Papa Johns Logo

Papa John's Pizza LogoPapa John’s Pizza Logo PNG

The solid reach of customers and the scale of the company are visible in the Papa Johns logo. The number of establishments belonging to the network is growing every year. The emblem promises delicious fresh pastries and fast service, which wins customers’ love.

Papa Johns: Brand overview

Founded: October 2, 1984
Founder: John Schnatter
Headquarters:
Cumberland, Georgia, U.S.
Website: papajohns.com
Papa John’s is an American chain of bakery and pizza delivery restaurants and a franchise company that has expanded its points of sale to a very large area. It operates nearly 5,200 establishments. They work both within the country (in 50 states) and abroad (in 44 states). The firm also operates 246 co-branded stores and 35 locations in China. Now it is the fourth largest among similar pizzerias, and in 2016 it even ranked third. Its founder is John Schnatter, an entrepreneur who opened his first restaurant in 1984. The head office is based in Jeffersontown, Kentucky.

Meaning and History

Papa Johns Logo History

A massive project started with a small idea. First, the future businessman set up a closet where brooms used to be kept. It was the backyard of the tavern owned by his father, Mick’s Lounge. She was in Jeffersonville, Indiana. The young man then sold the car and bought used pizza-baking equipment with it, spending $1,600. Gradually, he got the point of sale – in the building of the former toilet. Such harassment is because the father forbade his son to do business, sending him to study. However, he insisted on his own and still became an entrepreneur. And successful.

That is, the conditions for the launch were, to put it mildly, extremely limited. But this did not stop the businessman from creating the fourth largest pizzeria chain in the United States because big things start with small attempts. And so it happened: takeaway pizza was to the taste of many people. A year later, Schnatter moved into the next room. He also pioneered a special sauce for dipping the crust, which was deliciously done.

Papa John's Pizza Symbol

In 1993, the company went public and began to develop rapidly. In 1994, she already had five thousand points of sale, and in 1997 – one and a half thousand. In 2009, the pizza chain founder was able to return his car, which was sold to buy equipment. Now he paid 250 thousand dollars for it, and not the amount for which he sold (1600 dollars). This was the result of the company’s glory, whose logo is known throughout the world. It decorates the entrances to the shops and the branded uniform of the bakers. There are five logo options in total.

What is Papa Johns?

Papa Johns is the trade name of Papa John’s International, Inc. This is one of the largest pizza chains in the United States. Its establishments operate like restaurants but allow food to be ordered, taken away, or delivered. The logo in the form of a convex red inscription is known to residents of at least 49 countries because there are about 5.5 thousand Papa Johns points in the world, which are located on different continents. In addition to traditional pizza, desserts, chicken wings, and drinks are served there.

1984

Papa John's Pizza Logo 1984

The original emblem is simple and is a geometric figure with an inscription inside. This is a red and white banner with an image of an “upside-down plate.” It is painted white, arched, and complemented by a rectangle at the top with the word “Pizza.” The name is written in blue letters, which narrow from the center to the edges.

1984 – 1995

Papa John's Pizza Logo 1984-1995

The designers kept the shape of the inverted arch: they completely circled the geometric figure with a thin green line. All lettering is red. The central letters, as before, are much larger than those on the right and left. This makes the emblem stand out from the rest. The font in the phrase “Papa John’s” also did not change: there were bold characters in upper case without serifs.

1995 – 2019

Papa John's Pizza Logo 1995

The developers designed it a little differently to modernize the logo without affecting the main configuration. They added wide square serifs and green shadows, placed the word “Pizza” on a ribbon with triangular ends, and circled it with a red line.

2018

Papa John's Pizza Logo 2018

The emblem consists of two diagonally arranged rectangles. They are docked closely and slightly offset about each other. The right figure is red; the left is green. They contain the name of the pizzeria chain, divided into two parts. The last “s” is smaller than the others and underlined with a short stripe. Font capital, chopped.

2019 – 2021

Papa John's Pizza Logo 2019

After a few years of experimenting with the visual identity badge, pizzeria management settled on a 1995 version with a font from the 2018 logo. In the transformation process, a massive sign, which at first served as an emblem, turned into a miniature icon intended for advertising. The author of the eternal sign was a marketer who lived next door to John Schnatter during his student days. The developer’s name was lost, like himself, although the future owner of the Papa John’s chain promised him free pizza every week for such work.

In the modern version of the logo, the old shell is preserved, but the content has been changed. Designers have introduced a new font into the old frame – smooth, even, sans-serif. They did the same with the inscription on the tape, using the grotesque. Another modification touched on the color: now, the letters are painted in light scarlet instead of rich red.

Serif typefaces were used only in the middle years: it was Aachen Bold, created by designer Colin Brignall. A font called Italian Plate is currently used – smooth, even, wide.

The color palette is stable because red and green are always present in any configuration of the logo. Red attracts, green inspires confidence, white calms.

2021 – today

Papa John's Pizza Logo

At the end of 2021, the fast-food restaurant chain Papa John’s carried out a large-scale rebranding. She focused on keeping the identity as simple as possible, so she ditched the “Pizza” ribbon and the possessive apostrophe. Now the pizzeria is called simply and clearly: Papa John’s. The redesign also removed the green outline around the text, and the name itself took on the shape of an inverted plate. For this, the Mathews Hale Design studio specialists, who were entrusted with updating the emblem, left the letters in the form of a ladder – with a decrease from the middle to the sides.

Font and Colors

Papa John's Pizza Emblem

The designers replaced the Italian Plate typeface with a different typeface with slightly wider stems and shorter cuts for the “J” and “S.” The Papa John’s corporate palette now consists only of red. All previous logos also feature green.

Papa Johns color codes

Lust Hex color: #e52e24
RGB: 229 46 36
CMYK: 0 80 84 10
Pantone: PMS 187 C

What does the logo symbolize Papa Johns Logo?

The new Papa Johns logo, introduced in 2021, contains nothing but minimalist lettering. If earlier it was dominated by red and green colors, symbolizing tomatoes and basil, now only red remains. Apparently, the company decided to focus on tomatoes. Green appears only in the version where the name is combined with the slogan. According to the owners of the pizzeria chain, a simple emblem reflects the purity and courage of the brand.

What does the Papa Johns logo mean?

In the Papa Johns identity, red is dedicated to tomatoes, and green is dedicated to basil. So the logo’s deep red hue indicates the tomato sauce commonly used on pizza. But the minimalistic design of the inscription speaks of the focus of the restaurant chain on a simple but high-quality service.

What is Papa Johns new logo?

The new Papa Johns logo, introduced in November 2021, contains only the company’s name. It doesn’t have the green frame like the previous version and the small ribbon with the word ‘PIZZA’ on it. Now it’s just a dark red inscription, made in a capital bold sans-serif. The letters increase towards the middle and decrease towards the edges, with very narrow spacing between ‘PAPA’ and ‘JOHNS.’

What does Papa stand for in Papa Johns?

Papa John’s International, Inc is named after John Hampton ‘Papa John’ Schnatter. This American entrepreneur founded his first pizzeria in 1984 when he converted a closet in his father’s tavern. By the way, if we consider PAPA as an acronym, it can be deciphered as follows: ‘People are priority Always.’ This phrase fits perfectly into the concept of the brand.

Why did Papa Johns change its logo?

Pizza chain rebranded in 2021. Papa Johns decided to change the name and logo as part of a global campaign aimed at improving the quality of customer service. The wordmark reflects a new spelling of the word ‘Johns’ - now, it does not contain an apostrophe.