Beyond the cloud: The Salesforce logo history and evolution
The Salesforce logo is an excellent example of a powerful, yet simplistic brand mark. This phenomenal logo showcases the purpose and vision of the company, while also resonating with audiences on an emotional level. Here’s your guide to Salesforce logo history.
Compared to other technology company logos, the Salesforce symbol may not seem particularly unique. However, every aspect of the mark has been chosen with the utmost care.
The color palette demonstrates the company’s friendly, trustworthy, and reliable nature. The sleek font choice identifies the organization as a modern and welcoming entity. Even the cloud design highlights the core focus of the business: cloud technology.
Today, we’re going to take a closer look at Salesforce logo history, and the evolutionary path of the company’s visual identity.
The Salesforce cloud: Introducing Salesforce
Before we look at Salesforce logo history, let’s take a moment to identify the brand. Salesforce is an American cloud-based technology company, focusing on the software market. It provides CRM (Customer Relationship Management) software as its flagship product.
However, Salesforce also offers a wide range of applications and tools for different sales, customer service, marketing, ecommerce, and analytical purposes.
The Salesforce brand was first established by Marc Benioff, a former Oracle executive, in 1999. Within a short time, it grew to become one of the world’s largest brands.
The company broke the mold in the software industry, becoming the first company in cloud computing to reach $1 billion in annual revenue by 2009. As of 2022, it is now the largest enterprise software firm in the world.
The brand is best known for its innovative approach to software development. The company not only produces tools for a wide range of purposes, but it also experiments with cutting-edge solutions, from generative AI to automation.
Salesforce logo history: The Salesforce cloud logo
Despite over two decades of history in the technology landscape, Salesforce has only changed its logo once. Additionally, many of the core elements of the company’s original logo were retained when the brand decided to refresh its branding in 2014.
The Salesforce logo has always featured a uniquely shaped cloud, representing cloud technology, and a sleek wordmark with an italicized letter “F”.
1999
The original Salesforce cloud logo introduced in 1999 was a sleek and sophisticated emblem. It featured a cloud shape, with a silvery-white border, and a white center. In the center of the design, we see the Salesforce wordmark, presented in a unique serif font.
The simplistic color palette helped Salesforce to create a highly refreshing and powerful logo. The use of gradients throughout the image gives it an almost three-dimensional appeal.
Additionally, the use of two colors within the “Salesforce” name helps to separate the two words in a unique way. Salesforce even used its italicized “F” to split the terms even further. The darker coloring in the word “force” seems to emphasize the company’s core focus.
2014
Fifteen years after its launch, Salesforce updated its logo, retaining a lot of the original elements. The designers for the company chose a more minimalistic, flatter logo, to match the trends of the technology industry in the new decade.
The silverish outline on the cloud image was eliminated, and the cloud itself was presented in a block, light blue color. The font was also simplified, and presented entirely in white.
The creators of the Salesforce cloud logo removed the serifs on the letters, to create a friendlier, more modern image. The overall image looks smoother and more refined. There’s also no clear division between the words “sales” and “force” other than the italicized “f”.
What does the Salesforce logo mean?
The Salesforce logo is steeped in meaning. First, the cloud symbol represents the focus of the company on cloud technology and software. Notably, the cloud is made up of a series of six integrated circles, which could be representative of the core services the company offers.
The blue and white color palette, which has remained a significant part of the Salesforce logo for some time, also has a deeper meaning. Blue symbolizes trust and reliability in color psychology, while white stands for excellence and credibility.
The decision to use a sans-serif font in the updated version of the logo showcases the company’s commitment to not only adhering to design trends, but presenting a friendly image. The softer, smoother letters seem welcoming and modern.
Why is the “F” in Salesforce italicized?
Since its first logo design, Salesforce has always italicized the “F” in its wordmark, making the single character stand out within the inscription. The italicized “F” seems to separate the two words in the Salesforce name, drawing attention to its core focus areas.
The italicized “F” also gives the logo a sense of movement and speed. The character seems to be leaning towards the right, showcasing forward progression and ambition.
The Salesforce logo: Fonts and colors
Though relatively straightforward, the Salesforce logo is a highly evocative and powerful image. Throughout the years, Salesforce has retained a lot of the core elements of its visual identity, from its cloud symbol to its compelling color palette.
However, by updating its logo in 2014, Salesforce also showed its audience that it’s committed to staying relevant in a modern landscape. The more minimalistic logo used by the company today adheres to the trends in the logo design space for technology companies.
You can take a closer look at the Salesforce logo with the resources below:
What color is the Salesforce logo?
The Salesforce logo colors have been refined slightly over the years. While blue and white were already core shades in the initial Salesforce logo, they were given more weight when the company updated its emblem in 2014.
Today, the Salesforce logo color palette combines a blue cloud shape, with a white internal inscription. There are variations of the logo also available in grey-scale and black and white.
However, the blue coloring remains one of the core parts of the company’s visual identity.
Blue
Hex color: #009edb
RGB: 0 158 219
CMYK: 100 28 0 14
Pantone: PMS 801 C
What font does the Salesforce logo use?
Initially, Salesforce chose a serif-style font for its original logo, intended to show sophistication and professionalism. However, in 2014, the company removed the serifs from its letters, creating a smoother, more modern inscription.
The Salesforce logo font used today is unique to the brand. Most of the letters in the inscription look similar to the characters from Aller Regular. Notably, the unique “F” shares the same font style, but in an italicized version.
Reaching new heights: The Salesforce logo
Looking back at Salesforce logo history, we can see the technology company hasn’t had to make many changes to its visual identity to remain relevant. The organization chose to retain many parts of its original logo over the years, from the unique cloud shape to the italicized “f”.
Today, the Salesforce logo is an evocative symbol, showcasing the primary purpose of the brand, with the cloud-shaped icon. It also demonstrates the values of the company through the careful use of typography and color.
The decision to update the Salesforce logo in 2014 simply ensured the company could create an image that was easier on the eye, and more in line with modern design trends.
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.
