Exploring the Logo Evolution and Fashion Brand Discourse of Luxury Brands through Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar magazines

Primary author: Yi-Ning Tai
Co-author(s): Yuh-Fen Yu
Faculty sponsor: Jihyeong Son

Primary college/unit: Agricultural, Human and Natural Resource Sciences
Campus: Pullman

Abstract:

Brand logos play a huge role to enhance consumer brand loyalty and the overall performance of a company (Park, Eisingerich, Pol & Park, 2013). The present study tried to investigate the patterns of the logo evolution of luxury fashion brands and how these brands use the logo as a key for successful communication with consumers. A visual content analysis was conducted with the top seven luxurious brand logos, Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Hermes, Gucci, Dior, Burberry, and Prada, presented on advertisements in Vogue and harper’s Bazaar magazines through 1930 to 2019. The shape, color, and font of each brand’s logo were examined. The results revealed that Chanel, Dior, Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Prada, and Hermes have not changed their logos since 20 century. Only, for Burberry, the brand has changed its logo four times. It eliminated the symbol and altered the font of the logo gradually to fit the brand image. There are patterns in their successful logo design: First, luxury brands tend to simplify their logos. Secondly, the structures of logos tend to be in rectangular figures. Third, the logo design needs to align with brand characteristics. Lastly, the logo is a powerful marketing tool to enhance brand awareness and it is also a key to change the brand image. We concluded that every change or adjustment for a brand logo is to pursue higher visibility, which means to have distinctions between different brands (Adîr, Adîr & Pascu, 2012). A successful logo design aims to imprint on people’s minds.