Sierra Entertainment Logo

Sierra Entertainment Logo PNG

The video game developer uses an emblem with a modern design to show its innovative approach. The Sierra Entertainment logo embodies everything that allows the company to remain unique: its traditional symbols, historical heritage, and creative concept.

Meaning and History

This video game developer was originally known as On-Line Systems. The Williams spouses called him when they opened an office in the California town of Simi Valley in the backyard of a local printing house. Moreover, they did not plan to use their company in gaming: Ken (a programmer from IBM) intended to make it a platform for creating software for the Apple II and TRS-80 computer OS.

But fate decreed otherwise. One day, they accidentally got a teletype terminal with host system applications, among which they discovered Colossal Cave Adventure and started playing it. They were so carried away by this genre that they decided to come up with something similar but in a more advanced format, using the graphics capabilities of the Apple II. The result of their efforts was the video game Mystery House.

Then the company went through several relocations, changes of names, and owners until it was liquidated. Its revival took place in 2014 to continue producing and distributing computer games in the western genre. The developer got its current name in 1982 after moving the office to Oakhurst, California. The word “Sierra” was chosen because this city is located near the Sierra Nevada mountain range, which was reflected in the new logo. And there are eight of them in total.

What is Sierra Entertainment?

Sierra Entertainment is a video game company owned by Activision. She is known for works such as Gabriel Knight, King’s Quest, Space Quest, and many more. The year of its appearance is 1979. In 2008, it ceased its activities, and in 2014 it was restarted. The founders of this game developer are the Williams spouses (Ken and Roberta). The headquarters is located in Los Angeles, California.

1980 – 1982

The debut logo of On-Line Systems (that was the name of Sierra Entertainment at the beginning) appeared later than the company’s opening. It is made in text format and fully conveys its name. The designers depicted a long line on which they placed the inscription to do this. The horizontal stripe starts at the letter “O”: it comes out and stretches along with the entire phrase. The word “On-Line” is large and bold, and “Systems” is small and right-aligned. The emblem is black and white.

1980 – 1983

After moving and renaming in 1982, the video game creator received a new logo. It is based on toponymy, based on geographical location, as it moved to the foothills of the Sierra Nevada, to the California city of Oakhurst. As a result, the main component of the logo was the mountain and coniferous trees depicted nearby. They are taken in a thin ring, from which a solid line extends to the right. If earlier the stripe came from the first letter in the company name, now there is nothing like that. The word “On-Line” is printed, bold, large, and in capital letters. Whereas “Sierra,” on the contrary, is small, bold, and handwritten in cursive. The background is a horizontal rectangle of light green color.

1983 – 1993

The following emblem is presented in a modernist style. It contains a lined circle in which the mountain is located. This element is depicted in monochrome and consists of black and white tones. Due to such a game, a round badge with the Sierra Nevada ridge is formed. To its right is the name of an American company in a completely different font. The letters are large but bold. Both “R” s have rounded legs. The designers removed the colored background, using a neutral space.

1993 – 1998

In this case, the designers finalized an already existing version of the Sierra Entertainment logo. To do this, they repainted it in black and yellow, intensified the shadows on the mountain, changed the font in the title – they removed the grotesque and chose an antiqua. In addition, a dark background appeared, against which the light details of the emblem stand out clearly.

1998 – 2000

In 1998, the video game maker rebranded into five distinct groups. These include Sierra FX, Sierra Sports, Sierra Home, Sierra Attractions, and Sierra Studios. Naturally, the logo has also undergone some changes. It took on a completely different look because the developers excluded the circle with the image of the mountain from it and kept only the text, so the main focus now falls on it. The company’s name is in italics, where the first letter is handwritten, and the rest are printed. The “S” is elongated in the form of a vertical ribbon, to the left of which there are four golden “spikes” of different lengths.

2001 – 2002

During this period, almost all sub-brands were merged again, which required a revision of the visual identity. But the authors did not use the new emblem for long and in a limited number of video games. The designers enhanced the letters, adding light highlights and shadows to them to make them look three-dimensional (two “R” and “A”). They also made the inscription gold and placed it on a black rectangular background.

2002 – 2008

2002 brought another rebranding: the adventure video game company was given the current name Sierra Entertainment. The management returned to the lined circle with the Sierra Nevada mountain range again. The artists made it gold, so the mountain now consists of a yellow gradient combination. The inscription acquired the style of 1998-2000: it is the same black, oblique, elongated, printed, with a ribbon-like “S.” At the end of this period (in 2008), the computer game developer became subordinate to Activision Corporation and ceased to exist as an independent brand.

2014 – today

After a six-year hiatus, the Sierra Entertainment brand has been resurrected to create the much-loved adventure video games. Although it has retained some recognizability, the logo has become much more modern than before. For example, a lined circle with a mountain (the designers moved it to the center) and a winding letter “S” (the rest of the characters received a different spelling). The colors have also changed: blue is now used instead of yellow, and silver is used instead of black.

Font and Colors

The evolution of the logo of this company moved smoothly – not abruptly, with the gradual replacement of some elements by others. In each new version, there was necessarily something from the previous one. This emphasized the continuity of the visual identity and retained the recognition of the video game manufacturer. Even after a long pause in its activity, the designers left some old elements in the emblem.

Since the main focus of the Sierra Entertainment logos is on the name, several types of typefaces have been used. These include variations of Skilt Gothic Ultra Italic (the earliest emblem) and Yoxall Bold (also one of the initial logos). Over time, they were replaced by the grotesque Stowe Titling Regular by Roger White. But the most significant typeface in the history of the company’s identity is the analog of Ponsonby Italic with some changes in cursive writing. It was used not in one but several logos.

The corporate palette is modest and mainly consists of a combination of black and white. It also has yellow, silver, green, gold, and aquamarine blue.

Sierra Entertainment color codes