Steam Logo PNG
“Control your reality and download the most interesting games,” suggests the Steam logo. “We have all the tools to make them work flawlessly.” Inside the service is a huge list of interesting arcades, sandboxes, and shooters ready for use.
Steam: Brand overview
| Founded: | September 12, 2003 |
| Founder: | Valve |
| Headquarters: |
Washington, United States |
| Website: | store.steampowered.com |
Meaning and History
Gabe Newell, one of the founders of Valve and Steam, made his dream come true: he created a shopping service where any gamer can create a personal collection of games and transfer them to other users. At the same time, Gabe paid great attention to corporate culture because each company’s success depends on it.
At first glance, it seems that the “pipeline” theme unites all Valve products. It is enough to look at the words used for the names: Valve, steam cloud, steam work. But in reality, the proprietary concept has nothing to do with pipes. The Steam logo makes it clear that “steam” is not associated with heating networks but with a steam locomotive. At least, this is evidenced by the link of the crank mechanism, which the artists depicted.
What is Steam?
Steam is the largest distribution platform for computer games and other content, including movies, anime, soundtracks, and software. The client is available in 28 languages and is adapted to all popular operating systems. Moreover, this is not only a store but also a social network where you can contact other gamers. But initially, Steam was created in 2003 only to update games from Valve automatically.
2002 – today
The first game store icon appeared during the beta testing phase. In March 2002, Valve announced a new product and introduced a graphic and lettering emblem. The graphic part seems to be something abstract to the uninitiated user: it looks like three circles of different diameters, which are encircled by rings and connected by wide stripes. But this is not a simple set of geometric shapes, but cranks and connecting rods – the parts that set the locomotive in motion.
The word “STEAM” is written to the right of the main crank. Designers used a simple strict sans serif font for the text to not distract attention from the drawn element. The black and white palette emphasizes the minimalist composition.
2014 – today
The new Steam logo was created in 2014 but only appeared on the site in 2016. This version is missing the name of the marketplace – the text mark is used separately. The lack of lettering is compensated for by a refined design: now, the crank mechanism’s link is completely white and enclosed in a large blue circle. The color of the background shape is not uniform: from below, it acquires a light shade, and from above, it turns into a dark one. The linear gradient makes the image appear 3D.
Font and Colors
The identity of the Steam platform is based on its name. The emblem creators established an associative relationship between steam and steam locomotive, depicting a system of connected cranks and connecting rods. As you know, this mechanism is involved in the rotation of the wheels: in gear locomotives, Steam moves reciprocating pistons, and these, in turn, act on the crank, which is located on the main wheels.
By the way, the crank mechanism uses plugs that served as inspiration for the name Valve. So the Steam logo is directly related to the parent company because it corresponds to the engineering theme. Designers depicted it in two versions: classic monochrome and white and blue. They are used simultaneously both on the site and as a program icon.
STEAM is only present on the first logo created in 2002. This is a sample font FF Din OT Bold, which is based on DIN-Engschrift and DIN-Mittelschrift. The original lettering was developed by the Dutch typographer Albert-Jan Pool in 1995.
In the second version, there are no inscriptions, but the drawing is more colorful. The designers have combined several shades of blue, presenting them in the form of a smooth gradient. White is used as an additional one: the elements of the crank mechanism are painted with it. In the first version of the logo, the opposite is true: the image is predominantly black, and the background is white.
Steam color codes
| Eerie Black | Hex color: | #171a21 |
|---|---|---|
| RGB: | 23 26 33 | |
| CMYK: | 30 21 0 87 | |
| Pantone: | PMS Black 6 C |
| Maya Blue | Hex color: | #66c0f4 |
|---|---|---|
| RGB: | 102 192 244 | |
| CMYK: | 58 21 0 4 | |
| Pantone: | PMS 306 C |
| Yankees Blue | Hex color: | #1b2838 |
|---|---|---|
| RGB: | 27 40 56 | |
| CMYK: | 52 29 0 78 | |
| Pantone: | PMS 296 C |
| Dark Slate Gray | Hex color: | #2a475e |
|---|---|---|
| RGB: | 42 71 94 | |
| CMYK: | 55 24 0 63 | |
| Pantone: | PMS 3035 C |
| Columbia Blue | Hex color: | #c7d5e0 |
|---|---|---|
| RGB: | 199 213 224 | |
| CMYK: | 11 5 0 12 | |
| Pantone: | PMS 545 C |
What does the Steam logo represent?
The Steam logo represents the name of this platform because it is associated with a steam locomotive. It depicts geometric figures and connecting rods and cranks – parts of the mechanism that set the railway traction stock in motion.
When did Steam change its logo?
The last change to the Steam logo was on August 15, 2014, but the new version did not appear on the site until 2016. And by 2018, a blue circle with a gradient and a white crank mechanism detail began to be used as a client icon. At the same time, the previous version of the emblem, created in 2002, has not disappeared anywhere – it is still an element of the visual identity of the platform.
