The Swedish engineering company shows flexibility in its emblem choice, as the sign bears little resemblance to the service sector it operates in. However, the Esbe logo succeeds perfectly in informing and attracting customers. It is multi-structured, balanced, and vibrant.
Meaning and History
The company was founded by a family business called Skogsfors Bruk. It was opened in 1906 in a small Swedish town. A businessman launched an electric station near his enterprise to support his operations. After that, the activity increased: Johan August Skogsfors built a mechanical assembly shop, a forging shop, a foundry, a sawmill, and a paint shop.
The first products were agricultural tools, stirrups, horseshoes, and ball bearings. In the 1930s, shunt valves, hydrophores, and water pumps were added to the range. In 1939, the owner sold some of the production sites to Kooperativa Förbundet (KF). The company then switched to producing boiler equipment and later merged with Parca-Norrahammar.
What is ESBE?
ESBE is a Swedish manufacturer of thermostats and actuators for heating, cooling, and plumbing systems. It is family-owned and managed by the fourth generation of the Skogsfors dynasty. Its appearance dates back to 1906. The company’s head office is in Reftele (Sweden), where industrialist Johan August Skogsfors founded it.
But the first owners retained the right to manufacture the thermostatic valve because the Göte engineer Samuel Skogsfors, who revived the family business in 1937, designed it. In 1939, Skogsfors patented his invention. Since then, the company has been called ESBE. It later added drives to its list in the mid-1970s. Despite more than a century of activity, the enterprise never left its founding city or changed its logo.
A distinctive square with rounded corners defines ESBE’s visual identity. Its structure makes it distinctive. This geometric figure consists of a wide plus sign (+), covering the entire inner surface and leaving only a small space for four black mini-squares along the sides. A diagonal line divides the cross into two identical zones: blue and red.
On the left side, the technical and production company name appears in wide, massive glyphs. The letters are uppercase and slightly extended forward, so the internal gaps are longer than usual. The ” S ” ends are curved, so they look like serifs. But there are no serifs; the inscription is grotesquely made. Moreover, “B” and “E” are very similar because they share the same horizontal stripes. The tight inter-character spacing also emphasizes their similarity, making it seem as if neighboring glyph strokes are connected. This is seen in the last two letters.
Font and Colors
The ESBE logo uses the MicroSquare Bold Extended typeface, which resembles the Microgramma Bold Extended. The main features of these two fonts are extended forward strokes, bold glyphs, and no serifs. This is a rather colorful sign, dominated by rich shades of red (leaning toward burgundy) and two shades of blue (saturated and light). Black and white also complement it, serving as the background.


