Summer is too hot on some days and there is nothing that can do better than a single thing. That is a trip to Dairy Queen. I recall that we would all cram on the car with my siblings. The anticipation was growing as we impatiently waited to get our sugary and frozen treat. We read the sign after we saw it, a great red and white ellipse which was out of kilter, but we knew it was near at hand when we saw it. It was not only their ice cream. It was the logo, the mark of a sunny and cheery location, where all people were aware that they would be offered something tasty.
And here is the comical thing. The logo that we have been identifying with happiness over the years is not simply a shape or color with which we have been associated. One would know many things that he would not know had he only bothered about the taste of the Dilly Bar or the Blizzard. I mean, I did not have a lot of problems with it, to be honest. When I was a child I did not think much about it. The logo existed since it was and has been obvious and invisible just like the soft-served ice cream it represents. However, as I entered High School, I started to wonder about the actual meaning of the symbols that I saw every day. Why is the Dairy Queen Logo so special? Is it recent or something old? And what is the message of it, the message?
The logo of Dairy Queen has changed during the years since its establishment in 1940. The firm later changed its initial logo. This was completely unlike the logo now used or owned by the company when it first opened its shop in Joliet, Illinois and it was very simple, a mere word mark which simply said Dairy Queen, the font style was very traditional, trying to be nothing at all but what it was made to be. It was the nickname to a site that could give you the finest soft serve ice cream ever.
Designers have over time adapted the logo to help in improving the image of the brand. That is why they have to be updated. They made suites to the logo in the 1950s and angles the text in an Ellipse that slightly leans to the right. This was a major transformation. It initiated creating such a brand like Dairy Queen with its own distinctive look. The ellipse was not only skewed to give it a special appearance. It gave the logo an effect of movement. This can be equaled with the prompt and amicable services of any Dairy Queen store.
In 1960 the company launched a logo, which it would use up to several other years. This was the best known of the lot. It consisted of the red circle containing the words Dairy Queen written in a neat and elegant lettering. Nevertheless, some people have misconceived the shape of this logo; the oval shape is sometimes taken to mean a pair of lips. This gives the logo a progressive appearance that is friendly and warm as the brand is smiling at the consumer. This is the one that many of us will associate with when we were children. People associated it with the taste of ice cream during a hot summer day. It was simple in design with no apparent additional details. Yet it appeared soft, respectable, and comfy, and that was okay.
A little later in the 90s and early 2000s Dairy Queen did make a few alterations to the logo that will be recognizable to this date. The writing was substituted with initials of DQ. In 2001 the company felt that the logo was a bit old fashioned. The words DQ were bound in the red ellipse consisting of blue and orange curved lines that were placed above and below the ellipse. These were not mere ornamental lines since they signified the hot and cold line. Ice cream – blue, hot foods orange. It was clever to include pictures which displayed the various items that Dairy Queen sells.
The present DQ logo that you may observe at the signs, in the cups, and in all the packages in any of the DQ locations still use the red ellipse and the blue and orange swoosh. You may not even notice the design at the surface level, but then there is more to it and quite a lot. The red elongated design symbolizes the brand heritage. This is the reason why it remains the central component of the logo. The swooshes drive the point home that the brand was concerned about quality since time immemorial. It is a form that has acquired mathematical familiarity and popularity. Once people see it, they can immediately recognize it with Dairy Queen. And yes, the lips icon still carries along the warm, friendly, light-hearted characteristics of DQ.
The blue and orange swooshes also have meanings to the colors used. The blue swoosh is the straight translation of what this brand sells- ice cream, sundaes, Blizzards, and other frozen delights. The orange swoosh was a major feature in the DQ restaurant menu as the company launched it as a symbol of products of heat.These swooshes all in all describe a company that does not sell just ice cream, but food as well. The hot, the cold, and all between the!
The use of colors in the logo is also important to mention as it plays the critical role in the design. The red color is associated with energy, love and enthusiasm. This is what DQ wants to get one to think when one stumbles upon their products. The blue provides the feeling of calm and renewal. This is what happened to be aligned with what one feels upon eating ice cream. The orange color is ever bright and energetic. It assists in uniting all the components and gives a smile to the design.
The DQ logo reflects the image of a brand which was created in Illinois state as a small shop and grew into a global brand. Seeing this red ellipse, I remember the summer vacation of my childhood each time I see this red ellipse. It is a logo, which has been embraced by the current generation and continues to portray the original meaning of DQ.
Let that sink in, before the next time you purchase a Blizzard or cup of coffee with that red print on it. It is not a mere inscription. It is the announcement of what is good, something that is and has been making people feel good since the passing of more than eight decades.
