Welcome to Friday! Logos with K!
This week’s logos all belong to companies whose names start with the letter K. Okay?
Kentucky Fried Chicken has a famous logo that begins with the letter K
1. The Kentucky Fried Chicken franchise was officially founded in 1952, but KFC’s famous fried chicken was actually conceived all the way back in 1930. Colonel Harland Sanders started serving his fried chicken in the dining area of a gas station he owned known as Sanders Court and Café. In 1935, Sanders received the title of honorary Kentucky Colonel in recognition of his culinary achievements on behalf of the state. Colonel Sanders old the entire operation in 1964 for $2 million (this around $14,987,124 today), while his handwritten and signed secret recipe of 11 herbs and spices is held in a secure vault to this day.
KIA Motors also begins with the letter K
2. The name Kia roughly translates as “rising out of Asia”, an undeniably appropriate name for a company based in Seoul, South Korea. Founded on the 9th of June 1944, it is South Korea’s oldest car company, and has produced vehicles for military use as well as domestic. In 1997, the company introduced a new corporate grille – the so-called Tiger Nose – that was intended to make their cars more recognisable by giving them an identifiable ‘face’.
Famous Kikkoman soy sauce is another example.
3. Chiba-based Kikkoman was founded in 1917, and is actually a combination of eight family-owned businesses founded by the Mogi and Takanashi families as early as 1603. Its soy sauce is perhaps one of its best known products, the brand having the honour of being identified as the most popular in both Japan and the US. The company’s logo is the kamon of its founder, a kamon being a Japanese emblem or crest used to identify a particular family.
Logos with K are memorable
4. Koei was established in 1978 by Yoichi and Keiko Erikawa, its name being a spoonerism of the university Yoichi attended (Keio University). Originally focusing on PC games, Koei’s success led to the company branching out into console titles. In 2009 Koei purchased competitor Tecmo, with the two companies merging on the 1st of April 2009 into Tecmo Koei.
Last but not least KODAK
5. The name of the Eastman Kodak Company, more commonly referred to as Kodak, largely came about as a result of founder George Eastman’s fondness for the letter K (apparently “it seems a strong, incisive sort of letter”). Said to have been devised with the help of his mother and an Anagrams set, Eastman chose it due to its uniqueness and not, as many believe, its similarity to the sound produced by a camera shutter.
L is next on the agenda. Know any companies with interesting logos whose name starts with this letter? Make sure you post them to us with the #fridayfeature hash tag on Twitter or to our Facebook page! Want to start from the beginning ? Sure take a look at Letter A