If you spot me on Locust Walk, it is very likely that I will have a Starbucks cup in my hand. The other day, I was curious about why the Starbucks logo looks the way it does. I looked into the story and thought it would be interesting to share it.
In 1971, the founders of Starbucks named the brand based on their love for Moby Dick. The initial thought was to name it Pequod, but that would be a strange name for a coffee chain so they went with his best mate. They were browsing through nautical books to look for a logo and were inspired by a mystical, nautical creature they came across. The siren- who is now the face of Starbucks- came into being as this ‘super-mermaid’ (because of the two-tails instead of one). The siren also implies a connection to the sea because they wanted to tie the logo back to Seattle, where Starbucks first originated. The siren also signifies that she is trying to lure people into drinking coffee because it is difficult to stay away from Starbucks. According to their website, the logo is meant to “evoke coffee’s allure and its sea-facing tradition”.
The siren has undergone changes since 1971. The color was changed from brown to green. In the design world, green is a color that represents healing, nature, and protection. The actual siren’s hair was changed to become wavier to represent the waves of the ocean. In the latest design, they aimed to humanize the siren and did so by making the siren’s face slightly asymmetrical by making the nose dip more on the right side of the face. This is because in design, symmetry was supposed to point towards human beauty and they wanted to break that notion.
Overall, if the aim of the Starbucks siren was to lure people into drinking the coffee, I will say that I am living proof of the fact that they have succeeded in their mission.
