Toby Morris searches high and low, far and wide for our greatest logos of all time.

On our shelves, on our clothes, on our feet: logos are all around us. Theyre on signs and on the front of buildings and all over everything we read online. Some of them are terrible, most are decidedly average, and a select few are great. In the grand tradition of ranking lollies, biscuits and voids, its time to rank the best logos in Aotearoa.

Obviously we cant rank every logo, there are hundreds of thousands of them: Every product, every company, every school, sports club, council and dog breeding society has one. So instead Ive picked out 50 I think are absolute gems. Im sure I will have missed some classics, and of course its impossible to objectively rank creative work. Feel free to let us know if Ive left out your favourite.

Quickly, some criteria: Were looking at New Zealand based or founded entities, from any time period. The definition of logo is slightly blurry sometimes itll be just the logomark (like, the symbol), sometimes the wordmark (distinctive text), often the combo of the two. Generally Ive gone for what would most commonly be perceived as being the logo.

Conceptually, a good logo is one thats distinctive, memorable, says something and fits the tone and style of whatever its representing. Extra points for originality and creativity. Technically, a test of a good logo is often if itd work anywhere, at any scale printed tiny, or huge, and work static or whizzing past you as you drive past it but there are exceptions to this, depending on the brief.

Anyway, enough setup here are 50 banging logos.

50: Bars Bugs

Who doesnt remember rummaging around their parents garage and wondering how the mangy old bottle of windscreen cleaner had such a cool design on it. Windscreen glasses? Genius.

49: Great Lake Taup

This one is repping for all the city logos. I dont like the colours or the bevel effect, but the concept is good the O is the lake, and the macron is the city along its northern shore. Its also proudly putting the elephant in the room on full display in the front window: look, we have a macron now, times are changing, welcome to the modern Taup.

48: Georgie Pie

Its cosy, its welcoming, its a bit hokey perfect. The soft rounded edges, warm colours and the cute lower case es all combine into a perfect nostalgic bomb. Its the logo version of a perfect mass-produced $1 mince and cheese pie.

47: New Zealand Air Force

I love the simplicity. Its a visual pun on the classic British RAF roundel that shows their history but also their point of difference, and it works simple, clear, and you can tell what it is a mile away.

46: Elizabeth Taylor Graphics

Humour is an underutilised tool in identity design. Everyone wants to seem traditional, reliable and professional. But what if you just want to tell the neighbourhood you make posters, signs and shit? I used to drive past their original premises in Paraparaumu in the early 2000s and get a kick out of seeing this logo every single time. Later on they moved into the city and the logo ruffled some feathers. Good shit.

45: Hot Chick

Another regional delight: Every Napier resident will know Hot Chick and their neighbouring ice cream parlour Cool Cat. They still use this chunky 70s bottom-heavy type, but I like the original logo, where the flaming, sunglasses wearing chicken has its mouth open and looks like its just had a fright. Yow!

44: National Party, 1970s

The ligatures on the NA combos are a bit of an awkward tangle, but the arrow N on this Muldoon-era National party logo is a tidy piece of design. Sure, it might suggest the party is going to have ups and downs, but it has a lot more personality than the generic blandness of all the major party logos these days. (Also cool and better than the current logo: Labours 70s-90s flying L.) (Trivia: in the original Terry Teo books, the grawlixes (the symbols used to represent swearing) for the villainous skinhead characters include this National N.)

43: Work and Income, 1990s

Some people see someone running away with stolen loot under their arm, some people see a case worker with someone in a headlock. Either way, its memorable: for better or worse (definitely worse) this logo and name burned itself into our collective consciousness in the late 90s (I see the headlock).

42: Wellington Rugby Football Union

Im putting this one in here as an example of a certain kind of New Zealand logo that is at once terrible and incredible. These type of spindly weird interlocking monographs are found on old sports clubs and schools around the country. Theyre a throwback to a long outdated design style, and I love how indecipherable they are these days theyre basically black metal band logos for old dudes. What theyre communicating, of course, is weve been here for ages, something New Zealand organisations strive to be able to claim.

41: Te Herenga Waka University Press

From the old to the new: this one is a recent design for the newly renamed Victoria University Press. I love how its referencing designs like the Wellington Rugby one above, (and by association suggesting tradition and quality), but still manages to come across as clear, modern and clever. Its very satisfying how neatly the initials fit together, and the little notches on the ends are cool.

40: Clutha District Council

To the rest of New Zealand it looks like a failed b-grade sportswear brand from the 90s, but to locals its clear theres the Balclutha Road Bridge and the Clutha river flowing underneath it. This one is in here for all the hyper-local designs out there: most of the time design is about trying to communicate so every single person on earth can understand, but sometimes its OK if only a certain group understand it.

39: Deka

One word: Jaunty. Gone too soon.

38: bFM

Ramshackle, DIY, spontaneous, informal if youre a bank or a law firm or an insurance company thats probably not the impression you want to give. But for bFM its perfect. Theres a casual, not-trying-too-hard energy that has given this logo an enduring charm. Sneakily smart.

37: Halswell School

Im putting this one in there for all the thousands of school logos out there. Most of them, particularly for high schools, are snoozefest traditional crests or latin lamps that blur into cold wallpaper and can probably never be changed. Our primary schools, on the other hand, seem to be in the process of at least attempting to keep up with the times. Craig Burton seems to be on a single-handed mission to design new logos for every school in the country, and I liked this one as an example bright, welcoming, and smart. Id send my kids there if I was picking by logo.

36: ANZ

Design, like fashion, is a pendulum swinging back and forth across multiple axes over time hems go up, hems go down, everything looks 3D, everything looks flat. For logos, around 2000 there was this sudden moment where everything went italic with a few rounded corners (dynamic, modern) and then, 5-10 years later, they all snapped back upright (steady, solid). Its the logo version of an emo fringe in the early 2000s that you dont like to talk about: we all saw you do it. But italic dalliances aside, Ive always liked this logo. The cutouts remind me of ESPN, early computers and Robocop all positive associations.

35 and 34: Whittakers and Vogels

Im putting these two classics together to compare and contrast. Two beloved, trusted family brands; two classic custom wordmarks. Both tell you traditional family business, but compare the styles: the strong neat lines of Vogels says traditional, reliable, hearty while Whittakers elegant flow says traditional, luxurious, delicious. Both are perfectly crafted and both perfectly fit their product. Excellent work.

33: What Now, late 80s

I can hear the 80s theme song as I look at this, and it feels like Saturday morning.

32: 100% Pure New Zealand

I hope whoever came up with the little map as the slash in the percentage did a well deserved little fist pump at their desk when they figured that out. Its a detail that makes an otherwise solid but fairly straight wordmark into something memorable and clever.

31: Te Papa, 1998

This identity by ad firm Saatchi and Saatchi was a controversial one at the time widely bagged as being way too expensive and irrelevant when it was first announced. But as a conceptual logo it was ahead of its time. These days I think we have a better understanding that a museum isnt just about collecting old stuff, its about figuring out who we are. A logo doesnt have to be literal. A milestone of NZ design, imho.

30: NZ Film Commission

Sober and sensible. This feels high-end and highbrow, evoking quality, consideration and an appropriately formal stamp of authority for a cultural institution. Solid and smart.

29: Ripples, late 80s/early 90s

There are many good ones that come and go (whats up Fruju), but most chip brands, biscuits, lollies, ice blocks and so on change their look too often. I guess theyre always trying to stay fresh and feel new, but the trade-off is they never build up that long term trust from holding on to a strong identity. This is a proper chip logo. Bring it back.

28: Double Brown (and classic NZ beer logos in general)

We could do another whole article ranking New Zealand beer design, but for today Im taking a huge shortcut and lumping these into one group. Theres a set style to these classic ones, and they all say something similar but slightly different. Lion Red and Speights equals tradition, Tui is bold and blunt, and I love the masculine minimalism of the old DB Draught one you can taste that logo, and it tastes like old beer. My favourite, though, is Double Brown punchy colours with a slightly off-balance, almost hand-drawn quality that gives you a slight air of mischief.

27: Warren and Mahoney Architects, 1962

Designer Kris Lane suggested this one to me, and its a great call. Warren and Mahoney are mostly known as large scale architects: they make town halls, stadiums, airports and embassies, the kind of buildings that define the country. This beautiful logo captures this utilitarian quality its strong and slightly monolithic yet refined, balanced and distinctive. It was designed in 1962 by a young Mark Cleverly, who later became a New Zealand design legend as a designer of stamps, the creative director of Crown Lynn and an influential design teacher.

26: Ministry of Works, 1970

Similar to Warren and Mahoney above, theres something about the combination of public infrastructure and the era of modernist design that resulted in some classic logos. This one from the now defunct Ministry of Works exudes strength and capability. The symmetry is neat, the forms are sturdy and the hexagon brings to mind the efficient industry of bees. Theres no frills or fancy business if you saw this logo on construction sites around the country, youd know work was getting done. (Make a logo this satisfying for Kiwibuild and then well see some action!)

25: Absolutely Positively Wellington, 1991

The words of this Wellington tourism slogan are still used today, but its the original logo incarnation that sticks in the mind. It might be partly due to the unconscious visual association with the Parental Advisory Explicit Content stickers that appeared on album covers of the same era, but theres something saucy and sophisticated about this one. You picture houndstooth power suits with padded shoulders and high heels. The TV ad that launched it had a guy rollerblading down a city street talking on a giant brick cellphone. Hell yeah.

Unranked: This fern

When you look at a lot of New Zealand logos together, you quickly see some popular motifs kiwi, ferns, koru, Southern Crosses drawn a lot of different ways, most of them terrible. I want to mention this particular fern design though, because I find it bizarre: its called the FernMark, created by MBIE as a stamp of yeah were officially from New Zealand approval. Its a fine design, but surely the point of a logo is to signal what makes your organisation or product unique. (Bonus points to NZ Hair Transplantation Institute for riffing on it though, Im into that.)

24: We Compost

Just love this one by Auckland studio Seachange. It totally defies expectation, and turns a negative into a positive so charming you completely forget its for a company dealing in rotting waste. Would wear it on a t-shirt. Amazing work.

23: Department of Conservation

Another classic public service icon. The type isnt very exciting, but the mark a kind of shield that evokes land and sky and the link between them is beautiful in its balance and simplicity. Koru and mangpare are very common motifs in New Zealand design, but rarely do you see them used in such an elegant, understated and integrated way. Its a logo weve probably all seen so many times we dont notice it anymore but I think its one we all get on an emotional level. An underrated beauty.

22: V

A polar opposite to some of the more traditional minimal logos here this is deliberately designed to look modern and alive. With six colours, a very digital 90s look and a strong sense of movement, it makes the product look electric and uncontainable. The one-letter name is genius too.

21: Swanndri

Since 1913, Swanndri bush shirts have sported many different versions of a logo with a swan in a circle. This one to me is the iconic one the stylised but still hand-drawn feeling, with the blue background. The lines are clean and economical, the name is clear and the bird isnt taking any nonsense. Not the most creative, but impeccably executed.

20: Silo Theatre, 2012

Another win for humour and personality in identity design! Designed by Alt Group in 2012, this references Greek comedy and tragedy theatre masks, but whether you notice that or not, its just funny. Silo are the type of theatre company aiming to make modern, non-traditional, boundary-pushing work, so this feels like a great fit its creative, smart and feels like something you havent seen before.

19: Watties, 2010-2020

In recent years the lettering has been smoothed out a little, so the current logo is starting to get a little generic, but the previous version on the red tab with the janky oversized serifs sticking out the sides of the W tastes like cheese and spaghetti toasties on the couch on a rainy Sunday afternoon.

18: L&P, 2016

L&P is another example, like Ripples above, of a brand thats actually been through a surprising amount of different logos, but in their case the distinctive yellow and brown palette has remained constant, resulting in a stronger brand identity today. This might be a controversial call, but I think the strongest logo of all is the current one, created in 2016 by Marx Design. Its casual, a little bit funny and balances feeling old and new at once.

17: New Zealand Post, 2000s-2021

This New Zealand Post envelope mark started off as an Earl Hingston design in 1975 with a crown on top, but I like the later, less regal incarnations. In this version we see another example of the early-2000s italics and a few of the corners rounded off trend with the typography, but the star is the envelope: Its an N, its a Z, its a letter, its a very fun thing to doodle. Recently theyve ditched it, and I get that personal letters arent the main thing theyre transporting these days, but it still seems a shame to lose all that built up trust.

16: Frosty Boy

Look at that guy! What joy. Hes going to love that ice cream! (I debated why this guy makes it in but the Four Square man doesnt. With Four Square, hes the mascot, but their logo is a 4. This guy is the logo.)

15: Jimmys Pies

Love this weird little piece of lower South Island design magic. Theres a handmade, DIY signwriting quality to this that fits with the old-school feel of the paper-bagged pies, and I like that its slightly odd. Why the curves on homemade and pies? Why the giant quote marks around Jimmys? Is Jimmys not its real name? What are these so called Jimmys pies actually called? I dont know. Its a great logo.

14: NZ Railways, 1970

Another minimal modernist infrastructure classic. The excellent book Marks of Identity: New Zealand Logos 1960-1980 explains how huge New Zealand Railways were as organisation at the time encompassing ferries, buses, commuter rail, train stations, large scale logistics operations, train maintenance and so on. Designed in 1970 by Barry Ellis, this emblem was created to unite the different departments, and is a great example of what these days wed call a graphic system the top right section would be red for rail services, orange for ferries, green for road services and so on.

Its simplicity is its strength. It feels like an N, a Z, and a shifting line on a railway track, but its bold and recognisable and would work just as well printed tiny on the side on a pen or embroidered on a yard workers pullover as it would zooming past you printed large on the side of rolling cargo trains. Staunch as.

13: TV2, 1989-1995

TV2, as the fun sibling to TVNZs more traditional One, has had a lot of different looks over the years, and which one springs to mind probably depends on your age. I think of this one: the circle swirling one way, the 2 moving in the other direction in glorious 90s orange and purple. Sleek and modern.

Their coolest logo though might be one they never used: a while ago Tana Mitchell from Studio Akin showed me these beautiful old proposed designs by the great Samoan/NZ typographer Joseph Churchward. Imagine a world where TV2 had this much flair.

Read the original:

The 50 greatest New Zealand logos, ranked - The Spinoff