Talk about humble beginnings. Yahoo! was started by two Electrical Engineering students in their campus trailer. They began collecting links to their favorite websites and categorizing them, in February 1994. By fall, the same year, the website had received nearly 100,000 unique visitors. Back then, this doorway to the internet was known as “Jerry and David's Guide to the World Wide Web,” a name not really synonymous with 'big corporation.'
The name Yahoo! Is commonly thought to have its roots in the acronym of the phrase “Yet Another Hierarchical Officious Oracle.” But the founders David Filo and Jerry Young have said that they chose the name because they liked its definition: "rude, unsophisticated, uncouth."
The original Yahoo! logo design is the “Jumpin' Y Guy” logo designed by David Shen. The design had a blue circle representing the Earth and a yellow, Y-shaped stick-figure leaping from the Earth, backed by a purple shadow. The type was different to the type on today's logo.
Yahoo! was incorporated and hired Organic, an interactive agency, to redesign both their site and logo in 1995. Kevin Farnham was the Organic designer who executed the project, while David Shen, from Yahoo! continued as art director. The logo was simplified and the signature exclamation point was added.
The current type on the Yahoo! logo design comes from a T26 font named Able. The new type has a 'playful,' twist, reflecting Yahoo!'s philosophy. The company says “we thrive on creativity and ingenuity,” and “we believe humor is essential to success. We applaud irreverence and don't take ourselves too seriously.”
Colourwise, the Yahoo! logo was originally redesigned to a red type. But it has now been revamped to be less cartoon-like and to carry an air of sophisticated chic. The new designs now also include white and purple versions. A 'Y-Bang' version has also been added to the mix. It is composed of a white 'Y' at the center of a purple circle, complemented by a purple exclamation mark ('Y!').
The Yahoo! logo design is one of the most recognized today. There are even several 'Yahoo logomakers' scattered all over the word wide web, as admirers attempt to emulate this simple, but iconic emblem.
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