The three-oval logo that stands in for Toyota is well-known to all. But how did they come up with that specific logo for the business? Let’s look back in this history lesson about the Toyota logo.
What you might not be aware of is that the business’s original name was “Toyoda, in honor of the founding family. The business was renamed to “Toyota was first given a new logo in 1936 as the result of a public contest. Because the new spelling required eight pen strokes to completea lucky number in Japanit was seen as good luck.
In This Article...
Does the Toyota logo contain the word Toyota?
Toyota has been using the three-circle emblem since 1989, yet it wasn’t used in any advertisements or on any products until 1990. The logo was created, in part, to commemorate Toyota’s 50th anniversary. The spelling of the corporation fluctuated over the course of the first fifty years. For the founding family of the corporation, it was initially spelled “Toyoda,” but it had changed to “Toyota, and many goods were using either label. Therefore, the logo was created to establish identification standards for the business and to promote consistency.
What does the Toyota logo stand for?
In Japan during the start of the 20th century, Sakichi Toyoda was producing looms. In the 1930s, he founded the company “Toyoda, appropriately calling it after the family, to produce automobiles. The Toyoda company’s first automobiles had this straightforward badge:
To transition from a standalone, family-owned firm to a full corporate operation, the company held a public contest in 1936 to solicit ideas for a revised emblem.
Out of 27,000 submissions, the winning design spelled out “Toyota” using the Japanese katakana letters “to,” “yo,” and “ta.” The name change was primarily motivated by the numerology of “jikaku,” which links good or ill fortune to the number of brush strokes in a name: instead of the family name’s 10 brush strokes, “Toyota” in katakana only utilized 8, which was the number of prosperity and good fortune. Consequently, the name was modified in writing. The success that followed could be considered a “stroke of luck!
Japanese “Toyo” means “fertile/plentiful” and “ta” means “rice,” according to linguists. An abundance of rice is considered a sign of success in several Eastern cultures. It may be suggested that this is where the terms “rice mobiles” and “rice rockets” originate.
What does the Toyota logo represent?
The Toyota emblem is a significant component of our brand identity, but have you ever pondered what it represents or why it consists of three interlocking ovals?
The three-oval emblem took about five years to develop and was first used in October 1989 to commemorate Toyota’s 50th anniversary. The logo was created to establish a strong, distinctive visual identity for the brand and signal Toyota’s entry into several nations outside of Japan.
The Toyota logo’s three ovals are connected in a horizontally symmetrical pattern, making it easy to recognize from both a front and rear view.
The inner ovals stand for the company’s and the customer’s hearts, and they overlap to signify their mutually beneficial connection and trust. They also create a “T” for Toyota. The outer oval represents Toyota being embraced by the world.
Each oval is created with a distinct stroke thickness, referencing the art and tradition of Japanese calligraphy.
The backdrop area of the Toyota emblem is designed to represent the company’s “infinite values.” These include outstanding quality, value that goes above and beyond expectations, driving enjoyment, innovation, safety integrity, the environment, and social responsibility.
Toyota updated its logo and typeface on July 20, 2020, launching a new brand identity across Europe. As Toyota moves from being a car manufacturer to a mobility company, it ushers in a new age.
The new design language functions fluidly across all physical and digital touchpoints and was created for a client base that is becoming more varied and is coming to Toyota for an expanded range of mobility products and services.
Four important ideas, including forward-thinking, mobile readiness, a more premium feel, and consistency across all business units and sub-brands, have helped to develop the new Toyota logo and visual identity.
The new Toyota brand mark reduces its insignia to a straightforward, two-dimensional form. Since the Toyota logo itself is well-known throughout Europe, the Toyota wordmark has been removed. The aesthetic conveys modernity, simplicity, and transparency. It works just as well in the physical world as it does in the digital space. While the present logo will continue to be used for Toyota vehicles, the new design will be utilized across all communication touchpoints.
Toyota Type, a brand-new, custom font, is included with the new visual identity. As the business grows its online commerce in Europe, this serves several purposes for both on- and off-line contexts and represents an improvement in digital preparedness.
Vice President of Sales, Marketing, and Customer Experience at Toyota Motor Europe Didier Gambert said: “We created the new brand visual style with ‘future’ in mind. In order to stay up with Toyota’s rapid expansion of electrified vehicles, mobility services, and online retailing, our focus was on enabling ever-better customer relationships. To better engage with clients across several touchpoints, the design was repurposed.
Why does Toyota use a variety of logos?
For cars, logos and emblems are akin to artist signatures. Even though they aren’t a part that the car must have in order to run, they do have a role by revealing who built it to the outside world. A logo is a complex visual representation of a company’s brand that typically inspires faith in a product while also conveying strength, dependability, and distinction. Automakers put a lot of effort into ensuring that the mark or insignia has a life of its own so that their consumers may be proud to have it on their vehicles.
Most of the time, these car logos have a meaning. To learn more about automobile logos and their history, read our prior post. However, it’s interesting to note that there are several brands in our market that have various logos on their various models. We have provided a few of these examples below; let’s explore why this is the case.
Changan
You may have noticed that the Changan cars offered in Pakistan have two different emblems. Different from the one on the Alsvin car is the one on the Karvaan minivan. This is due to the fact that in China, vehicles like the Karvaan minivan and M8/M9 pickups fall under the Changan commercial vehicle division, which explains the different logo, which Changan refers to as a “A” logo, whereas the blue logo, which Changan refers to as a “V,” is of Changan’s passenger vehicle division.
Proton
Proton updated its logo in 2019 by removing the outside shield and replacing it with a circular insignia that surrounds a new tiger head that Proton claims is now “uncaged.” The Proton Exora and Saga, despite receiving a facelift, continue to sport the previous shield logo from 2016, in contrast to the newer breed of Proton vehicles, including the X70, X50, and even the Persona and Iriz.
Kia
Kia updated its logo earlier this year, along with the majority of other automakers from across the world. The updated logo keeps the “KIA letters but adds a more contemporary, angular font with a symmetrical horizontal and vertical shape. Although Kia is about to launch the Stonic crossover in Pakistan with the new Kia logo on it, the current vehicles coming off the assembly lines still have the old logo on them.
Toyota
Toyota is one of the most well-liked automakers in Pakistan, just like in other parts of the world. The Premio, Vitz, Platz, Belta, Probox, Axio, Passo, and Fielder, to name a few, were among the many Toyota vehicles that were consistently present in the imported lot as well as those that were locally produced. You may have noticed, though, that the majority of JDM Toyota vehicles sport a different emblem. This is due to the fact that Toyota has been operating a number of parallel branded showrooms in Japan since the mid-1950s, each with their own distinctive emblem. Toyota Store, Toyota Pet Store, Toyota Corolla Store, Toyota Publica Store, and Netz Store, Toyota Vista Store, Toyota Auto Store are some of the stores in this group. Instead of the standard Toyota badge, cars sold by these branded dealerships frequently have their own (dealership) logo.
Additionally, JDM Toyota vehicles occasionally have an insignia that resembles the initial letter of the model name. Examples include an insignia that resembles a stylized “P” for Premio or Platz, a “A” for Allion, a “C” for Corolla, a “N” for Noah, and so on. Because of this, the front of a Vitz, Premio, or even a Passo frequently sports a different emblem than Toyota models sold elsewhere.
Why is the word “Toyota” capitalized?
The fundamental justification for using a “T instead of a “D is that the Japanese character for Toyota only requires eight strokes, whereas Toyoda requires ten. Toyota was chosen because the number eight is seen as fortunate in Japanese culture.
What letters are obfuscated in the Toyota logo?
Toyota. The three 3-ellipses that make up the Toyota emblem stand for the heart of the client, the heart of the product, and the heart of technological advancement. The two inner ellipses combine to form a “T,” which is also visible.
Is a needle in the Toyota logo?
The Toyota emblem, which depicts a piece of thread being threaded through a needle, actually spells out “Toyota.” Why use a needle and thread? Sakichi Toyoda established the Toyota corporation in 1924 after developing the Toyoda Model G Automatic Loom.
Is a cowboy the Toyota logo?
The official justification is provided below from Toyota’s website: “There are three ovals in the current Toyota Mark: The two perpendicular center ovals stand for a trusting relationship between Toyota and the customer. Together, these ovals represent the letter “T” for Toyota. The background space alludes to Toyota’s technology’s global expansion and unbounded future possibilities.” The Lexus auto line and this logo were both unveiled in 1989.
What is the Toyota logo’s hidden meaning?
The letters vary in their degree of clarity.
The outer ring produces a credible “O,” and the two inside ovals easily accommodate a “T.” Others, like the letter “A,” call for a slightly bolder stretch of the mind because they demand you to completely ignore the bottom of the center oval.
Sadly, we’re inclined to concur with the numerous Redditors who don’t think this was totally intentional (opens in new tab). Toyota only acknowledges the letter “T” in a blog post outlining the history of the logo (opens in new tab): “the inner ovals symbolise the heart of the customer and the heart of the company, overlapping to represent a mutually beneficial relationship and trust between the two, as well as forming a ‘T’ shape for Toyota.” The other letters appear not to be a part of the pattern officially.
According to a Reddit user, “Finding logos is similar to seeing cloud forms. If you look closely enough, you can see what you want to see “. Nevertheless, it is common for logos to include real hidden messages (for example, did you know that the smile beneath the Amazon logo is really an arrow pointing from A to Z?). For more creative examples, see our inspiration guide for logo design.
The Toyota logo is bluewhy?
Any Toyota that has a blue outline or background for the brand’s logo indicates that it is a hybrid model. We can anticipate seeing more Toyota models with blue emblems in the upcoming years since Toyota has eight hybrid models for the 2020 model year.
What was the previous Toyota emblem?
According to rumors, the Toyota logo designers spent almost five years perfecting the new version to ensure that all of the company’s worldwide partners would like it.
Toyota changed its logo when?
The chart below shows the evolution of Toyota’s registered trademarks (hereafter “trademarks”) and badges over time.
The Model G1 Truck and the Model AA were preceded by the brand name Toyoda because they were created by the Toyoda Automatic Loom Works, Ltd.’s vehicle division (prior to the division being spun off as Toyota Motor Company).
In order to commemorate the completion of its first passenger car, the automobile division of the Toyoda Automatic Loom Works, Ltd. (today’s Toyota Industries Corporation) held a public design contest for the Toyoda logo in July 1936. The occasion was also planned to boost Toyota automobile sales and advertising. A design with Japanese characters for Toyota enclosed in a circle was picked at the selection conference on September 25 from among over 27,000 submissions received from all over Japan.
“Toyota” was chosen over “Toyoda” for the company mark for three reasons:
- 1. The Japanese characters for “Toyota” were less crowded and visually simpler in terms of commercial design. The name also had a nicer sound to it.
- 2. In the Japanese language, its eight stroke count was symbolic of prosperity and fortune.
- 3. Changing the company’s name from Toyoda signified that it had expanded from a small family business to a larger social organization.
The Model G1 Truck’s moniker, which had been Toyoda-go before the adoption of the Toyota mark, was now Toyota-go.
On August 28, 1937, the Toyota Motor Company was established not long after this design was registered as the trademark for Toyota automobiles in April 1937.
The new mark that represented Toyota’s forward-thinking and dependability was subsequently to be used as an emblem on all vehicles bearing the Toyota name.
Three ellipses make up the pattern. Customers’ expectations and the ideal of the automaker are represented by the inner horizontal and vertical ellipses, which are tightly interwoven to form the letter T. (for Toyota). The outer ellipse represents the reach of Toyota’s cutting-edge technology and its limitless potential for expansion.
Toyota views client pleasure as its primary manufacturing objective. This is why the business places a strong emphasis on cutting-edge R&D and continually improves its quality assurance and services. This company attitude is embodied in the new brand mark. In Japan and other countries, it also acts as a universal sign mark for vehicles bearing the Toyota brand. The Lexus had made its debut in a foreign market earlier in the year, thus this mark wasn’t the only significant brand asset Toyota acquired in 1989.
Toyota’s luxury auto brand, Lexus, made its debut in the United States in 1989. The success of the Lexus brand was ensured by meticulous market research, sound product planning, and carefully honed marketing and service strategies.