“The drinks of the company are the best offer. At any party, they will flow like water and give tasters a fountain of emotions and pleasure,” the Schweppes logo guarantees. With each sip, the taste of lemonade and ale is more pleasant.
Schweppes: Brand overview
Founded: | 1783 |
Founder: | Johann Jacob Schweppe |
Headquarters: |
Geneva, Republic of Geneva |
Website: | schweppes.com |
Meaning and History
The brand was born from a discovery made by the chemist Joseph Priestley. Then Johann Jacob Schweppe offered to make carbonated mineral water bottled in non-permeable bottles based on the innovation. He invented the industrial technology of carbonizing water and organized its sale. At the end of the 18th century, the entrepreneur left Switzerland and moved to London to expand and promote the business. In 1843 his company began selling sparkling mineral water from Holywell Spring in Malvern Hills on the border between the English counties of Herefordshire and Worcestershire.
In 1969, this producer of soft drinks was renamed Cadbury Schweppes. This event was due to its merger with Cadbury. But over time, their alliance fell apart: the company separated again in 2008 because its beverage subsidiary in the United States got its independence and Keurig Dr. Pepper’s name. Now it owns the Schweppes brand in the United States and Canada.
At the same time, the brand has always paid considerable attention to visual identity and marketing. It used graphics to promote itself in the 1920s and 1930s, commissioning several posters from artist William Barribal. Later, the London-based advertising studio STGarland Advertising Service (more specifically, Edward Whitehead) came up with the unique word “Schweppervescence,” which perfectly conveyed the hissing and bursting of bubbles in an open bottle of soda water. After five years of using the phrase in advertising, the agency sold it for £150 to Schweppes.
In addition, the brand was an innovator in the industrial production of soda and sweet lemonade. The brand has experienced several transitions, mergers, and expansions reflected in its identity. However, it has retained its original style – concise, tenacious, clear, and accurately conveyed in a personal logo. Most of the modernization touched on the typeface, which has survived five revisions.
1783 – 1918
The debut Schweppes logo is notable for its brevity. There is nothing extra in it – only brand name in bold type. The white letters stand out clearly against the red background, shaped like a rectangle. The letters are in upper case and have the same size, except for the “S,” which is much bigger than the rest of the characters.
1918 – 1948
Typographers radically changed the word “Schweppes,” making it lowercase and less formal. It is now liberal: with thin curved letters and loose curves. The characters are shaped, rounded (except for the “w”), with flowing lines. The “p” and “h” have sharpened ends of their stems, and the “c” has bold dots. In addition, all letters have serifs, but they are so small as to be almost invisible.
1948 – 1959
In the 1948 version, italics appeared for the first time. The slanting spelling of the brand name and the elongated upward letters added to its spontaneity. Later, this version was brought back and made the main one, but this was its debut appearance for now. The designers slightly increased the serifs on the ends, making them much clearer than in the previous emblem. The basic color palette is black and white.
1960 – 1975
The designers redid the Schweppes logo, using simple letters without serifs. Black, as before, remained the main color of the wordmark, adding seriousness and professionalism to the laconic inscription. The designers connected all the letters, so they stand close to each other. However, due to the ample intra-letter space, the lettering does not look heavy.
1975 – 2012
This period is characterized by the appearance of graphic elements and the expansion of the color scheme. For example, a wide yellow ribbon appeared obliquely in the emblem. In it, the authors put the name of the soft drink brand, choosing the 1948-1959 version. At the top and bottom of the diagonal rectangle are gray stripes with small black scars. In addition, the Schweppes logo features a medallion that conveys an important historical event in the company’s life. It is a red oval with a double border that depicts a three-tiered silver-colored fountain. The year of the beginning of bottling the sparkling water is indicated below it.
2012 – today
The current logo almost repeats the previous one, but with some adjustments. The developers removed the gray lines at the top and bottom of the tape and made it more diagonal, increasing the inclination angle. Moreover, they changed the background color for discreet beige (closer to golden) and rounded two opposite ends – top left and bottom right. The designers replaced the gray with white on the icon to make the fountain stand out more clearly. They also removed the frame.
Font and Colors
The design of this company’s logo is divided into two periods: before 1975 and after. The initial versions are just a search for their own identity. The later versions, on the contrary, speak of the conceptual maturity of the brand, which finally found its visual style. In 1851 Schweppes was the official drink of the GREAT EXHIBITION, a high-level event held at London’s Crystal Palace. In memory of this event, the brand decided to take the image of the fountain located there. It is represented on the medallion.
Schweppes text logos use several types of fonts. The most modern ones are Formica Bold Italic, Columbia Serial ExtraBold Italic, Castle TS Medium Italic. The color palette has evolved from black and white monochrome to gold and black glitter. Red, gray, and warm shade yellow are also present in the intermediate versions.
Schweppes color codes
Fire Engine Red | Hex color: | #d71827 |
---|---|---|
RGB: | 215 24 39 | |
CMYK: | 0 89 82 16 | |
Pantone: | PMS 185 C |
Mustard | Hex color: | #ffe153 |
---|---|---|
RGB: | 255 225 83 | |
CMYK: | 0 12 67 0 | |
Pantone: | PMS 114 C |
Dark Gray | Hex color: | #acadb1 |
---|---|---|
RGB: | 172 173 177 | |
CMYK: | 3 2 0 31 | |
Pantone: | PMS Cool Gray 5 C |
Neon Gray | Hex color: | #818286 |
---|---|---|
RGB: | 129 130 134 | |
CMYK: | 4 3 0 47 | |
Pantone: | PMS Cool Gray 8 C |
Raisin Black | Hex color: | #231f20 |
---|---|---|
RGB: | 35 31 32 | |
CMYK: | 0 11 9 86 | |
Pantone: | PMS Neutral Black C |