What does Apple's bitten apple mean? Why does the Apple logo have an apple bitten into it? Theory

The first Apple logo was created by Ron Wayne. This name says little not only to ordinary people, but even to geeks. Meanwhile, Ronald is the third co-founder of Apple, and also the biggest loser of the 20th century. He sold his 10 percent stake in the company for $800 just 11 days after registration. If he had not taken this rash step, Ronald would now be one of the wealthiest people in the world with a fortune of $30 billion. Analysts say Apple's value will triple in three years, which means Wayne may have lost about $100 billion simply by not believing in Apple.

The logo created by Ronald Wayne has nothing in common with the current one. It was a miniature work of art. In the center was the outstanding English scientist Isaac Newton, on whom an apple was about to fall (insight!). In the future, the “Newton theme” will be continued when Apple releases its PDA.

If you enlarge the logo, you will notice that along the border there is the text: Newton... A Mind Forever Voyaging Through Strange Seas of Thought... Alone (Newton... A mind that sails alone through strange seas of thought). This is a line from William Wordsworth's autobiographical poem "The Prelude", which in its entirety goes like this:

And from my pillow, looking forth by light
Of moon or favoring stars, I could behold
The antechapel where the statue stood
Of Newton with his prism and silent face,
The marble index of a mind for ever
Voyaging through strange seas of Thought, alone.

Translated it looks like this:

From my pillow, illuminated by the light
I could see the moon and good stars
On the pedestal is a statue of Newton.
He is holding a prism. Quiet face
Like the dial of a mind that's alone
Sailing through strange seas of Thought.

The logo turned out to be interesting (all these references to Newton, who really was lonely, a touch of mystery, etc.), but not very suitable for reality modern business. Therefore, Wayne's work was used for about a year. Then Steve Jobs turned to for help graphic designer Rob Janoff. It was necessary to create a simple, modern-looking, well-recognizable logo.

Rob completed this task in about a week. In an interview with the Revert to Saved blog, Yanov talked about how the logo was created. Rob bought apples, put them in a bowl and began to draw, gradually removing unnecessary details. The famous “bite” was made on purpose: the logo had to be drawn so that it would be strongly associated with apples, and not other fruits/vegetables/berries. The similarity of the pronunciation byte/bite (byte/bite) also played into its favor.

Rob Yanov made the logo in color, which provided good ground for speculation and myths. The most common one, actively supported by Win users and Linux users, comes down to the fact that the Apple symbol reflects support for sexual minorities. This is not entirely true. Apple truly supports the LGBT community, as evidenced by recent video, however, the color logo was created a year before gays began using the rainbow as a symbol.

The second myth is even more interesting. They say that an apple painted in the colors of the rainbow is a kind of sign of respect to Alan Turing. Turing is an outstanding English mathematician and cryptographer who made a significant contribution to the fight against fascism. During World War II, he cracked the Kriegsmarine and Enigma ciphers, and after that he had a huge influence on computer science (Turing test, work on the theory of artificial intelligence). Turing's merits did not save him from prosecution for homosexuality. Alan faced two years in prison if he did not agree to hormone therapy (which, among other things, led to breast growth and chemical castration). In addition, Turing was deprived of his most valuable asset: the opportunity to do what he loved - cryptography. As a result, Alan became a recluse, and then completely committed suicide. Moreover, the form of suicide was very unusual: Turing bit off an apple, which he had previously pumped with cyanide.

Rob Yanov refutes both myths. According to him, there is no need to look secret meaning. Apple's color logo was intended to reflect the fact that the company produces computers with color monitors. The Mac display at that time could display six colors. These colors were precisely indicated on the logo. There is also no pattern in the arrangement of colors. Yanov placed the colors in random order, only green was placed first intentionally.

The logo existed in this form for 22 years. In 1998, Steve Jobs, who had previously been ousted from Apple, returned to the company. Apple was experiencing huge financial problems at the time. Competitors sarcastically advised to close the shop and distribute the money to shareholders. Drastic measures were needed. And do you know what pulled Apple out of the crisis? Industrial designer Jonathan Ive has come up with a new case for the iMac G3.

Computers that look like candy canes literally saved Apple. Moreover, they became iconic - their images appeared in films, TV series, and glossy magazines. It is clear that a colorful logo on a colored poppy would look stupid. Apple has moved away from using a color logo. So, since 1998, we have seen a laconic monochrome logo. The company has matured. And with her, so do we.

Rob Janow created an outstanding logo. This is not a banal insignia, but real Symbol. But Yanov’s achievements were not particularly noted by Apple. At the beginning of this post I mentioned the Nike logo. It was created by Carolyn Davidson, a student and freelancer from Oregon. Nike, a young company at the time, paid $35 for the work. But ten years later, the company’s founder, Phillip Knight, gave her an expensive ring with a diamond “stroke” - corporate style, as well as an envelope with company shares. Knight appreciated the designer's work, making her a co-owner of Nike (albeit with a small stake).

The evolution of the Apple logo

History of the origin and development of the company Apple interests many. Many books have been written and films have been made about this “two Steves” phenomenon, but the riddle of the logo remains unsolved.

There is an assumption that the sign depicted on Apple logo- nothing more than a “symbol of sin”, which Adam accepted from the hands of Eve in the Garden of Eden, having learned the taste and sweetness of vice. The second, most common, says that a bitten apple is the fruit of knowledge, and every person, “biting” science, learns something new and keeps a little for himself. The third, most unexpected version of the origin of the logo is at the same time the most shocking: a bitten apple means death.

The death of the man who was at the origins of the invention of the computer, who was the first to create an “automatic computing device” in 1947 and came up with the theory of artificial intelligence - Alan Turing(Alan Turing).

This brilliant scientist, who is called "Da Vinci" computer world", committed suicide in 1954 by biting into an apple doped with cyanide. The one-bite fruit was found on his bedside table the morning after his death.

In search of the truth, I plunged into the network and found an interview with the designer Rob Yanov(Rob Janoff), who designed the company logo, in which he shed some light on the mystery of this fact.

Rob Yanov. The designer who created the Apple logo

“I bought a whole bag of apples, put them in a bowl and painted them for a week, trying to simplify the details. Biting into the fruit was part of the experiment, and by complete accident " byte"("bite" - author's note) turned out to be a computer term, and it is not true that it symbolizes the "fruit of knowledge." I cut apples, quartered and cut out shapes, bit with different sides, but I thought the idea of a monochrome apple with a one-sided bite on the right side was the best.”

I would like to note that, according to Rob Yanov, for the work done, which he was ordered from an advertising agency Rigs McKenna, he did not receive a single word of gratitude: “They didn’t even send a greeting card,” complained the elderly creator of the rainbow logo.

Initially the logo was one color, but Steve Jobs I decided to decorate it with a rainbow. The bright version existed for 23 years, until 1998, until it again became the usual monochrome.

Whatever the original idea for the company symbol was Apple, we already accept all the facts of its creation as a given and another fact of history, since love for the logo is born from love for their products. And already in every bitten apple, carelessly left on the table, we notice something familiar: the Apple logo, and not vice versa. [reverttosaved]

website The evolution of the Apple logo The history of the emergence and development of Apple is of interest to many. Many books have been written and films have been made about this “two Steves” phenomenon, but the riddle of the logo remains unsolved. There is an assumption that the sign depicted on the Apple logo is nothing more than a “symbol of sin”, which Adam accepted from the hands of Eve in the Garden of Eden, having tasted...

Translated it looks like this:

The logo turned out to be interesting (all these references to Newton, who really was lonely, a touch of mystery, etc.), but not very suitable for the realities of modern business. Therefore, Wayne's work was used for about a year. Steve Jobs then turned to graphic designer Rob Janoff for help. It was necessary to create a simple, modern-looking, well-recognizable logo.

Rob Yanov refutes both myths. According to him, there is no need to look for a secret meaning. Apple's color logo was intended to reflect the fact that the company produces computers with color monitors. The Mac display at that time could display six colors. These colors were precisely indicated on the logo. There is also no pattern in the arrangement of colors. Yanov placed the colors in random order, only the green color was placed first intentionally.

Rob Janow created an outstanding logo. This is not a banal insignia, but a real Symbol. But Yanov’s achievements were not particularly noted by Apple. At the beginning of this post I mentioned the Nike logo. It was created by Carolyn Davidson, a student and freelancer from Oregon. Nike, a young company at the time, paid $35 for the work. But ten years later, the company’s founder, Phillip Knight, presented her with an expensive ring with a diamond “stroke” - the signature style, as well as an envelope with company shares. Knight appreciated the designer's work, making her a co-owner of Nike (albeit with a small stake).

Few people know, but the photo above is the real Apple logo.

Apple's main symbol has been updated several times already. Changing the logo is a kind of control point, marking a transition to new views and principles of the company. Moreover, these changes were never random.

Are you sure you remember the old company logos? Let's figure it out.

Newton logo (1976 - 1977)

The first Apple logo is far from the modern, laconic symbol. By by and large, he stood out in those days too. The logo was created by one of the founders of Apple, Ronald Wayne, who quickly sold his stake in the company. It's a cool idea - to use the widely circulated story about the discovery of gravity by Isaac Newton. But its implementation leaves much to be desired.

Minimalism? No, we haven't heard. The logo looks more like a coat of arms: a shield, a heraldic ribbon, a pompous signature. Absolutely not suitable for application to products, and all because of its bulky geometry and abundance small parts. Fortunately, it didn't last long.

Rainbow Logo (1977 - 1998)

An ambitious company needs a recognizable symbol. That's why Apple's founders turned to designer Rob Janoff of Regis McKenna. It was he who created the well-known bitten apple in rainbow colors.

In an interview, the designer said that he simply bought a bag of apples and experimented with them for a week. Many hoax fans like to attribute hidden meanings to this logo. But Rob Janoff debunked all the myths, according to him, he did not make any references to Alan Turing or the Garden of Eden:

stripes of all the colors of the rainbow speak of competitive advantage Apple computers that could display color images;
the incorrect order of these colors is justified by the fact that the leaf of an apple should be green;
the fruit was “bitten” so as not to confuse the apple with other fruits;
the consonant “byte” and “bite” remain only curious coincidences.

Monochrome logo (1998–present)

By the end of the nineties, Apple was on the verge of failure. After his return to the company, Steve Jobs made a splash - he closed unpromising projects, updated the staff and stopped renewing licenses for branded products. software. In order to forever disown the disastrous old course, the logo was also changed. From 1998 until now it has been a solid apple.

If the size of the previous logo rarely exceeded 1.5 x 1.5 cm, then the monochrome version is usually larger, brighter and more noticeable. Now the “apple” is drawn in three colors: black, white and grey. But it used to be more varieties, here are the most famous:

iMac G3 logo

The release of the iMac G3 in 1998 marked the return of Apple. Stylish all-in-one PCs had just such a logo, and it was the same color as part of the case. The PowerMac, Apple Studio Display and iBook, released a year later, received similar logos.

“Aqua” logo

This logo first appeared on the PowerMac G4 Cube and was used for several years in advertising and banners. Plus, it could be seen in early versions of OS X, because the logo fit perfectly into the concept of the Aqua interface.

"Glass" logo

Users of Apple's desktop OS first saw this logo in 2002 when upgrading to OS X Panther. With the release of the iPhone in 2007, this symbol moved to mobile devices. It was replaced only in 2013 in connection with the release of iOS 7 and the abandonment of skeuomorphism.

Metal logo

Metal logos are one of Apple's favorite and recognizable features. Having appeared in the iMac G4 all-in-one PCs, such logos roamed across all categories of Apple products. iPhone cases with holes? All for the sake of the treasured metal apple.

Logo “Product.RED”

Apple is partnering with Product Red to help the latter raise funds for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. On the official website of the Cupertino company you can find products, part of the proceeds from which go to this fund. Once a year, on the first of December, on World AIDS Day, Apple turns its logo red.

What's next?

Of course, Apple won't change the shape of its logo. You shouldn’t expect exotic color solutions from the company either; minimalism is in fashion now. Perhaps soon we will see the familiar logo made from new materials. Maybe

The story of the appearance of the famous bitten apple on the products of the world famous company Apple is far from being as clear and simple as Steve Jobs and his companions try to make it out to be.

We bring to your attention three main versions of creating one of the most recognizable logos in the world.

Funny version

A humorous version that the logo for a long time it didn’t work out and at some point Steve Jobs put a bitten apple on the table, saying that if by 6 o’clock in the evening the logo had not been invented, then this would become it. Nobody came up with anything like that.

Official version

Originally the logo of Apple Computers, founded on April 1, 1976 Steve Jobs And Steve Wozniak, looked like this.

It depicted Isaac Newton sitting under a tree. And on the tree, in the halo, there was an apple hanging. This logo was invented Ron Wayne- one of the partners of the two Steves in the early stages of the company's development. He was a co-founder for a while, but then, considering Apple too risky, he took his $800 in seed capital and left.

This logo did not last long. After the failure of the Apple I, Steve Jobs felt that a too confusing logo was affecting sales.

To develop a more profitable logo in marketing terms, the company turned to the services of the advertising agency Regis McKenna represented by a designer Rob Yanov. It is he who is considered the creator of the famous apple logo.

According to legend, Yanov went to the nearest supermarket and bought a bag of apples. Looking for a shape, he began to cut them: into different directions, into slices, in half, etc., after spending more than one hour doing this activity. But nothing better than an apple I couldn’t figure it out with a bite on the right side. Rob himself still cannot clearly explain why it was bitten. According to one version, a bite of a fruit in people’s minds is strongly associated with an apple, and not with a cherry or apricot. Another version says that the logo played on a pair of consonant words: bite (bite) and byte (byte).

Rob Yanov's creation originally looked like this.

But Steve Jobs, against the advice of designers and marketers, insisted that the apple be painted in rainbow colors. Ostensibly in order to emphasize the fact that Apple also works with color graphics. As Yanov recalls, Steve also uttered the mysterious phrase “Color will be the key to humanizing the company.”

The rainbow logo lasted until 1998, when it was changed to a single-color apple, which is still used today.

Blue trail

And finally, the most intriguing and zealously rejected version by Jobs.

Her background is as follows. In the middle of the 20th century, a mathematician who later became world famous lived and worked in England. Alan Turing. Among other things, it was he who invented one of the first computers for the first time in the world.

Turing was a homosexual and his problem was that at that time in Great Britain homosexuals were considered mentally ill people and, moreover, were persecuted by law. In 1952, the scientist was charged with "gross indecency" for being gay. Turing was convicted and given a choice between a two-year prison sentence or hormone therapy in the form of estrogen injections, which was essentially chemical castration. Turing chose therapy. One of the effects was growing breasts and decreased libido. In addition, as a result of the conviction, the scientist lost the right to conduct new developments.

A year after the verdict, Alan Turing died from cyanide poisoning, which was apparently contained in an apple, half of which Turing ate before his death. He was found to have committed suicide.

In memory of this tragic and unfair event, Steve Jobs, who admired Turing’s achievements, decided to display that very bitten apple on the logo of his company. The head of Apple himself this version resolutely rejects it, and there are many reasons for this. The main one is quite logical and understandable - such recognition can reduce product sales around the world, especially in countries with a low level of tolerance for homosexual relations.

Another interesting point in support of the "blue" version of the origin of the Apple logo. The rainbow-colored flag is the banner of supporters of same-sex love all over the world, which also fits into the concept of the version that Steve Jobs wanted to pay tribute to the great scientist who ushered in the computer era with his bitten rainbow apple.

Alexey VOROBYOV, especially for the site "Country of Soviets"