The earliest forms of logos were manually applied to crates and other shipping containers to help merchants to distinguish their contents. Before stores and widespread advertising became prominent, logos were created not for consumers, but for distributors.
During the Industrial Revolution, when printing became available, brands started realizing that simply putting words on their products was no longer a viable way to address new audiences or to mass market their product. Although printing was still monochromatic at this time due to lithography printing, the combination of color, shape, and type helped companies design logos that easily communicated brand names to consumers.
Fast forward to the 1990s and 2000s. With the invention of personal computers, logo designs became easy and quick to create. Suddenly, business’ weren’t the only ones who needed logos. Events, festivals, organizations, schools, and even individuals all wanted their piece of the logo craze.