<1908

1908

1914

1960

2000

AEG

When in 1907 Peter Behrens (1868-1940) was appointed artistic director of the giant German industrial combine AEG (Allgemeine Elektrcitäts-Gesellschaft) business, it heralded a new dawn of product devices and a new day in marketing and advertising.

One of Behren’s first challenges was to redesign the company logo. He did this by dramatically simplifying it to just three letters in a rectangle. The strong unfussy lettering remains the basis of the logo used today. Within a very short time, Behrens also began to formulate and implement a new standardised appearance for the branding that was associated with the products across a variety of media including letterheads, packaging, posters and folders.

Further on in his career, Behrens also set out the style for a whole range of infrastructure and company assets, including but not limited to manufacturing and production facilities, sales showrooms, the residences of workers and also continued on with his commitment to branding across catalogues and product price lists amongst other things. During his employment with AEG right up until 1914, Behrens became a leader in branding and marketing industrial consumables for the mass market like never before. The sheer numbers of new and innovative products made it economical for the average person to purchase and for the company to produce at an economic and affordable price.

In line with the constantly changing nature of the business, the initial hexagonal form of the logo design was also temporary and only lasted until 1908. Over the years like Behrens already had pursued for years the AEG brand and logo got simplified and stylized even further remaining only three letters. And yet the acronym AEG logo being one the very well recognizable brands in the world.