Under Armour Logo
Although the American brand Under Armor is quite young compared to its competitors, it is considered one of the major players in the sports equipment segment. Today, the brand produces T-shirts, jackets, sweatshirts, trousers, leggings, shorts, and accessories such as bags, gloves, and protective gear. It offers technologies for moisture management, heat retention, water protection, and much more. Collaboration with Warner Brothers, the creation of sportswear for the Olympic Games, and the supply of clothing for the new XFL football league placed the brand in a great position in the market for sports attire and equipment.
Meaning and History
When in 1996, Kevin Plank, a young former American football team captain, decided to create sportswear because, at the time, most athletes trained in ordinary cotton T-shirts that get wet quickly. Plank decided to change that once and for all, but realized that he had neither a garage nor a basement like the founders of Apple and Google. Luckily, he could use grandma’s basement. Initially, the startup was called Heart. As it turned out, someone else had already registered a company with that name, and Planck came up with Body Armor. Shortly after that, his brother suggested Under Armour. Less than 20 years later, the company overtook Adidas to become the second largest seller in the US market, behind only the giant Nike.
What is Under Armour?
Under Armour specializes primarily in sportswear. The brand, though, also includes models for everyday wear. The corporation is considered one of the leaders in the market for the supply of clothing using innovative technologies.
1996 – 1998
A unique and symbolic futuristic design of the logo was presented when the company was just founded. It is a monogram made up of the first two letters of the company’s name. Plank took the “U” from “Under” and the “A” from “Armour” and put them together to make a very simple sign. The letters “A” and “U” form the symmetrical cross. The intersection between the letters is done in white, while all the other elements are in black. The name is split above and below the cross symbol. At the very bottom, it says “Athletic Apparel”. All the inscriptions are adjusted to be the same width as the cross symbol.
1997 – 1998
The new design used a bold square sans-serif typeface with rounded and softened letter outlines. The brand name was now arching above the cross, while “Athletic Apparel” was placed under it. Both inscriptions repeated the shape of the oval border added to the emblem. At the very bottom, it stated the phone number of the company, which was partially converted to letters and said “1-888-4-ARMOUR”. This phone number was the main reason why the founder spelled the name with the “U”.
1998 – 1999
Modifications were done only a year after the previous version was introduced. The oval border was made much thicker, especially on the right and the left, which created a dynamic appearance appropriate for a company in the sports industry. The monogram formed from the initials was now monochrome and slightly wider, which created a bold, powerful appearance. The only text left was the brand name, which was printed under the oval emblem using a sleek and futuristic font. It was bold, without serifs, and had smooth curves.
1999 – 2005
The creative designers continued perfecting its brand image. It decided to get rid of the oval shape and kept only the monogram and brand name, which stayed unchanged. The name was underlined and a new tagline was added. It said “Performance Apparel” using the same font, although the letters were printed smaller to make both lines the same width.
2005 – Today
The updated version of the logo looks cleaner as there is no more tagline and a horizontal line that was dividing the two lines of text. The new brand image acquired a timeless, refined, and ultra-modern.
Font and Color
Since 1997, the brand used a font that resembled Montalban designed by Pixel Sagas or Corporate URW. It is a bold geometric typeface without serifs. Before that, it had a bold, sans-serif typeface with smooth, rounded strokes. The company went for a stylish color that companies across all industries use to create a powerful and timeless brand image. This color is black.
