Telekom Logo PNG
“We are spreading our signal” is the main message of the Telekom logo. The sign is like a repeater tower that helps to unite subscribers over long distances. The emblem conveys the idea of communication, with waves and packets of information running through the air.
Telekom (full name Deutsche Telekom, DT) is a telecommunications service provider in Germany. It appeared in January 1995, following the privatization of the German state postal service, Deutsche Bundespost. The company has grown to become a leading fixed and mobile operator, broadband Internet provider, digital TV provider, and IT service provider. Today, it is the largest specialized service provider in Europe, headquartered in Bonn.
To modernize the country’s telecommunications market and master the latest technologies in related areas, the government approved the privatization of the former state structure Deutsche Bundespost. At this time (summary for April 2020), the state owns 14.5 percent of the shares and 17.4 percent of the state-owned bank KfW.
From its inception to the present day, this service has made great strides toward achieving leading positions in the global market. Her career is a history of mergers that happened regularly over a long period. She has gone far beyond the country’s borders, providing services abroad in the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Poland, the USA, Macedonia, Slovakia, and Romania. She does this not directly but through her subsidiaries, of which she has several.
Meaning and History
The Telekom emblem has become a hallmark of quality service. There have been many logos in the service’s history, though one in particular became the progenitor of the current image. It followed the structure of the debut logo and was in use from 1989 to 1995. It was the personal symbol of the Deutsche Bundespost.
What is Telekom?
Telekom is the short name for Deutsche Telekom AG, also known as DT or DTAG. It is one of Europe’s largest and most influential telecommunications service providers. It appeared in 1995, but it had a predecessor: the postal organization Deutsche Bundespost, created in 1947.
1989 – 1991
Having become an independent entity in the profile market, the company initially used an emblem that closely resembled the one it had inherited from the postal service. The logo depicts a horn with left and right arrows. They indicate the scale of the coverage of services and represent a complex man: instead of hands, he has a coil of a musical instrument, instead of hands, arrows, and instead of legs a tape of a horn. To the right of this symbol was the name of Deutsche Bundespost Telekom.
1991 – 1995
The brand symbol remains the same. On the right, the word “Telekom” is in pink, with each letter separated by a gray square. It is a graphic interpretation of the horn melody’s musical notation, the postal communication symbol. The audio branding was created by the Interbrand Zintzmeyer & Lux studio, with the support of musicians Chris McHale and Joe Barone. Next comes the word “Mobilfunk” in a classic serif typeface.
1995 – 2007
Like the previous one, this logo was created by the consulting agency Interbrand using the TeleAntiqua brand font. Here, a large pink “T” is complemented by four gray squares arranged in one horizontal line. Three of them are on the left, and one is on the right. Also on the right is the gray phrase “Deutsche Telekom.” The words are split into two lines, left justified.
2007 – 2013
In 2007, another rebranding took place: the German service T-Mobile merged with its subsidiary T-Home. As a result of the merger, the Telekom brand appeared. Today, the word is used as an add-on to all local departments. For example, Hrvatski Telekom, Deutsche Telekom (parent company), Slovak Telekom, and the like. The emblem has a single letter “T” in the classic spelling, elongated, thin, and serif. To the right and the left of it, there is a horizontal row of ten miniature squares.
2013 – 2022
During the redesign, the developers removed several squares, reducing them to four: two under the “T” hat and two on the right, spaced apart. The logo’s color and style are preserved in pink and fuchsia, with a classic font.
2022 – today
In 2022, the international consulting company MetaDesign created a new logo for Telekom. But there is nothing revolutionary about it, as the most noticeable change was the disappearance of the extra squares on the right side. Now, “T” is complete with only two pairs of quadrilaterals. The letter’s shape remained the same, though the designers slightly adjusted its geometry. They expanded the vertical and horizontal parts and flattened the “T’s” edges into a rectangle. This made it possible to achieve symmetry. The emblem is traditionally fuchsia.
Font and Colors
The modernization of the German telecommunications company’s visual identity took place in parallel with its development. The emblem discarded unnecessary elements and grew into a laconic version, starting as a heap of elements. Now it is a graphically accurate logo that reflects both the concept and the operator-provider’s name. It also conveys a story, since each square is a stylized note in a melody that mail carriers once trumpeted on a special horn. Moreover, “T” is the first character of the company’s name and replaces one of the notes.
The Telecommunications Service has retained the original typeface, so the emblems use the Century Modern FS Book Condensed font, including the single “T.” The corporate palette is also stable: the logos feature fuchsia (dark pink) and black.