The Fascinating History of the Apple Logo

Have you ever wondered what do a bitten apple and technology have in common? The Apple logo has become one of the most iconic and world-wide known logo, but not many people know the history and the meaning of the bitten apple.

The first logo of the company doesn’t look at all like the actual one that represents the Apple brand. The first image of the company has only survived for one year, before Steve Jobs asked the talented artist Rob Janoff to create something more modern and representative for Apple. The finial logo, designed by Ronald Wayne and Steve Jobs, illustrated Sir Isaac Newton under an apple tree, and as background it had a poem written on the side of the drawing. The quotation by Wordsworth that was also inscribed into the logo said: “Newton… a mind forever voyaging through strange seas of thought.”

The Apple Logo: How did it become an iconic image of the company?

The iconic Apple logo, the bitten apple that we can now find it on all the company’s products, was created by Rob Janoff in the 70’s. According to him, the reason Steve Jobs wanted a bitten apple was that people would be able to tell apart the apple from a tomato. You can also look at the bite as a clever play on word. Instead of spelling it B-I-T-E, you can spell it B-Y-T-E as in the measurement for digital storage. It is, of course, a strong reference for a tech company.

The rainbow Apple Logo

The first version the bitten logo was a rainbow stripped apple. This Apple logo represented the company between 1976 and 1998. Rob Janoff explains why Jobs opted for the rainbow in one of his interviews. Once the personal computer Apple II was launched, it was the first computer ever that could display colors on the screen. The representatives of the company wanted to make this fact known by all. Also, the colors were also an attempt to make the logo more accessible, and to attract the young generation.

In 1998, things started to change again, as well as the Apple company’s logo. Steve jobs decided to change it into a monochromatic apple. The rainbow colors of the apple were going to go out of fashion. The new monochromatic logo matched the image of the newest products on the market better than anything else.

Regarding the name of the company, there are many speculations. Unfortunately, there isn’t one most plausible theory among all the existent ones. Some believe that the founders Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak wanted their start up to appear on the first pages of the phone books. Others believe that they wanted to stand out of the crowd with a simple name, easy to be remembered by. They wanted to create a contrast between their company and all the other hard to remember names of tech companies such as TRS-80, IBM, or Cincom. Also, the idea that the founders wanted to bring a tribute to The Beatles’ record label.