The secrets behind the Surfing brands logos

Surfing logos are everywhere. In surfboards, surf magazines, surf shops and in vinyl car stickers. Surfing badges and surf insignia are symbols of the world's most famous surf brands.

Surf company logos are used in sponsorship deals and can be seen on the nose and rails of pro surfboards. Surfing brand logos are a marketing tool and trademark that may live decades through several surf generations.

The surf industry is worth $20 billion. Four companies control more than 75% of the world market. Footwear, clothing, accessories and apparel are the major source of revenues, while gear and surfboards only stand in a discrete place in the sales ranking.

There are hundreds of surf brands, but only Quiksilver (Huntington Beach, California), Rip Curl (Victoria, Australia), Billabong (Queensland, Australia) and O'Neill (San Francisco, California) are really dominating the future lifestyle trends.

Interestingly, that's two US and two Australian surf brands. It is also very curious to look at their logos. Has you might have noticed, these four emblems communicate several official logos.

Coloured, classic, girlish, boyish, smooth and gnarly. Surf logos are constantly being adapted to each situation. You could call them alternative logos to the official ones.

The original logos displayed in the official websites for Quiksilver, Rip Curl, Billabong and O'Neill have several similarities and differences between them. If you look carefully, there are three main colours in use: red, black and white.

Quiksilver and Rip Curl prefer the red in their sign, while black is the colour chosen by Billabong and O'Neill. This means there's not a national preference.

The red colour is easily captured by the human eye and has a strong connection and association with the sun, blood, courage and sacrifice. On the other side, black can be authoritarian, religious, stylish and powerful.

One thing is common to all surf brands. Have you found out? Exactly, the correct answer is the wave. Quiksilver, Rip Curl, Billabong and O'Neill share a wave in their graphic mark, but the Huntington Beach marketing team also added a mountain for their snow fans.

Logos leave a mark in consumers. Next time you're upgrading your surf gear, take a look at the brands in your local surf shop and try to capture what they are exactly trying to tell you.

Rip Curl has been founded in 1969 by Doug "Claw" Warbrick and Brian "Sing Ding" Singer, in the Australian town of Torquay.

The history of one of the most important surf brands in the world has seen dozens of official logos. The words "Rip Curl" have been evolving in the last decades to meet the spirit of surfing and the choices of their surf clients.

It's great to watch how a surf brand communicates through time. From the late 60's to the present there are great Rip Curl logos. Can you match them with the right decade? How was the "ultimate surfing company" back in the old days?

(1) One of the first and most recognized Rip Curl logos of all time.

(2) The company was growing, the brand evolving and the era changing, so it was time for a new logo that represented the vibe. The "rainbow" treatment stuck with Rip Curl through the late 1970's and into the 80's.

(3) The rainbow colours stay, but the design tweaks to an italicized font. The new 3D logo would brand Rip Curl for the rest of the 80's.

(4) New business around the world results in a new logo for Rip Curl in the 90's, with managers deciding the name needs to be seen in the company of a new brand icon - The Rip Curl Wave.

(5) This is a version of Rip Curl's 1990s logo, with water-camouflage colors.

(6) The Rip Curl logo gets another little update. No more camo design.

(7) This corporate logo change was one of the most memorable for Rip Curl and was marketed in surfboards, wetsuits, t-shirts, pencil cases and magazine posters.

(8) Another logo adaption saw a change of fonts and colour from blue to red.

(9) This 2004 logos mark the first time in Rip Curl's history that the brand was marketed with lowercase logos.

(10) The short-lived lowercase logo of 2004 was superseded by the Rip Curl "Blade" logo, in 2005.

There are hundreds of surf brands, but only Quiksilver (Huntington Beach, California), Rip Curl (Victoria, Australia), Billabong (Queensland, Australia) and O'Neill (San Francisco, California) are really dominating the future lifestyle trends.

Interestingly, that's two US and two Australian surf brands. It is also very curious to look at their logos. Has you might have noticed, these four emblems communicate several official logos.

Coloured, classic, girlish, boyish, smooth and gnarly. Surf logos are constantly being adapted to each situation. You could call them alternative logos to the official ones.

The original logos displayed in the official websites for Quiksilver, Rip Curl, Billabong and O'Neill have several similarities and differences between them. If you look carefully, there are three main colours in use: red, black and white.

Quiksilver and Rip Curl prefer the red in their sign, while black is the colour chosen by Billabong and O'Neill. This means there's not a national preference.

The red colour is easily captured by the human eye and has a strong connection and association with the sun, blood, courage and sacrifice. On the other side, black can be authoritarian, religious, stylish and powerful.

One thing is common to all surf brands. Have you found out? Exactly, the correct answer is the wave. Quiksilver, Rip Curl, Billabong and O'Neill share a wave in their graphic mark, but the Huntington Beach marketing team also added a mountain for their snow fans.

Logos leave a mark in consumers. Next time you're upgrading your surf gear, take a look at the brands in your local surf shop and try to capture what they are exactly trying to tell you.

Rip Curl has been founded in 1969 by Doug "Claw" Warbrick and Brian "Sing Ding" Singer, in the Australian town of Torquay.

The history of one of the most important surf brands in the world has seen dozens of official logos. The words "Rip Curl" have been evolving in the last decades to meet the spirit of surfing and the choices of their surf clients.

It's great to watch how a surf brand communicates through time. From the late 60's to the present there are great Rip Curl logos. Can you match them with the right decade? How was the "ultimate surfing company" back in the old days?

(1) One of the first and most recognized Rip Curl logos of all time.

(2) The company was growing, the brand evolving and the era changing, so it was time for a new logo that represented the vibe. The "rainbow" treatment stuck with Rip Curl through the late 1970's and into the 80's.

(3) The rainbow colours stay, but the design tweaks to an italicized font. The new 3D logo would brand Rip Curl for the rest of the 80's.

(4) New business around the world results in a new logo for Rip Curl in the 90's, with managers deciding the name needs to be seen in the company of a new brand icon - The Rip Curl Wave.

(5) This is a version of Rip Curl's 1990s logo, with water-camouflage colors.

(6) The Rip Curl logo gets another little update. No more camo design.

(7) This corporate logo change was one of the most memorable for Rip Curl and was marketed in surfboards, wetsuits, t-shirts, pencil cases and magazine posters.

(8) Another logo adaption saw a change of fonts and colour from blue to red.

(9) This 2004 logos mark the first time in Rip Curl's history that the brand was marketed with lowercase logos.

(10) The short-lived lowercase logo of 2004 was superseded by the Rip Curl "Blade" logo, in 2005.

Streamer - August 2012