Showcase of Retro and Vintage Logo Designs

By Darren Stevens. in Web Design. Updated on October 9, 2022.

“Retro” literally means “backward” in Latin, and that’s exactly the kind of expression it represents: an aged style that was once popular and culturally significant but has since faded from fame.

The biggest hallmark of design and style that’s considered retro today hails from the 1950s and 1960s – the period that brought the baby boomers and big economic and sociological changes in the United States.

Retro is a style that’s heavily influenced by art deco – a linear, symmetrical design with rich colors and clean surfaces. Retro-pop art played a big part in the emergence of the style, such as retro advertising and poster design. Another area is Retro-futurism, which incorporates science fiction into retro, as seen in cartoons such as The Jetsons, and video games such as BioShock.

Despite retro’s history and iconic style, it’s been out of the mainstream limelight for many decades. Ironically this is also the reason behind its resurgence among designers.

Being different and bringing back old memories, retro has become “in” in recent years, with more and more designers opting to use its style for websites, logos, graphics, and more.

Today, we’ll be taking a look at retro logos, a particular area where the style is thriving today. I hope you will enjoy this collection of excellent retro and vintage logos.

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