Banana Republic Logo PNG
Banana Republic was established in 1978 by Mel and Patricia Ziegler. The first name of the brand was “Banana Republic Travel & Safari Clothing Company.” Before the brand was purchased by Gap in 1983, it experimented with various banana-themed designs. In most cases.
Meaning and history
The concept of style of the Banana Republic brand is maximum freedom, both in creativity and comfort. And the history of the creation of this popular American clothing brand is a perfect embodiment of these principles. Banana Republic brand was founded in 1978 by Mel and Patricia Ziegler, who were fond of vintage clothes and never dreamed of creating their own business in this field. But fate had it differently.
Mel, who works as a journalist, brought three vintage jackets from one of his business trips, from which his wife Patricia, an artist by profession, sewed one. The couple liked the result so much that she began to miss interesting items of clothing at flea markets and second-hand stores, sewed them into something cool and very fashionable, and sold the resulting masterpieces at the same markets. So the usual hobby turned into a full-fledged business, and in 1978 the Ziegler family founded Banana Republic Travel & Safari Clothing Company, which focused on vintage safari-style items.
The first boutique of the new brand, Republic Travel Bookstore, was opened in 1978 in San Francisco. The company began to grow, but without serious financial injections, it was quite problematic, so in 1983 the Ziegler couple decided to sell Banana Republic to The Gap. However, the founders of the company remained in the management of the brand for another five years. The sale of Banana Republic justified itself very quickly because the brand began to grow at a truly incredible rate.
Since then and to this day, Banana Republic has produced clothes and shoes for men and women, as well as accessories, perfumes, and even jewelry. The clothes are made of natural materials and fabrics and sold at democratic prices, which attracts thousands of new customers every year.
1978 – 1983
The original logo of the Banana Republic brand was composed of contoured uppercase lettering in a fancy old-style typeface, with the first characters of both words and the last of the “Republic” capitalized, and a delicate minimalistic emblem placed in the center. The emblem featured a light-shaded roundel with a cool star made of five banana-shaped strokes. The badge was used by the brand for the first five years of its history.
1983 – Today
The primary logo is basically just the name of the brand. And yet, it has a unique artistic touch due to the choice of typeface. At first glance, it may look like a sans serif type because the serifs are thin and light. They are also sharp, due to which you can compare them with the thorns on a rose.
The proportions of the glyphs are classic ones providing excellent legibility. We can also add that the glyphs are rather light. They feature strokes of varying width.
On the whole, the wordmark looks elegant and distinctive without losing its utilitarian purpose. Apparently, these characteristics of the logo are supposed to represent the brand’s approach to the style of the products it designs.
Icon
While the primary logo is used in the majority of situations when it is necessary to give a visual representation of the brand, sometimes there is just not enough space for the full logo. In these cases, the company uses a compact icon. It features the letters “B” and “R” positioned in a slightly unusual way. There is in fact just the mirror reflection of the “B.” It is placed with its vertical bar next to the “R,” so the two glyphs form a single shape.
This is a fresh approach that makes the icon memorable and distinctive. Due to it, the company stands out among its competitors using just the initials of the brand’s name as the icon.
The icon can be used separately or combined with the main wordmark.
Font
The Seta Reta NF Regular font looks very much like the one used in the Banana Republic logo. TFArrow-Medium is somewhat similar, at least some of the glyphs.
Colors
The palette consists of only two colors, white and black. In the primary version, the name of the company is given in black, while the background is white. However, in many cases, the reversed color scheme is used.
We can point out that the black-and-white palette is pretty characteristic of the logos of fashion brands. It gives the brand lots of freedom as such a logo can be placed over items of just any color. This would be impossible in case of a colored emblem, especially in case the color is an unusual one.
