14 DAY TRIAL // Designer Rob Janoff has posted a story on how the “rainbow” Apple logo came into existence in the 1970’s. In September 2008, Softpedia itself issued a “did you know” piece on “who bit Apple’s apple,” noting that while the “rainbow” logo had a more than respectable lifespan, no one really knew for sure what it stood for, or how it came about. Now we do.
“I knew right then that working on the introduction of a new product as complex as a computer named after something as simple as a piece of fruit was going to be fun. I had no idea that working on that account would soon become a major turning point in my career,” Janoff writes. “The head of the company was Steve Jobs. He was not your typical CEO. He had long stringy hair, wore jeans and came to meetings wearing sandals. Steve loved blowing people’s minds with his ‘counter culture meets business world’ look and attitude.”
“I had no Idea that this logo was the beginning of what would later become the international rock star in the world of logos.,” Janoff continues to explain. “The bite doesn’t symbolize getting smart or anything like that. The bite gave the apple the correct scale. The bite also keeps the shape from being confused with any other piece of round fruit. In addition, I think taking a bite out of an apple is a universally shared and pleasant experience.”
So, the bite is really just a design element that fit right in there. That’s all there is to it. No references to Isaac Newton, not a homage to the mathematician Alan Turing who committed suicide by eating an apple, nothing like that.
Apple's logo, shaped like a bitten apple, is one of the most iconic brand symbols in the world. It identifies Apple products (and retail stores) so well that it eliminates the need for Apple to write the company's name in letters on any of the products. Apple has been including its logo as stickers in nearly all Macintosh and iPod packages through the years. Some of the older Macs shipped with the “rainbow” Apple logo long after it had been dropped.