Konami logo history: From simple design to gaming icon
Most gaming enthusiasts will be familiar with the Konami logo, but how much do you know about the origins of this popular emblem? Konami logo history officially dates back to 1973, when the brand was first incorporated, and throughout the years, the organization’s visual identity has evolved.
Today, Konami is best known for producing a wide range of entertainment products. Alongside well-known video game franchises such as Metal Gear and Silent Hill, Konami also creates and distributes slot machines, arcade cabinets, and trading cards.
Starting life as a Jukebox rental and repair business, Konami has come a long way over the decades and today stands out as one of the best-known entertainment brands in the world. Today, we will take a closer look at the Konami logo, its history, and the company’s evolution.
Konami meaning: What does Konami mean?
Konami, otherwise known as the Konami Group Corporation, is a Japanese video gaming and entertainment company currently headquartered in Tokyo.
The brand is probably best known for its impact on the video game industry, with the production of titles like Yu-Gi-Oh, Frogger, Castlevania, and even BeatMania. Currently, Konami stands as the 19th largest game company in the world.
Originating in 1969 as a rental and repair company for jukeboxes, Konami was founded by Tatsuo Miyasako, Yoshinobu Nakamata, and Kagemasa Kozuki. The name of the company is a portmanteau created with letters from the names of the three founding members.
Though it officially started life four years earlier, Konami was incorporated with its official name in 1973. The founders transformed their rental and repair business into a manufacturing company for amusement machines and arcades, releasing their first coin-operated game in 1978.
By 1979, Konami was exporting products to the United States and expanding rapidly into the video game sector. Many of the early games produced by the organization were licensed to other companies for release in the United States.
Today, Konami remains one of the better-known entertainment companies in the world, producing games, movies, anime, and more.
Who owns Konami?
Currently, one of the biggest shareholders of Konami is Kagemasa Kozuki, one of the founding members of the company. His family currently owns about 29% of the Konami business.
Despite speculation, Konami doesn’t have a parent brand and does not belong to PlayStation or any other entertainment vendor. However, it does have various subsidiaries, such as Konami Digital Entertainment, Konami Sports Club, and Konami Real Estate.
Konami logo history: Evolution through the years
Though Konami did start experimenting with logos and branding designs before it was incorporated, official Konami logo history only really began in 1981, years after the company had already officially established itself in the landscape.
The Konami website does suggest there were a few other logos before the 1981 version. However, they were very similar in style.
1981
The original “official” Konami logo appeared in 1981, several years after the company was incorporated. The design of the wordmark was similar to other technology company logos at the time, such as Panasonic.
The design featured a large, bold wordmark written in a sans-serif typeface. The characters were relatively consistent, aside from the stylized “K.”
The curve included in the Konami “K” aimed to highlight the company’s creativity and its focus on developing fun, intriguing entertainment products. At the same time, the blue coloring helped to symbolize the trustworthy and credible nature of the brand.
1986
1986 marked the release of the first iteration of one of the most well-known Konami logos. This design was used for almost 20 years, with only a few slight changes. The image included the name of the company, written in all uppercase sans-serif font.
The letters were depicted in grey to begin with, highlighting a sense of sophistication and professionalism.
Above the wordmark, we see an abstract design featuring a set of orange and red wavy lines. The brightly colored icons were created to symbolize movement, progression, and innovation.
1998
In 1998, Konami made a very slight change to its existing logo. The majority of the components remained the same, including the red and orange wavy lines.
However, the wordmark was updated. The design for the letters was bigger and bolder than in the previous logo. The slight slant to the letters was removed in favor of a blocky, confident design.
The new Konami logo featured simple black font and well-spaced, highly legible letters. The combination of black with colorful icons gave Konami a highly modern appearance.
2003
In 2003, Konami replaced its vivid logo with something a little more streamlined. The new design was introduced at a time when many video game companies were transitioning towards more simplistic designs.
In the new version of the logo, the decorative waves were removed, and the typeface was updated to a sleek, serif-style font with sharp points.
The wordmark, written in white, was presented on a red banner-style background, with an angled cut on the right-hand side. The combination of red and white in the color palette showcased Konami’s passion and professionalism.
2013
The most recent Konami logo was produced in 2013 and has remained the same ever since. This variation of the logo eliminated the angled banner and inverted the color of the typeface from white to red. The unique typeface with its specialized serifs remains consistent here.
Often presented on a white background, this simple and sophisticated logo helped to modernize the Konami brand identity and highlight its core values.
The Konami logo: Fonts and colors
Today, the Konami logo might seem relatively simplistic, but it’s a highly evocative and impactful design. With the unique font choice, Konami demonstrates a combination of key values, from passion and creativity to sophistication and professionalism.
The wordmark makes the company seem reliable and solid while also highlighting its artistic nature.
Konami’s eye-catching logo also works well in an evolving digital landscape. It’s simple enough to thrive on virtually any platform, and it looks good in a range of shapes and sizes.
If you want to examine the Konami logo in closer detail, you can find some useful resources here:
What color is the Konami logo?
Like many gaming and entertainment companies, Konami has experimented with its color palette over the years. The brand has leveraged a variety of popular shades, from deep blue to orange, red, and grey. The current Konami logo colors are simple but effective.
The deep shade of red, often depicted on a white background, symbolizes passion, vitality, and confidence.
When matched with the unique Konami font, the Konami logo color of deep red creates an image perfectly suited to a creative Japanese company.
Hex color: #bf0021
RGB: 191 0 33
CMYK: 0 100 83 25
Pantone: PMS 485 C
What font does the Konami logo use?
The Konami logo font is perhaps the most compelling element of the company’s current logo. For years, Konami has explored a range of typography choices designed to convey its sophisticated, modern, and creative nature.
Today, the most recent version of the wordmark has been designed in a customized version of the Optima Pro Bold font.
This font choice combines sharp, unique serifs with bold lines and soft contours to highlight the innovative personality of the Konami company. It looks fantastic when paired with the Konami color choices and works well across a range of mediums.
The captivating Konami logo
Looking back at the Konami logo history, we can see the Konami brand has made several changes to its visual identity to compete in an evolving marketplace.
Konami’s logo has always used a careful combination of font and color choices, designed to captivate audiences and highlight the business’s unique personality.
Today, the simple but effective Konami logo demonstrates passion, creativity, and sophistication. The powerful red wordmark sets Konami apart from its competition and highlights the organization as one of the major players in the current market.
Fabrik: A branding agency for our times.
As Fabrik’s creative director, Stephen oversees complex branding programmes. He advises our clients on their tone of voice, creates logos and visual identities and crafts names for companies, products and services. Writing for Brand Fabrik Stephen reflects his love for logo design and visual identity.
