Carl’s Jr Logo

Carl’s Jr Logo PNG

This brand has a very good-natured visual identity: Carl’s Jr. chose a cheerful and smiling logo. It shows a yellow star standing on a beam as if joyfully bouncing on one leg. In this way, the fast food chain conveys a great mood after visiting its restaurants, the highest quality of service, and dishes. The name is cursive, with an imitation of individual handwriting.

Meaning and History

What is Carl’s Jr?

Carl’s Jr. is a subsidiary brand of CKE Restaurant Holdings Corporation and an international chain of fast food establishments. She started selling hot dogs in 1941 and now focuses on barbecuing. The Karcher family founded it, a former Carl driver with his wife, Margaret. The first branded restaurant with this name appeared in 1956; until then, it was street tents and several city eateries.

The short name and friendly logo of Carl’s Jr. originated in 1956. It was a smiling star with a hot dog and a glass, joyfully jumping from foot to foot in small shoes. Supplement “Jr.” appeared compulsorily. It’s just that after opening two more restaurants, Karcher decided to reduce their name because they were considered a mini-version of their first establishment, Carl’s Drive-In Barbecue. That is, the presence of this particle in the identity is not associated with any family relationship: it is a practical, businesslike approach. In total, the brand has eight emblems.

1941 – 1956

At first, the logo consisted of a high pedestal with a double five-pointed star. Its base contained the parent company’s name: “Carl’s” in a vertical rectangle and “Drive-In Barbecue” in a horizontal trapezoid.

1956 – 1975

The era of a cheerful, friendly star of bright yellow color has come. She was anthropomorphic: the two lower rays were her legs, and the two middle ones were her arms. Her feet were shod in miniature shoes, and in her hands was a large hot dog and a glass with a straw. The company name and promotional information were placed around an asterisk. The colors for the logo were chosen as bright, positive, appetizing, and attractive as possible – yellow and red.

1975 – 1978

The company returned to the theme of the pedestal again and placed a smiling star with a hot dog on an oval geometric figure with a two-level name. Designers made it wide and “shod” it in big boots. She looked friendly, as always.

1978 – 1987

In this version, the pedestal disappeared, and the star became yellow with a red border and rounded rays. The developers moved down the name of the fast food restaurant chain, using the writing style of 1956-1975. The star was located directly, not sideways.

1987 – 2006

The only change was in the inscription. The name was in rounded font with large dots at “a,” “r,” and “J.” The letters “C,” “s,” and “l” got bold serifs. In addition, the designers moved the text to the star’s right.

2006 – 2017

After the rebranding, an additional inscription appeared on the logo: “Charbroiled Burgers.” The designers placed it at the bottom on a separate tape. They tilted the star to the right, connected it with the letter “C,” and added a general red background, for which the edge of the star was outlined in black. Thus, the company showed the brand’s affinity with the parent company CKE Restaurants, and with another of its chains – Hardee’s.

2017 – 2018

This logo was used for only one year. It consisted of a smiling star without a border around the edge. The elements of the impromptu “face” and the name were painted black by the designers, and the red background and eyebrows were removed.

2018 – today

Agency Havas returned the star’s eyebrows and added red elements to her. Because the lines are not connected in a frame, they are perceived as shadows and make the star three-dimensional. In addition, the designers changed the “r” and “s.” Now those lowercase letters look like they’re printed instead of handwritten.

Font and Colors

The mark dubbed the “Happy Star,” appeared in the logo of Carl’s Jr immediately after the restaurant’s opening. At first, it was cartoony and childish, but then it turned into a symbol of quality – a golden star. She is an integral element of the identity, the result of the efforts made to grow the fast food chain, and an iconic attribute at the level of Golden Arches.

The custom typeface used in the Carl’s Jr. logo was created specifically for this brand. She is similar in style to TT Polls Script Bold, Ethan Italics, and Kathya Script. However, there are no exact analogs. The title is in italics, reminiscent of handwritten text – neat and elegant. The corporate palette today is bright: it consists of yellow and red. Black is also used, which effectively contrasts with them. Previously, there was also white.

Carl’s Jr color codes