SAP Logo PNG
The SAP logo demonstrates progressive thinking and the development of machine intelligence. Software development from scratch, a new approach to accounting, and database management characterize the company and are reflected in the emblem.
SAP began in 1971 inside IBM’s German office in Mannheim. IBM had assigned five engineers, Dietmar Hopp, Hasso Plattner, Klaus Wellenreuther, Klaus Tschira, and Hans-Werner Hector, to build a system for moving Xerox business processes onto IBM platforms. When the project was canceled, they left IBM and founded Systemanalyse Programmentwicklung on April 1, 1972.
The first client was the German branch of Imperial Chemical Industries, whose computer center the founders used because SAP had no machines of its own. In 1973, the company released RF, a financial accounting system that processed real-time data. That idea became the basis for SAP R/1: business data should be updated as transactions occurred, not at the end of the day.
In 1976, the company became a GmbH and took the name Systeme, Anwendungen und Produkte in der Datenverarbeitung. In 1977, it moved its headquarters to Walldorf, where SAP remains based. Expansion followed with Austria in 1977 and France in 1978. SAP R/2 arrived in 1979, adding materials management and production planning. By the late 1980s, revenue had reached 500 million marks, staff had grown to 1,700, and SAP had opened an office in Philadelphia.
SAP became SAP AG in 1988 and listed its shares on the Frankfurt and Stuttgart stock exchanges. Its breakthrough came in 1992 with SAP R/3, which moved enterprise software from mainframes to client-server systems running on UNIX and Windows. Early major clients included Coca-Cola and Siemens. SAP entered the DAX in 1995 and the STOXX Europe 50 in 2003. In 2010-2011, SAP HANA introduced in-memory analytics, followed by SuccessFactors in 2011, Ariba in 2012, and SAP S/4HANA in 2015.
Meaning and History
The software company has grown remarkably over the past half-century. Its identity has evolved with its visual symbols that help identify SAP in the service market. The first trademark logo was as striped as IBM’s because, at the time, horizontal lines were associated with computers. Peter Leyh, one of SAP’s five founding engineers, designed it. Colleagues gathered in Juergen Hachenberger’s kitchen to watch the traditional Friday football match. And then Leyh, sitting at the kitchen table, drew the debut logo: a black square with a white brand name.
Later, a triangle was added to the quadrilateral, making the geometric figure look like a rectangular trapezoid. After numerous experiments with colors (within the blue palette) and textures (replacing the stripes with a solid fill), the logo reached its current form. Over time, the square and the triangle merged because, in 2000, the dividing line between them disappeared. A year earlier, the horizontal stroke of the letter “A” became arcuate. This is how SAP’s “brand smile” appeared.
2000 – 2011
The software developer entered the new millennium with an updated logo. The “SAP” lettering was clear and understandable inside a dark-blue trapezoid. White letters took up almost all the space, but there wasn’t enough room, so there were no spaces between “S,” “A,” and “P.” The designers gave it a friendly smile, reflecting the company’s customer-friendly attitude.
2011 – today
In 2011, the base was changed to light blue with a trendy gradient. In 2014, SAP executives attempted to eliminate the trapezoid and make the inscription orange, but the experiment failed. The public did not accept the radically new image, so the company was forced to revert to the 2011 design, which is still used today.
Font and Colors
SAP’s experience proves that brand recognition is impossible without a conservative approach to identity. Almost all software vendor icons share a common structure. Designers changed the emblem’s traditional shape and repainted the inscription orange only when SAP’s shareholders, customers, and employees were dissatisfied. Therefore, returning to the old style was the only right decision.
The logo’s typography is based on a classic bold sans-serif, but the developers added a “flavor” by modifying some strokes. They arched the straight horizontal line in the middle of the “A” to make the arc resemble a smile and smooth the “S.”
Although the lettering is almost always white, SAP’s favorite color is blue. The trapezoid in the latest logos is dark or light blue, using the current gradient.