Our story | Landor

A legacy of fresh thinking

In 1964, our founder Walter Landor did something no one expected: He moved Landor’s headquarters onto a ferryboat named the Klamath, which he’d purchased at auction and docked in the San Francisco Bay. It was a bold choice—and a symbol of fresh thinking. The Klamath quickly became renowned for the groundbreaking creative work coming out of its studios and the myriad cultural luminaries who loved to visit: Andy Warhol, Tom Wolfe, Issey Miyake, Marshall McLuhan, and many others.

Design story: The Decanter — “The Decanter” takes you on board the Klamath and inside the creative process behind a series of elegantly styled whiskey decanters.

Walter’s legacy is still with us today. As long-established brands find themselves under siege from nimble, digitally savvy competitors, conventional approaches to branding no longer work. So we’ve revolutionized our practices to help our clients build agile brands that seize opportunities—and thrive on change.

Alitalia

Landor’s 1967 work with Alitalia was our first comprehensive identity program for an international airline. The clean, vibrant graphics we developed proved so adaptable that they remained in use until 2014—when Alitalia came back to us for a refresh.

Bank of America

In 1969, Bank of America was having difficulty attracting small depositors, in part because the banking giant was perceived as impersonal. Landor’s response was a softer, more friendly logo whose entwined “B” and “A” form an eagle in flight.

British Airways

During industry deregulation in 1983, Landor helped British Airways demonstrate its commitment to quality, service, and tradition through a classic visual identity. BA was named Airline of the Year in 1985, signifying its renaissance as “the world’s favorite airline.”

Coca-Cola

In 1985, Landor combined four elements—“Coca-Cola,” “Coke,” the dynamic curve, and the trademark colors—into one design adopted company-wide by the world’s most famous brand. Consumers preferred the new look by a margin of eight to one.

Cotton

In 1971, Cotton Incorporated asked Landor for a new identity that would promote cotton as a homegrown alternative to synthetic fabrics. Our logo design and tagline communicate the pure, organic nature of this fiber and its desirability as a material.

FedEx

Every FedEx truck and plane now carries three well-known elements created by Landor during a partnership that spanned 20 years and is still going strong: the company’s short-form name (taken from colloquial usage), the hidden arrow logo, and the apt tagline The world on time.

Frito-Lay

Frito-Lay, the global leader in snack food, trusted Landor not once but twice with its corporate identity—in 1979 and again in 1997. Landor’s colorful, eye-catching designs embody the company’s sense of playfulness and fun.

La Caixa

To celebrate the Catalan heritage of Spain’s largest savings bank, Landor commissioned renowned artist Joan Miró to create a tapestry in 1972. From this work of art we isolated the distinctive blue star that La Caixa proudly displays today as its logo.

Levi’s

When Levi Strauss wanted a new garment label in 1969, it turned to Landor. The red-and-white “batwing” we developed mimics the back-pocket stitching on the brand’s iconic blue jeans, and was among the first logos to mix upper- and lowercase letters.

Korean manufacturing conglomerate Lucky-Goldstar sought greater recognition at the international level. Our 1997 “Face of the Future” motif symbolizes humanity, carrying a universal appeal while underscoring the value LG places on its workforce.

Miller Lite

With Landor’s package design for Miller Lite in 1972, the brand became America’s first successful light beer. The marketplace triumph and rocketing sales moved Miller Brewing from the seventh-largest to the second-largest brewery in the country.

Olympics

Landor has been chosen three times to design logos for the Olympic Games: those held in Atlanta (1996), Nagano (1998), and Salt Lake City (2002).

Sapporo

Sapporo, the oldest and best-selling beer in Japan, became Landor’s first Asian client in 1959. Company executives were so pleased with our work that they asked Walter Landor to star in the print ads—and to everyone’s surprise, he agreed.

World Wildlife Fund

The adorable panda Landor created in 1986 quickly became the World Wildlife Fund’s furry ambassador. Not only does this strong, recognizable symbol transcend language barriers, it stands as a classic example of the use of negative space in identity design.

1/14