided to use the M. Today’s McDonald’s restaurants no longer have the arcs on the outside, but the M logo has become a very recognisable brand.

BMW

The company started off as an aircraft engine manufacturer back in 1916 when the Rapp Motorenwerke company changed it’s name.

Originally the white and blue inside the logo was an implementation of the Bavarian flag. In the 20′s another interpretation of the logo was known, calling it the roundel and associating it with a rotating propeller. Today the brand is stronger than ever with a company that is best known for it’s production of cars and motorcycles. The logo has stayed completely true to the original with very few changes over the years.

Starbucks

This chain of coffee houses started up in Seattle in 1971. The name Starbucks comes from the novel Moby Dick.

The logo includes a twin-tailed siren and has been altered a bit through the years. In the original logo the siren was topless and had two very visible tails. This did from time to time bring some controversy and the logo today is a lot more subtle.

From the one shop in Pike Place Market in 1971, Starbucks has become the biggest coffeehouse company in the world with more than 17,000 stores all over the world.

Coca Cola

This American company saw the light of day all the way back in 1886. Originally the product sold as a patent medicine. In 1894 the bottles were introduced and the cans of coke came around in 1955.

The logo was designed by Frank Mason Robinson who was the bookkeeper of founder John Pemberton. He chose the font and had many good advice for the early advertising of the brand. Today the Coca Cola name and logo is seen by many as an American icon and the brand is one of the strongest of all times. The logo has hardly changed since it’s introduction and is considered clean and unique.

All the logos included have been found over at Brands of the World and are meant for illustration purposes only.