The electrotechnical enterprise strives to emphasize its powerful production; therefore, it is under an expressive sign. The Cummins logo is not only bright red but also super wide. The first letter of the name is massive, blocky, huge, shaped like an industrial magnet that attracts everything metallic.
Cummins: Brand overview
Founded: | 1919 |
Founder: | Clessie Lyle Cummins, William G. Irwin |
Headquarters: |
Columbus, Indiana, U.S. |
Website: | cummins.com |
Cummins today is an American multinational corporation that deals with energy-generating products such as fuel systems, filtration equipment, electric motors, etc.
Working for export with 190 countries has 600 independent distributors with a business share and 600 dealers. The company can position itself as a market leader and loudly declare itself, albeit with a laconic logo.
Meaning and History
Even an experienced branding expert will not tell how much a logo can be changed by one company in its entire long existence. The number of visual transformations probably depends on trends in visual culture and changes in the company’s management strategy.
Numerous logo changes have taken place throughout the history of the Cummins brand. Be that as it may; nevertheless, the brand originates in the first half of the 20th century, or more precisely, in 1919, both the brand and the corresponding first logo were born.
It is not possible to follow the train of thought of managers who take responsibility for organizing branding. At first, it was one economic approach, then people of a different time and mentality came; therefore, they brought a new spirit of the time and new ideas for visualization.
What is Cummins?
Cummins is a company that specializes in the production of engines and their subsystems, including turbochargers and filters. The second area of work is the manufacture of generating sets and everything connected with them. The organization was formed in 1919 and is now based in Columbus, southern Indiana.
1919 – 1944
The logo was first introduced with a circular O-shaped center frame between Cummins and the “oil engine.” This center turns out to be a symbol of Venus, a feminine symbol of strength. Immediately below, the company’s name is again underlined, the geographical data of the placement are added. A short line reads “done” between the yellow gold words. Looks like an engraved plaque. This emphasizes the style of the business of that time. The tablet itself is the color of ripe cherry, which has been touched by the sun. The logo itself, when viewed from the front, resembles the frontal view of the car.
1944 – 1952
A sharp change in the logo – and a new stage in the development of the company. There is a bright red circle, in front of which is a black rectangle, with a white shadow border that says Cummins Diesel (in white) and Dependable (in the ornate red font). We wanted to emphasize the importance and historical significance of the brand’s appearance – 1919. Curiously, the inscription “since 1919” on the stylized ribbon is located in the middle, and on the left is the black outline of a man who points to this inscription with his right hand. It seems that the logo is oversaturated with symbols, fonts, inscriptions, but in general, it looks laconic due to the combination of colors. Of the minuses of the logo, when you look at it, it seems that the emphasis of the images is shifted to the left because there a large red ellipse is located at the intersection of the planes of the “business card” and “ribbon.”
1952 – 1965
The lesson was learned, and the mistakes were made in logo design and color matching. If the previous one resembled in places the flag of Japan, now it resembles a cross, where a yellow rectangle is vertically located, and a longitudinally horizontal black line, in which “Cummins” is modestly written in white letters. The font is now sans-serif, simpler, and more elongated. It is difficult to understand what the authors of this logo wanted to say because there is no visual association with the brand. The main task was to get rid of fanciful figurative details and graphic elements.
1965 – 1976
During this period, a radical change in the logo took place again. The logo font was made clear and readable. The background was removed. The place of the yellow stripe has now been made with a large first letter drawn with an outline.
1976 – today
This year saw a new logo change. The logo is simple, clean, neat, and conservative this time, albeit with a twist.
In the center of attention is the letter C, in which the company’s name is inscribed diagonally. Given that the last letter goes beyond C, which creates the illusion of the continuation of the inscription. Logo designer Paul Rand, who has created visuals for companies such as IBM, ABC, Westinghouse, and UPS, could afford to add a little curiosity to the logo, which greatly refreshed it if there was a simple diagonal inscription. By the way, color C is closer to light blue, and the letters of the full name are white for contrast.
In 2006, the color C was changed – this time, the black color focuses on the brand’s full name. Visually, it seems that C is disappearing, but this is just such an artistic trick.
Font and Colors
A suitable and modest typeface, Helvetica Neue 95 Black fits perfectly into the overall look of the logo. Interestingly, the letter C has taken on individual shapes, as it has been graphically modified specifically for the logo, bypassing the traditional Helvetica font.
Quite common colors – red, black, blue, and white – set off each of the logos in their way. We must pay tribute; the actual logo is easy to remember, which means that the brand has won its target audience in full.
Cummins color codes
Black | Hex color: | #000000 |
---|---|---|
RGB: | 0 0 0 | |
CMYK: | 0 0 0 100 | |
Pantone: | PMS Process Black C |
Who designed the Cummins logo?
The first version of the Cummins logo, with a large horseshoe-shaped C as the background for the lettering, was invented by American designer Paul Rand. He has also designed corporate symbols for many other companies, including ABC, Westinghouse, Morningstar, Enron, and IBM.
What are Cummins colors?
Cummins’ brand strategy is based on a color palette that consists of a combination of white (#FFFFFF), black (# 000000), and Pantone 485C red (# DA291C).
What font is the Cummins logo?
The typography for the Cummins logo is based on the Helvetica Neue 95 Black font. This is a bold grotesque designed by Linotype Design Studio. Only the letter “C” was custom-made.