Toyota Logo

Toyota Logo PNG

The Toyota logo is characterized by a pronounced oriental approach to understanding its visualization. The large oval symbolizes the living space; perpendicular – the heart of the brand and the buyer, mutual trust; negative space – core values.

Meaning and History

The famous Toyota logo, consisting of three ovals, appeared in 1989. Before that, verbal trademarks were used that allowed to identify the brand.

What is Toyota?

Toyota is the flagship brand of Toyota Motor Corporation, the world’s largest automobile manufacturer. The company was founded in Japan in 1937, and now it is a part of the Toyota Group conglomerate. Its product line includes crossovers, SUVs, pickup trucks, buses, and luxury cars. The most famous models are hybrid electric cars.

1935 – 1949

At the very beginning, the company was called Toyoda after Sakichi Toyoda. This word has become the central element of the logo. It was depicted inside a rectangle with cut corners, which, in turn, was in the middle of the octagon. To make the inscription readable, the designers chose sans serif bold and used red Latin letters. The debut emblem is found on the company’s early cars.

1949 – 1989

The manufacturer held an open competition for the best logo design. The winning version contained Japanese characters denoting Sakichi Toyoda. They were located on the background of a red circle with a double contour.

It was then that the company changed its name to Toyota. Its owners felt that the dull consonant “t” sounds better than the voiced “d.” Also, the word “Toyota,” written by katakana, consists of eight traits (the so-called Jikaku), and figure eight in Japan is considered a lucky number. Another reason for rebranding is the expansion of a small company to the size of a corporate enterprise.

1958 – 1969

In 1958, the developers removed geometric shapes from the emblem and made the inscription in English. The result was a concise trademark: the black word “Toyota” on a white background. Strokes of letters of uneven thickness. At the ends – narrow long serifs.

1969 – 1978

The new logo is not much different from the previous one. Designers changed the font, preferring the classic Helvetica. It is characterized by straight lines, clear geometric shapes, and the absence of serifs. At the same time, the printed characters in the word are so close that the “Y” literally rests on two “O” on the sides.

1978 – today

In 1978, the inscription became more readable due to the increased letter spacing. Red replaced black.

1989 – today

In the late 1980s, the company has a logo with a corporate symbol in the form of three ovals. It was timed to coincide with the 50th anniversary of Toyota, but brand managers began to develop it five years before the anniversary date. In 2004, designers modernized the image by introducing ovals in a silver-metal version. To achieve a 3D effect, they are used shadows, highlights, outlines, and a gradient.

The trademark became so famous that it was stolen by the private automobile manufacturer Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co. In 2003, she used the so-called “Merry logo,” which looked like a registered trademark of Toyota. But the court decided differently and did not see signs of unfair competition in what was happening. The case was closed at the end of 2003. Geely changed the corporate symbol but did not recognize the obvious similarity.

2010 – 2019 (United States)

In 2010, the logo with silver ovals began to be used to promote the Toyota brand. The designers kept the structure of the previous version but recolored the figures, adding some sparkle to them. So they imitated the metal badge that adorned the hoods of cars. To achieve the right texture, the developers experimented with color. They made the gradient uneven: the central part of the emblem was light, and there were blackouts along the edges. The side edges of the ovals were also dark gray, which created a 3D effect. The silver palette emphasized perfection and sophistication.

As for the inscription “TOYOTA,” its location, scale, and shape have not changed. The letters remained capital, bold, and still had no serifs. The only thing that has changed is the color. It has acquired a burgundy hue.

2019 – today (United States)

In 2019, the composition of three ovals became completely white and ended up in a large red square. The Toyota Branding Guide calls this element the “staging platform.” The designers chose the company’s corporate color for the edging: Toyota Red (#EB0A1E). It symbolizes a gambling spirit, a thirst for speed, and a passion for cars. Geometric shapes located inside the quadrilateral are perfectly white (#FFFFFF). This is an example of negative space, where the object is formed by an empty area so that it can be seen at the expense of contrast. The presented version is still used in the USA.

In the horizontal configuration logo, the word “TOYOTA” is to the right of the square. The developers have kept the traditional bold sans-serif font and left the letters in capitals but recolored them in black (#000000). Bright and saturated colors are the main thing that distinguishes the American version of the emblem from the European one because the latter contains only a dark gray (#58595B) composition of ovals.

2020 – today (Europe)

This is a flat 2D version. The name of the car company has been abolished – only a graphic sign has been used. The brand name is encrypted in three ovals of different sizes. Geometric shapes are arranged so that all letters are visible in them. The small horizontal and vertical ovals form a “T.” They also have a distinct “Y.” There is also an “A” with a crossbar in the middle. Both “O” is read in all ovals. The red square and the textual designation of the trademark are absent because the developers focused on monochrome, leaving the combination of black and white. The first is the Toyota logo; the second is the background.

Font and Colors

The emblem contains three ovals, which are located symmetrically. Two small perpendicular ellipses symbolize the heart of Toyota and the heart of the customer. The points of their intersection are trust and mutually beneficial cooperation. The connected geometric shapes are similar to “T,” the first letter in the manufacturer’s name. And they also depict the steering wheel of a car.

The large oval denotes the living space that Toyota spans. The void left and right of “T” represents the core brand values: honesty, innovation, quality, and responsibility. The uneven thickness of the lines is a hint of Japanese brush art.

The famous logo first appeared on the luxury Celsior sedan. Then he “migrated” to the rest of the cars, sitting on the back of the trunk. But the front panel is also not empty: each model has its distinctive sign on it. For example, Lexus has the letter “L” placed in a circle.

During the period when Toyoda changed its name to Toyota, the company management revised its spelling. The debut version uses a classic serif typeface. Since 1969, a sleek sans serif font from the Sans Serif series has been used in the most simple design. Minimalism is also emphasized in the color, where red is predominant. But it was used only at the beginning and now, and the rest of the time the logo was black.

Toyota color codes

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