History by Design
The history of Shield’s logos offers a ‘museum’ of designs which demonstrates the length of time Shield has been in business, by their image content. Over the years we’ve worked with different designers, in different countries. The theme of the earlier designs was developed around images of storage devices. If you set the series of logos in a row, they demonstrate just how long Shield has been around, and how the company has moved with the times.
Shield provides High Availability solutions for the IBMi. Initially named AS/400, the midrange platform has also moved with the times. Since its launch in 1988 the AS/400 (Application System) has experienced several name changes, including iSeries, i5 etc.
Shield’s initial logo was developed in 1993 in the UK. This logo featured the image of a floppy disk set within a shield shape. Today, who knows what a floppy disk is? or where your ‘A’ drive might have been on your computer?
In 1997 a Toronto designer created a ‘new look’ as we launched Shield Advanced Solutions in Canada. Continuing on the theme of data storage the image was developed around the modern CD / DVD technology. Shield operates in the IBMi arena, but the storage drives didn’t work well for a design.
Shield’s current logo is a play on the letter S, positive, negative and reversed-out… the clear, crisp contrast and colours work well for our exhibit stand, documentation and more.
When working as a Communications Specialist with IBM in the late 1980s, we were told that IBM believed their Logo was their most valuable asset. It has stood the test of time. The design has been tweaked and adjusted slightly, but in essence remains the same. This article posted on Twitter recently includes the IBM logo among other well known graphic images – read article.
Shield’s logo confirms something slightly different…. the logo has changed with the times. The company too has changed and progressed, and the business can demonstrate the many years in operation through the suite of past logos.