19 Embarrassing Early Tech Logos

Sometimes your first instinct is the worst one.

Long before tech companies earn their first billion or two and gain their max level ability to successfully undermine the very democracy on which the country they were made in was founded, they humbly start out as a couple of nerds' vanity project that comes together between their programming classes and their not getting invited to parties (it’s okay, we never were either). It is in this crucial phase that the very important act of branding is initiated, with some truly horrifying results. From the overwrought messes of too much design to the underthought first drafts that didn’t look at all the implications, these early designs really did not stand up to the test of time, as the companies using them clearly realized. Come along with us, and let’s go on a journey through the annals of the decades to see what bland, horrific, or downright ugly first takes of companies’ branding looks like. 

Scary Naughty Dog

Source: Mishes

Groovy Microsoft

Source: Cnet

IBM Through Time

Source: Alphr

Google's Backrubs

Source: Vox

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