John Lewis Logo PNG
John Lewis is known for being able to bring its success as a traditional brick-and-mortar retailer to the online platform. Besides traditional stores, it has showroom-style stores that allow customers to physically see and touch the product before ordering it. The company is owned by its employees, which further sets it apart from its competitors. The company also signed the Terra Carta, which was in line with its existing goals.
Meaning and History
The retailer was founded in London in 1864 by John Lewis,a young draper and talented salesman.The chain started as a textiles shop that gradually transformed into a department store, whereyou could buy “from a pin to an elephant”. The second half of the 19th century saw the heyday of British department stores. Despite competition, John Lewis quickly achieved success and expanded to several outlets in London. After multiple disputes with his son, John Lewis gave him another store on the verge of bankruptcy. Spedden Lewis introduced employee ownership and saved the store. John Lewis stores got closed as John did not desire to accept a similar business model. Spedan bought the chain and brought it to life with his innovative business ideas, renaming it John Lewis& Partners. Over the years, the company grew the number of physical stores and later added an online store. Although the 2019 pandemic forced to closesome of the locations, John Lewis was able to keep over 30 stores along its online platform and more than 300 Waitrose stores operated by this retailer.
What is John Lewis?
John Lewis is a retailer with a rich history. Despite its traditional roots, the chain is considered one of the most successful multi-channel retailers in Britain. It has over 80 thousand workers-partners who make it so successful.
1864 – 1930
This logo shows the original name and location of the first store in London. The name is printed using a cursive font and has a line running underneath it. It is placed on a slight diagonal, which further strengthens the illusion that it is an actual signature.
1925 – 1940
As time passed by, the cursive inscription was replaced by a bold font with bracketed serifs. All the letters got capitalized and were closely spaced. The black color of the logo and typeface choice gave the logo a sophisticated and well-established appearance. The fact that there is no more address shows that the company has grown to be a chain.
1940 – 1956
This logo features a very similar serif font that has been used by the company for almost a century. However. The letters “J” and “L” extended beyond the baseline and framed the second line. The latter features a simple, smaller sans-serif inscription that says “AND COMPANY” and “LIMITED” right after the “L”. The whole inscription is done in caps to make the logo stand out and be seen from afar.
1956 – 1960
A blocky, geometric logo was designed in 1956. It features “John Lewis” in all capsprinted using wide strokes and square serifs.The company decided to bring back the address line, similarly to the original logo design. This line is done using a small, sans-serif font. The logo looked recognizable because the company continued to use solid black and has been using a serif font with all caps for over 100 years.
1960 – 1972
For a relatively short period, the company used a rounded, cursive font in an attempt to create a link to the original version. For the first time in many years, the logo consisted of only the “John Lewis” line with no other words or decorative elements. It is notable that, unlike previous versions that had all caps, this version has only the first letters capitalized.
1972 – 1990
The updated logo looks modern thanks to the use of a different font. It is similar to Gill Sans Bold. The update showed that the company tries to stay relevant to current trends.
1990 – 2000
For the first time in history, the company introduced color. The logo features a forest green that creates a sense of growth, stability, reliability, and prosperity. The designer brought back the all-caps, which created a bold look. The pointed bracketed serifs gave it an elegant and sophisticated appearance.
2000 – 2018
This time, the company steered away from traditional logos and had Pentagram create a modern and edgy design. The inscription features even stroke thickness, which makes the brand look stable and trustworthy. A combination of straight and diagonal terminals is the detail that makes this logo look distinctive and stylish.
2018 – Today
This logo redesign changed the familiar logo drastically. There is a square black background with three black vertical lines separated by white linesto the left of it. The black lines get thinner to the left while the white lines get thicker. The inscription, John Lewis & Partners, is printed in white using a modern sans-serif typeface. The name is split between three lines and centered. The bottom line is printed in a smaller font to make accent on the recognizable brand name. The logo turned out sleek and professional.
Font and Color
The classic black has always been the key color of the brand. It gives the logo a sophisticated, timeless, and powerfullook.The green color, which has been used from 1990 until 2018, not only represents stability and growth, but is also important for the company for a different reason. This was the color of the ink used by Spedan Lewis to sign the documents.
Throughout the years, the company has switched fonts multiple times. Originally, it was a cursive font. For many years, different classic serif fonts have been used. Relatively recently, the company switched to modern, stylish, sans-serif fonts that better matched its current aesthetics. The logo introduced in 2018 features a font similar to Gill Sans SC OS font and Humanist 521 BT font.
