I miss when hearts were everywhere.
The heart. A beacon of desire, hope, peace, and of course love. It has seemingly disappeared from business branding in recent years. Is it a relic from the past? Deemed to be “tacky”? Well, I like it! So here’s some of my favorite examples of the heart being used.
Carhartt
Starting off with my favorite. These logo iterations for Carhartt were used on products made from the early 1900s up to the 1960s! They were used for promotional material, clothing tags, and clothing buttons. Nowadays, Carhartt uses this iconography in their more “fashion-forward” line: WIP.
Elkhart Brass MFG
While walking around my downtown area I stumbled upon this name plate on the side of a historic building. After researching, I come to find out that this business is still operating in the same city they were founded in: Elkhart, Indiana. Elkhart Brass MFG. manufacture firefighting equipment like the one pictured. I was also pleased to find they have kept the same heart icon behind the elk image in their logo.
Illustrated by Filip Pagowski
Polish born graphic artist. Filip studied at the Warsaw Academy of Fine Arts, and soon after moved to New York City to establish himself as a well-respected illustrator.
CDG PLAY
Introduced in 2002 by world-renowned trailblazer Rei Kawakubo, CDG Play has one of the most recognizable logos in the fashion world. This clothing line had a GRIP on Instagram and TikTok in 2016; although I like to give it more credit than just a trend from that time. I love the inconsistency of the line-work which is an obvious nod by Pagowski referencing the name of the sub-brand: PLAY.
all in all,
I definitely think that todays brands are shifting more towards a “heritage” or “illustrative” type of branding instead of the minimalistic and streamlined design that has been dominating branding for the last decade.