Companies never attempt to do something like this. To achieve something of this magnitude, companies need a massive army of consultants who behind each and every pixel put a meaning. It gets expensive, and it’s not easy for every company to write a check with lots of zeros in them for something that might not be so worthwhile.
Out of so many stories behind logo designing, the story of Cisco is the most interesting one. Can someone believe that the company’s name and origin of its logo was formed during driving?
I mentioned to a friend the origin of the name and logo of Cisco Systems. I can’t remember how it came up, but it did. I’m constantly tinkering with stuff in my lab, so she knows what the logo looks like even though it isn’t her field at all. I got blown away when she made the connection between the logo and its origins. None of us had heard the history behind it. Every individual who comes to know the origin of it gets a little blown away.
Cisco is short for San Fransisco. Cisco systems is the world leader in manufacturing of network based equipments. The name Cisco is said to be the short form, but San Francisco abbreviation. The founder and the company’s first president John Morgridge came up with the name and logo while going to register the company. He was driving to Sacramento where he saw the famous Golden Gate Bridge shining in the sunlight. This view engraved into his mind, and thus he decided to name the company ‘Cisco’ and incorporate this bridge into the logo design.
Once the decision was made, company came up with various logo examples as to show bridges in best way. The logo idea that we see today seems to have double meaning of logo. The pillars on the top of the logo also seem like network signals which also define the business of the company.
The name Cisco was continuously used in the lowercase within the engineering community. It was long after changed to Cisco Systems Inc which acted as an official company name. The logo looked really ‘cool’ as it was seen as a modified version of the past that would shape the future. Their idea was to create meaning of an authentic life and earning something out of your dream, with people you wish to be with, and in a place you love. The vertical lines have various meanings, for some it seems like landing light, for others it’s a feng shui based access path for dragons. Moving on, we get to the font, a classic early 80s mac piece meant to show the advanced nature of the Cisco UIs. Be still my beating heart, Cisco seems to have hit a home run here.
