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The popular company Warner Bros. was actually formed in 1903 by four Jewish brothers who had recently emigrated from Poland. From this humble beginning, WB has come to stand for the highest quality of movies. Their logo can be seen on such blockbusters as “The Matrix”, “The Lord of the Rings” and “A Nightmare on Elm Street.”

One factor that has always worked in the favor of WB is the distinctive look of their logo. This logo can be seen on the packaging of many popular movies and with each successful movie, WB entices more and more customers to become loyal fans. Such brand recognition is absolutely vital to the continued health of a company and anyone interested in a branding empire of their own should consider the lessons of WB.

First Logo-The Studio Shield

The famous shield of WB has its start in the very first logo of WB. This logo displayed a picture of the WB studio lot within the frame of the famous shield. The words “A Warner Bros. Production” surrounded the shield to identify the company.

This picture shows the Burbank, California studios where WB first started. This is both a salute to their beginnings as well as a symbol representing the fact that they solely produce movies. This logo also sought to tap into the romance of Hollywood at the time. People of the time were fascinated with movies (much like they are today) and this image of a studio gave consumers an inside glimpse of the studio where the movies were made.

It is also important to note that the WB (standing for WB’s of course) only fills up the bottom half of the shield. This will change in all succeeding logos.

2nd Logo-The Vitaphone

The very next logo of Warner Bros., introduced in 1929, showed a drastic change. As is mentioned above, the WB initials have grown to cover the entire shield. Also the picture of the studio lot has disappeared, replaced with a cityscape. An important change to note is the introduction of the “Vitaphone” name in the WB logo. The Vitaphone was actually one of the first precursors of “talkie” films as opposed to silent films and WB, in order to try and stay current, teamed up with Vitaphone Company to create “talkies” of their own.

As this was such a big deal at the time, the inclusion of the Vitaphone logo was WB’s attempt to cash in on the trend. This logo showed that WB was making quality movies with sound, a foreign concept at the time, and people flocked to see these films.

Current Logo

In 1998 WB introduced its current logo. This logo is quite stylized showing a floating shield among the clouds with the WB name in large, gold font. The logo also makes note of the fact that Warner Bros. is now a member of the Time Warner Company.

Why the Logo Works

The WB logo can be seen in famous shows to blockbuster movies and this kind of brand recognition is incredibly important for any company. The logo is probably so effective because it’s always stayed true to its source. WB has had over a hundred years to expand their brand recognition and generations have come to know and love WB’s simple shield.