Target Logo

Target Logo PNG

The company knows its target audience well, and all the products presented in the stores definitely fall into the shopping cart. The Target logo demonstrates the energy and focuses on the success that sets the brand apart.

Meaning and History

In 1960, Dayton Company executives wanted to open several discount stores to add variety to the family department store chain. But before that, they decided to create a new brand from scratch and think over all the nuances, right down to the logo.

Then-Marketing Director Stewart K. Widdess developed the concept. His team had a choice of two hundred names. The most advantageous variant seemed to them “Target” – a word that symbolized the store’s desire to hit the bull’ s-eye and guess what society needs. It also formed the basis of the famous red and white logo.

What is Target?

It is the sixth-largest retailer in the United States. He operates a chain of retail stores for two brands – Target and SuperTarget. The company was founded in 1902. Its headquarters are located in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

1962 – 1968

On May 1, 1962, the Target store was officially opened. A sign greeted buyers with six concentric circles. Their colors alternated: three circles, including the central one, were white, and three more (one after another) were red. In the middle was the horizontal “Target” lettering in black italics.

It was the first brand logo created by the design team led by Stewart K. Widdess. To tie the brand name to the name, they used the inside of the target, the Bullseye, as the centerpiece.

1968 – today

In the late 1960s, Target stores began to appear across the country. Simultaneously with the expansion, the company changed its logo, simplifying it to a red circle surrounded by two rings: white and red. The inscription has disappeared, so the symbol has become more universal. It is remembered that it was used in an advertising poster that was specially designed for the opening of Shop at Target in 1969: the famous target looked like a dangling earring.

1968 – 1972

In 1968, Target had a logo that consisted of only one word. It was the name of the company, written in large white letters with thin black strokes. For the design, a font similar to ParaType’s Pragmatica Shadow Italic was used, only without thickened outlines. Absolutely all glyphs were capitalized. Such a minimalistic version of the emblem existed until the early 1970s.

1971 – 1972

In the first half of the 1970s, a rondel was added to the inscription, consisting of three concentric circles with alternating red and white colors. In fact, the designers combined Target’s iconic symbol with a previously created wordmark. The design of geometric figures in the form of a target was located in the upper right corner and partially covered the vertical stroke of the last “T.”

1972 – 1973

Over time, the white-red rondel was moved to the other side – to the left of the inscription. By moving the round symbol, the designers enlarged it, and the word “TARGET” was almost halved. That is, it turned out that the graphic element came to the fore and became more important than the company’s name. To make it better visible, the authors of the emblem focused on bright red.

1973 – 2004

In 1973, designers tried to highlight the inscription using font and color. To do this, they enlarged the letters, aligned them, and made them completely black. Despite the elimination of italics, the general shape of the glyphs remained the same:

• The “G” still resembled a swirling arrow.
• The “R” had an elegant ridge at the bottom.
• The middle stroke of the “E” was shorter than the others.
• A similar typeface is Foundation Sans Bold by FontSite Inc.

2004 – 2018

With the advent of the new millennium, Target decided on bold experiments. She presented a logo in which the rondel was record-breaking enlarged and moved up, while the inscription, on the contrary, became very small and ended up at the bottom. In this version, the letters were repainted in the same shade of red used for the rings.

2018 – today

In 2018, another radical change took place in the company’s identity. As part of the redesign, all letters in the word “target” were converted to lowercase. But the font type hasn’t changed: it’s still a bold geometric grotesque. The concentric circles on top represent the target. That is, it is, in fact, a graphic reflection of the brand name.

Font and Colors

More than 96% of American consumers associate the iconic red and white target with Target, a survey found. This was achieved thanks to a high-profile advertising campaign carried out by the brand owners. In 1999 a real Bullseye appeared – a bull terrier named Arielle. Marketers decided to decorate the dog’s left eye with three concentric circles that looked exactly like the retailer’s emblem.

Customers have always loved the clean design and minimalism of the logo. Perfect symmetry makes it harmonious: all sides match in shape, color, and size. The red and white rondel evokes only positive associations because it symbolizes the target – the embodiment of determination and success.

The word “Target” has been written since 1968 in a font similar to Helvetica Neue from the Bold subfamily. It belongs to the German concern Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG and is distributed only on a paid basis.

The color scheme also rarely changed, except for the occasional use of black lettering. Now all the elements are red and white. Moreover, there are two versions of Bullseye, which differ in the alternation of colors. An emblem with two white circles is relevant when the background is red. She often appears on the signs of Target shopping centers.

Red (shade # CC0000) and white balance each other out. The first color symbolizes energy and passion, while the second symbolizes elegance and style. Their classic contrast is designed to grab buyers’ attention.

Target color codes