The Evolution of the Starbucks Logo

Originally posted: June 22, 2005

UPDATED: January 5, 2011

To coincide with its 40th anniversary, Starbucks Coffee is evolving its iconic logo. Since Starbucks is evolving its logo, it's time to update the most searched and visited page on the Brand Autopsy Blog ... THE EVOLUTION OF THE STARBUCKS LOGO.

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The Deadprogrammer's Cafe Blog did some expert sleuthing to show the evolution of the Starbucks logo from the old school brown Nordic-inspired woodcut to the slicker, more contemporary logo we know today.

However, this logo evolution story failed to highlight the significant role the Il Giornale logo played in the evolution of the Starbucks logo. If it wasn't for the green circle-shaped Il Giornale logo, the Starbucks logo may never have become what it is today.

(Il Giornarle was the espresso café Howard Schultz opened up in 1986 after failing to convince the original owners of Starbucks to focus on serving espresso beverages. By 1987, the two remaining original owners of Starbucks decided to sell the business and Howard jumped at the chance to buy Starbucks and remake it into the espresso bar concept he had just begun at Il Giornale.)

Lifting words directly from Howard Schultz’s POUR YOUR HEART INTO IT, here’s a more complete evolution of the Starbucks logo.

1971 - 1987

"Terry [Heckler] also poured over old marine books until he came up with a logo based on an old sixteenth-century Norse woodcut: a two-tailed mermaid, or siren, encircled by the store’s original name, Starbucks Coffee, Tea, and Spice. That early siren, bare-breasted and Rubenesque, was supposed to be as seductive as coffee itself." [pg. 33]

1986 - 1987

"Our logo reflected the emphasis on speed. The Il Giornale name was inscribed in a green circle that surrounded a head of Mercury, the swift messenger god." [pg. 88] (Note: Please excuse the poor condition of the Il Giornale logo. I scanned the image from a many times photocopied memo from Il Giornarle letterhead.)

1987 - 1992

"To symbolize the melding of the two companies [Il Giornarle and Starbucks] and two cultures, Terry [Heckler] came up with a design that merged the two logos. We kept the Starbucks siren with her starred crown, but made her more contemporary. We dropped the tradition-bound brown, and changed the logo’s color to Il Giornarle’s more affirming green." [pg. 108]

1992 - 2011

"In 1992 we also asked Terry Heckler to revise our logo: She stayed mostly the same but lost her navel." [pg. 309]

2011 - and beyond

"This new evolution of the logo ... embraces and respects our heritage and at the same time, evolves us to a point where we will feel it's more suitable for the future. The new interpretation of the logo ... gives us the freedom and flexibility to think beyond coffee but make no mistake ... we will continue to be the world's leading purveyor of the highest-quality coffee." [source]

Comments

[Sarge]

That's very interesting! Thanks for sharing!

[anindo]

very cool! nice post!!

[Scott Baradell]

Love this. Thank you for sharing it.

[Janice Merritt]

I heard your company is being boycott because you oppose the war in Iraq. Any truth to this?....

[Andre]

I think that we should save the current melusine.

Have you heard the connection of the logo with Christianity's Mary Magdalene?? How the M shapes on her crown and in her tail represent that?? But that can be obvious and crazy. BUt also wasn't starbucks original logo a whale and was inspired by Moby Dick, which can be read by many as a metaphor for spirituality??

Check out:
http://www.endicott-studio.com/jMA03Summer/theMermaid.html

And what's even more shocking is Mary Magdalene's uncanny connection with Disney's Ariel. But that's a different subject for now.

[juan Carlos]

The starbucks logo looks more like the Knights Templar Seal

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knights_Templar_Seal

and the templar seal comes in 2 colors black and green

also look at the egyptian number 1,000,000 it is of a figure holding a branch on each arm

also look at king tutankamon white alebaster cup you will see the same figure

[josh]

what is the common link between mermaids and coffee?

[Hembina]

hi

what do mermaids with 2 tails have to do with coffee?

Hembina

[regado]

nahh, to me the 1971 logo looks more like a fat guy (you know how fat guys some times have the breasts like that) with long hair bringing 2 weird looking pineapple-eggplants into to the kitchen.

2 see Real mermaids you should visit www.save-the-mermaids.com
( or http://web.mac.com/regados/iWeb/Site/MWM%20Home.html if the above link is not working)
and if you do it ontime you can get a FREE mermorph for you or your girlfriend.

cheers!

R

[Kendall]

haha

for some reason, reading everyone elses comments above makes me ROTFL

:)

[Boris]

Looks like a gogo-dancer princess with her legs thrown up behind her head to me...

[seattlechelsea1]

The connection between the coffee and the mermaid? Its the lure....the seduction she represents. We are, (in the end) taken in by the coffee...we are seduced by the smell of the beans....and THAT, friends and germs...is the link.

[darren chapman]

STARBUCKS IS THA BESTEST!!!!! I MAY ONLY BE 13, BUT IT STILL ROCKS!!!

[Beulah True]

Well, some interesting theories as to the origin of the current incarnation of the corporate logo (a British actress, Mary Magdalene, Knights Templar seal, etc.), but I think you will have to agree that all of these theories fall dreadfully flat in light of the fact that it is almost a perfect dead-ringer for a carving of the pagan goddess Astarte, right down to the wavy hair and starry crown, with the only difference being that the arms are curved inward to make for a neater circle. (I've a graduate degree in art history, BTW, for what it's worth.) Don't believe me? Check it out and then decide for yourselves; below is a link which has a direct side-by-side comparison of the current corporate logo and the ancient carving of Astarte of which I write.

http://la.cacophony.org/starbucks.html

[David]

The starbucks logo looks like a cheep hooker with her legs spread. And what about social and environmental responsibility, isnt Starbuck a part of the whaling industry?

[Betsy]

Pagan goddess is correct, however it was a Canaanite Goddess that the people would off their children to as burnt offerings to pay homage to this pagan goddess. Corporations usually take on a logo of something that has something to do with the occult whether it is deliberate or accidental. This logo was not created but imitated. If Starbucks knew of this do you think they would continue to keep it as their logo? Probably since most people don't pay attention to these things anyway but it does however have a spiritual connection. Hey I drink it too! and each time I am reminded of this pagan goddess. Kinda make me feel a little strange and I think of going back to drinking dunkin' donuts coffee now that I am aware of this.

[Betsy]

Canaanite worship consisted in human sacrifice, preferably first-born children, as a burnt offering to Ba'al and consort, Astarte. This detestable and inhuman pagan custom of slaying and then cremating the victim, also practiced at Tyre in honor of Melcarth, was severely condemned by the Mosaic Law and was made punishable by the death of the guilty party (Lev.18,21; 20, 2-5)

[Troy Adair]

Interesting link to http://la.cacophony.org/starbucks.html from the above poster. But, where did you get that picture? Why no source?

[Fnord]

"If Starbucks knew of this do you think they would continue to keep it as their logo?"

Great care and planning go into company logos. Do you think it's merely happenstance? Well think again, Batman.

[Brandubh]

"Great care and planning go into company logos. Do you think it's merely happenstance? Well think again, Batman."

Do YOU honestly think Starbucks would've chosen a logo associated with a cannibalistic goddess? The image was meant to look like a Siren, with the wavy hair to cover her breasts. The similarity to Astarte is much more likely to be coincidental than intentional.

[Jim's Balls]

She is a Siren or a Melusine. Yeah the original logo was taken from a book that came out in the 15th century. (http://www.deadprogrammer.com/photos/siren-book.jpg) The Starbucks company made some minor adjustments to it. Awesome, huh?

[Jim's Balls]

Evetually the logo will alter its self so much that you can't tell what it is unless you see the original logo.

[Candy Land!]

Do they still use the same beans they used in 1971? (If there is a difference in beans.) And what happened to the two hippies who orginally started the joint?

[I sodomize two tailed mermaids for fun! It's a sport where I come from.]

I drink Starbucks Coffee before a big game in the sport I play.

[Moby Dick's dick.]

The logo didn't come from Moby Dick. The name "Starbucks" came from Moby Dick.

[Ian Hill]

When I was young and when Starbucks had the original logo I'd stare at the logo and get aroused by her titties! I had a lot of fun times locked inside my bedroom with a coffee cup.

[Chris Weinus]

They spelled "pored" incorrectly.

[espressoterraca]

This link image is SO PHONY!!!
http://la.cacophony.org/starbucks.html

It is a superimposed image of the bottom of
an ancient relief of ISHTAR/LILITH with the top head of the Starbucks siren. Do an image search of ISHTAR or LILITH and you'll see what I mean.

[Richard A. Rodriguez]

Spotted this yesterday:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/iluvyourwork/2312429285/

If it is a new logo, they must be scaling back their branding presence (which is great), I just wish it wasn't so...bad.

[johnmoore (from Brand Autopsy)]

Not new. Starbucks has used that cursive script for many years. It's used more on internal stuff, like the stainless steel milk dispensers depicted in that photo.

[george senda]

Starbuck's coffee is too strong.

They have driven out some great independent coffee places or have bought up competitors and closed them.

I very infrequently buy coffee at Starbucks & since I heard that they were screwing their clerks ( I refuse to use the stupid barrista term ) out of their tips, I am livid.

They own Seattle's Best Coffee which is in Borders & also have the coffee bars in Barnes & Noble. I wonder if they screw their clerks out of their tips there too ?

[Christian]

Thanks for filling in the gaps. As I sat there and sipped my "fresh roasted" coffee today, I wondered about this nearly pornographic new icon. It's interesting to see that it all reflects Starbuck's interest in returning to their roots and not something new. Too bad the coffee wasn't particularly worth returning to. http://manseekingcoffee.wordpress.com/2008/04/08/starbuckspikesplace/

[typogrid]

Usually I don't read the comments of blogs, but you reminded me how stupid most americans are. Sorry! Does any one you know wich country the coffee "invented"? It wasn't america and of course not Starbucks. And a real coffee naturally doesn't contains sirups. But I think Starbucks are on a good way. They lost his roots and the flair for good and quality coffee culture. You may find in most parts of europe a real coffee culture (where the roots are). There you can really smell the melt of fresh rosted coffee.
Starbucks is a figure in Herman Melvilles novel "Moby Dick" and I can't see" the pornographic new(?) icon" ... prude people. It's just a historic icon of a mermaid. I don't want imagine what you guys are doing with this Starbucks cups.
I have some ideas for the "relaunch" and marketing ideas but it isn't my work and normally I get money for it.
Nothing more to say...I think I wasted my time!

[sandrajean]

Your new logo is crap but I don't care because as long as you keep selling your great coffee, that is what matters to me.

[Phil Oak]

Personally, I like the 1971-1987 logo as it looks like it is part of history, and in fact
it is history. Look at all the old-time mariners, their ships and even in the museums they depicted the Siren in many ways, on the bow of ships, over and or part of the old pubs and in many establishments open to the public.
Been to a library lately and looked in the marine section, yep there their as well. I do not see anyone having a tizzy fit over them.
Sounds like some people who think their holeyer than thou, have the right to change history and that is not good. Let the few attempting to be on tv and get air time look foolish. They certainly do not need any help to do that.
Bottom line, I see nothing wrong with the new logo other than it looks like a cartoon compared to the 1971 – 1987 logo which looks correct. (did you ever read or hear about mermaids when you were a kid?) You were proud of your logo then so why not be proud of it now? Resurrect the old style as it showed class, and go with what you like not what others want. Do you feel you need to modify it? Keep one tail, and change the other into a coffee bag of Starbucks beans she could be holding up. 
Have a nice day.

[Tribalnoizes]

This article was an interesting find; I've never seen any other logo but the one that's presently used, I guess 'cause I was so late in getting to try Starbucks coffee (late ninties). I also think its funny that no one you'd talked to knew what "the things on the side of her head" were. Its so obvious that they're parts of a mermaids tail!LOL. I've just always wondered why she had two and was spreadin' 'em.

[aceon]

Its very interesting article. Thanx! Good job.

[Account Deleted]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melusine

The original woodcut probably one of the many medieval depictions of the folktale. Also, for those of you reading french:
http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Les_Compagnons_du_cr%C3%A9puscule

[Vanessa]

I have been studying Free Masonry and all those things for a while now. I'm also a practicing Eclectic Pagan of four years or so.
Alot of the Freemasons control things (like money, companies, etc) therefore they put symbolism on stuff for various reasons. (Much like the candles on a birthday cake represent how old you are, you wear pink on Valentines day) Like the S logo, to seduce you. And they usually use Pagan gods and goddesses as symbols. (Adidas is a Greek Goddess, the same with Nike.)
Like I said to seduce you, after all money does make the world go round - even since ancient times, it's not that new.
I heard also the Siren could represent the Hindu goddess Lahkshmi. The goddess of wealth and prosperity. And she is also a goddess of Water.
So different tie-ins there.

[Lyndsay]

hey interesting evolution of the starbucks logo...

[Glenn]

"That early siren, bare-breasted and Rubenesque, was supposed to be as seductive as coffee itself." Just like in the court room: once naked the statue of Justice got draped, so the truth started to get covered. Same with Starbucks: once siren image was made less seductive the quality of coffee went down the drain!

[Mark M]

I would think the mermaid also has to do with fertility, and luck...

[arun]

i very pleasure to taste it i want to become a regular customer.......