Whirlpool Logo

Whirlpool Logo PNG

Rotary washing machines proved so popular in the 1940s that the manufacturer adopted the name and logo of Whirlpool, the brand under which household appliances were sold. Therefore, the brand and the corporation that owns it are now named similarly and use similar visual symbols.

The Whirlpool brand was born in 1911 when Louis Cassius Upton, an insurance agent, founded the Upton Machine Company with his uncle. After that, they began experimenting with washing machines, introducing electric motors into their design. And in the second half of the 1940s, rotating washing machines appeared in the assortment.

Meaning and History

The Whirlpool brand emblems have changed many times, and this happened simultaneously with the update of the parent company’s identity of the same name. So the only detail by which their logos can be distinguished is the word “CORPORATION.” The trademark does not have it, but there is a black inscription “Whirlpool” threaded into a gold ring. The last element symbolizes the manufacturer’s desire to sell only reliable, high-quality household appliances. It is also a sign of innovation, a hint at the expansion of the range and the corporation’s growth. The ring became especially important in 2016 when the swirling pattern above the “W” disappeared.

What is Whirlpool?

Whirlpool is the flagship brand of the American appliance manufacturer Whirlpool Corporation. It is distributed in the countries of North and South America, Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East. Its main products are modern kitchen and bathroom equipment.

1949 – 1955

In the 1949 logo, the brand name was dark red. A semi-cohesive handwritten font with slightly careless lines was used for its design. Almost all the letters in the word were connected: the link was missing only between “W” and “h” and between “p” and “o.”

1955 – 1962

After RCA joined the Whirlpool brand, household appliances began to be sold under the general RCA Whirlpool brand. As a result, a monogram of the letters “R,” “C,” and “A” in a white ring was added to the already existing logo. She was on the left side. One of the “A” diagonals at the bottom turned into lightning, symbolizing household appliances’ power and reliability. The font of the title block was more rounded and smoother than in the previous version. The color changed to white, and the background appeared in the form of a red rectangle.

1962 – 1967

During this period, two versions of the emblem were used, with the word “Whirlpool” consisting of flattened letters in black. The font remained cursive, but the style was broadly Arabic. One logo had a circle with the monogram “RCA” on the left. In another design, a black-and-white spiral hovered above the “W” – a whirlpool, a symbol of rotary washing machines.

1967 – 1985

In 1967, the brand name was written in long serif bold, similar to DSType’s Acta ExtraBold or FontSite Inc.’s Baskerville FS Bold. The word remained black, but the tall letters made it look more impressive. Above the “W” was a spiral, which in the new version was reduced.

1985 – 2010

The designers slightly increased the thickness of the glyphs, due to which the upper serifs of the letter “W” and the next “h” connected into one line. The font remained the same: geometric serif. The spiral vortex has stayed the same. But around the word “Whirlpool” appeared a golden ring located diagonally. On the one hand, it crossed the “po,” and on the other, it went beyond the “irl.” In the front of the ring, just above the “oo,” there was an extension with a hook-shaped notch. The artists wanted to depict a wrench – something that is usually associated with technology.

2010 – 2016

After the redesign carried out in 2010, the logo became visually cleaner. First, the serifs disappeared from the inscription. The new typeface was similar to the slightly modified Open Sans Semibold currently used in Whirlpool’s official typography. The developers only slightly squeezed the two “o” on the sides and made subtle asymmetrical cuts on the tops of the “h,” “r,” “l,” and “p.”

Second, the swirling swirl above the first “W” has changed. There is white space between the black stripes because they are thinner. Thirdly, the golden ring lost its iconic hook and became smaller in diameter. And its back side was erased so that “irl” was on a white background, like all other letters.

2016 – today

The leading brand in small and large home appliances has updated its logo to showcase its continued growth. The black-and-white spiral used since 1962 is no longer above the capital “W.” The gold ring is still slightly smaller than the previous version, and the designers have also balanced it by removing the asymmetrical protrusion. But the word “Whirlpool” remains the same as before, except for muting the color scheme.

Font and Colors

If the whirlwind over the letter “W” could be correlated with the operation of washing machines, then the modern Whirlpool symbol is not tied to specific types of household appliances. The main part of the emblem is a golden ring. It represents the reliability and innovation of the brand and its desire to sell quality products. This is a universal sign associated with the parent company and its flagship brand.

The brand’s name used to be written in a serif typeface, possibly a mix of Century Schoolbook Condensed and Century Schoolbook Bold with elements of John Hancock CP. None of the listed options correspond to the used antiqua by 100%. The word “Whirlpool” in the modern logo consists of sans-serif letters. This may be a modification of the Open Sans Semibold corporate font. But the color scheme has not changed for a long time: like many years ago, it combines black, white, and gold.

Whirlpool color codes