Persil (Henkel) Logo PNG
Persil is probably one of the most popular detergent brands in many countries. The trademark was registered in 1907 by the Henkel company, introducing the world’s first laundry detergent to the European and later the global public. In more than a century of existence, its logo was redesigned several times, but the concept of the current version was introduced at the beginning of the 1980s and has barely changed today.
Meaning and history
Since Persil is a brand, created by Henkel, we will start with the history of the company, which started in Germany in 1876. Already two years later, the first laundry powder was created by the company. Its name was Henkel’s Bleich-Soda (Bleach Soda). In addition to the fact that the main differences of the new product compared to competitors were affordable price and convenient durable packaging, it was also really more effective, because it contained sodium and soda silicate, and its formula was invented by Fritz Henkel himself.
At the beginning of the 1880s, the company started expanding its assortment of products. Most of them were household cleaning chemicals. However, the real breakthrough came to Henkel in 1907, when the chemists of the company revolutionized the washing process. They combined two ingredients, sodium silicate and sodium perborate. This combination had several super important effects. First of all, the new powder provided gentle bleaching without any unpleasant odors, and, secondly, the laundry didn’t have to be rubbed too much for stains to come off.
This innovative detergent was named Persil, after its two main ingredients, Perborate and Silicate. The powder gained popularity quite quickly in its home country and soon began to be exported to other countries as well. This is how the global spread of the brand began.
Over the years, Persil’s formula has been constantly improved and its range expanded. Today, Persil laundry detergent is available in gel, powder, and capsule formats.
In terms of visual identity, Persil was always down for any experiments. Thus, for example, in 1922, the most famous advertising image for Persil powder was created. It was the Weisse Dame (Lady in White), carrying a packet of Persil powder in her hand. The image was created by the famous Berlin artist and caricaturist Kurt Heiligenstaedt.
As for the logos, there were many throughout the history of the brand, yet all of them were based on the lettering, written in different styles and colors.
What is Persil?
Persil is a legend among all Henkel detergents because it is the first detergent in the world. Its history began in 1907 and continues to evolve to this day.
Over its long life Persil has always remained an innovator, and thanks to this it has gained an audience of millions. Persil products are now available in such formats as gel, powder and capsules.
1907 — 1955
The original logo of the Persil brand was created in 1907 and stayed active for almost fifty years. It was a bold geometric lettering in the title case, written in white with a thick black outline, and placed against a solid dark-green background. The badge looked very confident and evoked a sense of professionalism and quality.
1955 — 1965
The redesign of 1955 has added more colors to the Persil logo and changed its composition. Now the lettering was written in a narrower font and placed diagonally across a solid red roundel, which, in turn, was drawn against a bright green background. The wordmark was still executed in white, but the thick black outline now turned into the thick black shadowing.
1955 — 1958 (Germany)
In the same year, another logo was designed for the brand to be used exclusively on the German market. It was executed in the same style and color palette as the original badge but with the refined typeface of the wordmark. The new inscription featured thinner bars, softer contours of the characters, and more space between them.
1958 — 1963 (Germany)
In 1958 the German logo version of Persil was significantly redesigned. The lettering turned bold and bubbly and was now set diagonally against a bright green background, with the black outline of the characters replaced by a navy blue shadowing. This version stayed in use for three years.
1963 — 1965 (Europe)
The new European version of the Persil visual identity, designed in 1963, featured a bold bright blue lettering set diagonally on an extended white oval, inscribed into a bright green banner. The inscription featured softened contours which looked very friendly and a bit tender.
1965 — 1980
Another Persil logo was created in 1965 for the international market. It was a super laconic and even strict composition, with just the dark-green title case lettering written against a plain white background without any additional elements. The inscription was set in a bold geometric sans-serif typeface with straight cuts of the lines and slightly extended contours of the characters.
1965 — 1968 (Europe)
The redesign of 1965 has written the name of the brand in the lowercase and painted it in navy-blue. The inscription was set diagonally on a white background without any additional small green area in the upper left corner of the banner, where a tiny red Henkel oval was placed.
1980 — 2009
The new era of the Persil visual identity design started in 1980. Now the logo featured an extra-heavy title case lettering in a bright shade of red, written in a modern geometric sans-serif typeface with some of the letters glued to each other. This version of the badge stayed unchanged for almost thirty years.
1980 — 2009 (International)
The international version of the Persil logo, designed in the same year, had a slightly darker shade of red, in which the logotype was painted. Also, the typeface of the inscription was narrower. The logo had the same mood as the previous one, yet looked more compact and professional.
2020 — Today
In 2009 the Persil logo was redesigned again, with the badge, created in 1980 taken as the basis. The shade of red got a bit altered, gaining more bloody notes, and the font was switched to a more futuristic one, with smooth angles of the characters and straight cuts of the bars.
Font and color
The bold title case lettering from the primary logo of the Persil brand is written in a custom sans-serif typeface with thick bars, which looks pretty close to such commercial fonts as Mob Pro or Neuropa Heavy, with some visible modifications of the contours.
As for the color palette of the Persil visual identity, it is based on an intense bloody-red hue, which stands for power and confidence, and looks bright and eye-catching making the brand stand out in the list of its competitors.
