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. Her identity has evolved with her visual symbols that help identify SAP in the service market. The first trademark logo was as striped as the IBM graphic because, at that time, horizontal lines were associated with computers. The design was developed by Peter Leyh, one of the five founding engineers of SAP. 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 current version of the logo emerged. In the course of evolution, 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 has entered the new millennium with an updated logo. It was clear and understandable “SAP” lettering inside a dark-blue trapezoid. White letters took up almost all the space, but there was not enough space for them, so there were no spaces between “S,” “A,” and “P.” The designers made it so that “A” smiled affably, demonstrating the company’s friendly attitude towards customers.
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. The only time the designers changed the traditional shape of the emblem and repainted the inscription in orange was when it met with dissatisfaction from SAP’s shareholders, customers, and employees. Therefore, returning to the old style was the only right decision.
The logo’s typography is based on the classic bold sans-serif, but the developers have given it a “flavor” by modifying some of the 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.