What is the meaning and story behind the Starbucks logo?

If you are reading this, you or someone you know must be a coffee lover. For those who love to drink intoxicating coffee, Starbucks is one name that comes easily to mind when talking about coffee shops. How many of us haven’t heard its famous slogan “wake up and smell the coffee”? Since 1971, Starbucks has come a long way to become the world’s biggest coffee chain within just 40 years of its inception.

The journey that started in the Pike Place Market in Seattle with selling only whole-bean coffees and tea quickly transformed into 20,891 stores across 75 countries (probably one store every 130 meters if you consider the population’s size in countries vary).

During these years, Starbucks has manufactured a name for itself in the coffee industry and has significantly influenced other brands.

But what is it that makes Starbucks so appealing? Is it because of its products, or perhaps because of its products’ branding and packaging? Well, whatever it is, their logo plays a significant role. And today, we are going to take a closer look into Starbucks’s logo and how it has evolved.

The Logo

As simple as the name suggests, the Starbucks logo is a map of what looks like stylized twin Star-nosed – two five-pointed star-shaped forms.

So what does this map of twin star-nosed mean? What’s so significant about it? According to the founders, one of the main reasons for choosing such a logo was the name. Starbucks is named after Starbuck – “A character in Herman Melville’s novel Moby-Dick” (yes, you read that right!)

The story is narrated by Starbuck himself, described as “a young Gay-Head Indian of the Island of Nantucket”. And apparently, Starbucks chose this name because they thought Starbuck represents values like “energy, youth, vision, and courage,” which are not just the company’s values but the very same values shared by its founders.

But what’s even more interesting than this story is how Starbucks evolved with different modifications to its logo. So let us take a look at each of them and understand why they designed it in such a way.

The First Logo (1971-1987)

So the first Starbucks logo was a wordmark that included the company name in a circle. And interestingly, they chose to flip their name upside down. Here’s what the flipped logo looks like:

At the bottom of this logo, you’ll notice that it says “STARBUCKS COFFEE, TEA AND SPICE STORES” with ‘Tealeaf & Clover’ written below. This is because they used to sell both coffee and tea simultaneously, but now they only sell coffee (the Tealeaf & Clover part of the logo is no longer used).

The reason for choosing this design was actually that Starbucks failed at selling tea so they decided to focus on selling coffee instead. Plus, adding “&” between the two words made it easier to remember and pronounce too.

However, though this logo did its job of representing its name, Starbucks realized that it wasn’t the best way to express its values over time. So in 1987, they changed their logo to something more meaningful and exciting, which you can see below.

The Second Logo (1987-1992)

As we can see above, this logo differed quite a bit from the first one. If you look closely, it still contains some of the elements from the first logo – the Starbucks text and a circular design with a few modifications. For example, they replaced ‘S’ inside a circle with a mermaid and replaced ‘COFFEE AND TEA’ with ‘STARBUCKS COFFEE’.

However, just like the first logo, this logo also didn’t last long.

The Third Logo (1992-2011)

When Starbucks introduced its new logo in 1992, they described it as “a unique original,” and it indeed was. In fact, since then, Starbucks has been using this logo in pretty much all of its products and services. And if you look at it closely, the Starbucks text is more stylized, while the mermaid illustration is a lot slicker and looks a lot more elegant too.

The main reason for choosing such a logo was why it only lasted for 20 years before getting another update.

The Fourth Logo (2011-Today)

When Starbucks introduced its new logo in 2011, it described it as “a mark that is more reflective of who we are and what we value”.

And not only was this logo unique, but it also perfectly represented the company’s values – something which had been lacking for a while between 1992 and 2011.

For example, the mermaid illustration has become more of a siren (just like the mythology), representing Starbucks’ female side and their attachment to coffee. Plus, they wanted this logo to evoke an emotional connection with people, so they made it simpler than before. And apparently, that was precisely the effect they hoped for.

Conslusion:

The Starbucks logo is a timeless symbol that has stood up to the test of time and isn’t going anywhere. The brand as a whole is powerful and well respected throughout the business world because it’s been able to maintain its reputation as an emblem of consumer trust. It also remains one of the most popular coffee brands in the entire world.