Bell’s Logo PNG
Bell’s logo emphasized the product’s exclusivity and the importance of the personal relationship between the buyer and the manufacturer. The emblem conveys the drink’s individuality, expresses the “soul” of whiskey, and guarantees its quality.
Bell’s history began in 1825, when Thomas Sandeman opened a wine and spirits business in Perth, Scotland. After he died in 1837, the company passed to James Roy and Alex Miller.
In 1845, 20-year-old Arthur Bell joined as a traveling salesman. His work across Scotland and England gave him insight into regional taste preferences. By 1851, he became a partner and focused on blending malt whiskies from different distilleries to achieve consistency, later adding grain whisky to soften the profile.
After Roy left in 1862, Bell became the sole owner. He avoided advertising and refused to put his name on bottles. In the 1880s, he appointed a permanent agent in London and began exports to Europe.
In 1889 and 1895, his sons Arthur Kinmont Bell and Robert Bell joined the company. The firm became Arthur Bell & Sons, and it registered the Extra Special trademark. Arthur Bell died in 1900, and his name did not appear on labels until 1904.
By 1933–1936, under A. K. Bell, the company acquired distilleries such as Blair Athol Distillery, Dufftown-Glenlivet Distillery, and Inchgower Distillery, strengthening supply during the Great Depression. Bell’s became a public company in 1949.
In 1970, it led Scotland’s blended whisky market, and by 1978, it topped UK sales. Around 1980, market share reached 35 percent, though The Famous Grouse later overtook it.
In 1985, Guinness acquired Bell’s for $518 million. A year later, it took over Distillers Company Limited, forming United Distillers in 1987. In 1997, Guinness merged with Grand Metropolitan to create Diageo, under which Bell’s is still produced.
Meaning and History
Bell became the official brand only in 1904, after Arthur Bell’s death, as he had always resisted putting his name on the packaging. The Bell brothers died in 1942, and the company’s accountant, William Govan Farquharson, became the company’s chairman. He focused more actively on brand advertising. Bell’s went public in 1949. In 1954, it was exported to 130 different countries.
The Bell logo is minimalist. The classic bold maroon lettering with added gold suggests a high-quality product. The lack of additional details forces you to focus on the flavor and class of Bell whiskey.
Arthur Bell’s signature appeared in 1896, and it still adorns every bottle, along with the slogan “Before You Go,” registered in 1921 and first used four years later.
Despite the minimalist logo, Bell’s continues to experiment with the bottle’s shape, reflecting the brand’s consonance and the ringing of bells.
What is Bell’s?
Bell’s is a Scottish whisky with a long history. Arthur Bell introduced it in 1851, seeking to develop a new blended whisky from single malts. At first, the brand belonged to the distillery Arthur Bell & Sons Ltd, but it eventually passed to the multinational company Diageo.
Until 2021
Until 2021, the trademark used a logo with the large brown word “BELL’S,” under which “BLENDED SCOTCH WHISKY” was written in small print. Each letter was outlined in thin beige lines, concentrated on the right and bottom. The uneven contour created a 3D effect. The designers made all glyphs bold and capitalized, but made the first “B” bigger to draw attention to the brand name.
On top was a red-and-gold emblem depicting a bell. That, in turn, sat against a shield held on both sides by heraldic lions. Above the shield were figured patterns and a rising sun with nine rays. To the left of the picture, in italics, was the word “FINE,” and to the right, “AGED.” All the letters in the logo had serifs of different thicknesses.
2021 – today
In 2021, Bell introduced an updated logo on its whiskey labels. The designers changed the brand name’s typeface, shortened the serifs, and removed the dot above the apostrophe. They also removed the bottom phrase that denoted the product type. The emblem with the Bell has also been modernized. The golden color has become more vibrant, extending to almost all elements except the red shield and sunburst. In addition, the developers enlarged the central part of the image to match the lions’ size and changed the shape of the decorative patterns. The left now shows the abbreviation “ESTD,” and the right shows the year Arthur Bell was born (1825).
Font and Colors
In terms of style and shape, Bell’s logo typeface is close to Geller Text Bold, Casad Serial Heavy, and MPI Antique. All characters are in all caps; although “B” is much larger than the others, it still functions as a capital letter. Serifs are classic and well-defined.
The logo uses primarily burgundy, which is balanced by a creamy background. Other versions are also available in dark blue, white, and black.