PacSun Logo
Pacific Sunwear of California, commonly known as PacSun, is an American retail clothing brand. In recent years, it moved away from the sunny leisure it has come to symbolize, focusing more on streetwear and using apparel partnerships as ways to resonate with its predominantly young customer base. The company sells lifestyle clothing, as well as swimwear, footwear, and accessories. For American teenagers in the late 90s and early 2000s, PacSun stores were the ultimate shopping destination. They were streetwear stores where you could find everything from Stussy T-shirts to Quiksilver jackets. PacSun inspires the new generation of youth by building a community at the intersection of fashion, music, art, and sports.
Meaning and History
Tom Moore and Jack Hopkins officially opened Pacific Sunwear of California in 1982. It all started, though, with a small surf shop in California a couple of years earlier. A year later, they opened a second store in a shopping mall. Large shopping malls became the main location for all subsequent PacSun stores. With funding from venture capitalists, the number of stores grew to 21 by 1988. In 1993, the company went public and had 60 stores. In 2016, PacSun filed for bankruptcy and was acquired by Golden Gate Capital. Despite the difficult years, it grew to approximately 600 stores operating under the PacSun brand by 2020.
What is PacSun?
PacSun is an American retail clothing brand that specializes in casual and trendy apparel and accessories. It offers a range of products including jeans, tops, swimwear, and footwear, often infused with California-inspired styles.
1983 – 2009
From the very beginning, the logo consisted of the brand name “PacSun” in a bold, sans-serif font. The yellow color and sun rays above the “S” give it that California vibe. Moreover, the vibrant color reflects the youthful and trendy energy associated with the brand. The strokes are quite uneven, which gives the logo a friendly and outgoing character. The overall feel is outgoing, welcoming, and exciting.
2009 – 2014
Although there is no sun or bright yellow color, the logo still hints at the sun as the whole inscription is printed in the shape of an arch. It features a bold, san-serif typeface that gives it a modern look. The combination of smooth curves with straight cuts and even stroke thickness makes it instantly recognizable. Meanwhile, the use of black shows that the brand is well-established and respected.
2014 – Today
A completely new spin was given to the logo in 2014. Instead of using bold characters with minmal spacing between them, the designer made the strokes fine and added a lot of space between each letter. Overall, the new PacSun logo embodies a casual and laid-back aesthetic, appealing to a young demographic interested in fashion and lifestyle.
Font and Color
The brand’s fun-loving and adventurous vibe is reflected in the first logo as the color palette is a sunny yellow color. It is energetic and eye-catching color that gives a feeling of warmth and happiness. Later, it switched to black, which made the logo look more formal. It looks stylish and sophisticated. Black-and-white and black emblems are especially popular in the fashion industry.
The original font is bold, yet it does not look overwhelming or strong due to the color palette and carefree style. It looks like a modified version of Luwest Rounded Regular or a similar font. The next logo uses a bold, rounded, sans-serif font with a modern look that resembles Godiva by Creative Fabrica font and Merlod Autre Bold font. A more recent version can be replicated using bold, modern sans-serif font called Sweet Sans Pro Bold and Troia Bold font.
