History of the Apple Logo

While rumors abound about the inspiration for the “Apple” company name, Steve Jobs confirmed in 2011 that the name came to him when he was on a fruitarian diet and had just visited an apple orchard. He liked the simplicity of the fruit and felt that it wouldn’t intimidate customers.

In 1976, Jobs, Ronald Wayne, and Steve Wozniak founded Apple Computer Company, with Wayne leaving only two weeks later. However, Wayne left an impact on the new company since he designed its first logo.

The original Apple logo didn’t feature the fruit at all. Instead, it took a more scholarly interpretation of the name and depicted Sir John Newton at the moment before he discovered gravity. He sits against a tree with pen and paper in hand directly beneath an apple.

Besides the drawing, the logo included the name of the company inscribed on the frame.

While the logo had an interesting inspiration, Steve Jobs felt it was too complicated to replicate and didn’t match Apple’s modern aesthetic. With a new computer due to come out, the Apple II, it was time to update the logo.

To replace the logo, Steve Jobs hired a graphic designer named Rob Janoff in 1977. Jobs and Janoff worked together to determine the best symbol for the new design and soon decided on the apple. There are many rumors about the real meaning and inspiration behind the design. For years, people believed the apple symbol was a reference to Alan Turing, the father of computer science, who supposedly committed suicide with a cyanide-laced apple.

However, Janoff has disproved this theory. Jobs wanted a sleek, simple icon that everyone could instantly recognize. With the company name of Apple, the choice of the eponymous fruit as a symbol was easy.

The bite, which makes the logo iconic, exists mainly to show people that the image was an apple rather than a similar round-looking fruit. Additionally, Janoff and Jobs thought the play on bite and byte helped tie the Apple icon to the tech industry.

Throughout the years, Apple logos have featured a variety of colors. Janoff’s first design of the Apple logo included stripes in the colors of the rainbow, a nod to the impressive fact that the Apple II was the world’s first color computer. The colors aren’t arranged in a particular order, except for the green at the top, which symbolizes an apple leaf.

This iconic, multicolored logo remained unchanged until 1998 when Steve Jobs returned to the company after a hiatus. The company wanted to include the logo on its newest product, the iMac, but the multicolored apple would have disrupted the smooth look of the product. Jobs retired the colors, introducing a translucent logo. That same year, he released a black, monochromatic Apple logo, which matched the company’s new, contemporary branding.

Since then, the logo has become flatter and had some shadows added. From 2001 to 2007, Apple had an aqua version of the logo; today, Apple products sport a chrome logo.

If you look at all the Apple logos, it’s surprising how powerful yet simple they appear. It’s immediately apparent that the image is an apple, and the sleek design matches the company’s branding impeccably.

Although the company altered the color later, the basic shape of the bitten apple remains constant. Customers can recognize this symbol, even with new colors or an added shadow.

Additionally, because the symbol is so simplistic, it’s easy to replicate. Apple puts its logo on everything, from stickers to products, to merchandise. Having a logo you can put on any material and remain recognizable is key when creating your company’s logo.

Whether you're a tech startup like Apple was back in 1976, or you’re a freelancer offering your services, you need a company logo that will show your customers exactly who you are in an instant. TRUiC can help you create a logo and register a business so that your company can grow and thrive.