The Skoda brand is 100 years old subsequent week. While we did not embrace it in our listing of one of the best automobile logos of all time, its longevity and comparatively few adjustments over the years means that possibly we must always.
To mark the anniversary, the Czech automobile has revealed particulars in regards to the design’s historical past – at the least as a lot as it has been in a position to collect from its archives. And it appears the brand design had a stunning inspiration. No, it wasn’t initially impressed by a chook or an arrow.
The Škoda brand was registered on the patent workplace in Pilsen within the Czech Republic, then Czechoslovakia, on 15 December 1923. It’s believed that the unique winged arrow design was primarily based on an idea created by Tomáš Maglič, the corporate’s business director on the time. His inspiration was apparently the picture of a local American sporting a feather headdress (see the picture above left).
While the design has seen a number of tweaks over the years, lots of the adjustments have centered on the accompanying logotype. The idea of the winged arrow stays largely the identical, together with after final 12 months’s redesign, which flattened the brand to enhance visibility on digital platforms and create a extra trendy look, making it into our choose of one of the best automobile brand redesigns.
The story behind the Skoda brand
Skoda says it might’t be totally positive of the historical past behind the design, but it surely thinks the Skoda brand was the results of a contest and that Maglič’s profitable design took inspiration from a aid on the wall of his workplace, which depicted a Native American man sporting a feather headdress. It’s not clear who additional developed his idea, however Skoda thinks the Czech sculptors Otakar Španiel and Otto Gutfreund might have contributed concepts, with the ultimate piece being created by a graphic designer.
Initially, two variations of the winged arrow had been created, one with 5 feathers and one with three. Both had been registered as logos on 15 December 1923, however the model with three feathers grew to become the popular alternative because it was graphically cleaner and visually easier. It was initially used on Skoda’s trains and began appearing on vehicles after the corporate merged with Laurin & Klement in 1925.
Skoda says that every factor of the brand design “embodies model’s dedication to excessive technical and aesthetic requirements, and exact manufacturing, in addition to symbolising the dynamism of ahead movement.” The giant circle represents world attain and “impeccable manufacturing”, the wing denotes technological development and the vary of manufacturing The “forward-pointing arrow signifies progressive manufacturing processes and effectivity”, whereas the smaller circle, which seems to be like a chook’s eye, “symbolises the precision of Škoda’s engineering, experience, and foresight.”
