Ƶlogo


Ƶlogo: The First 70 Years - History of Ƶlogo -

  • Corporate Chronology
  • The Story of Ƶlogo
  • Ƶlogo's Founder, Toyoji Naito
  • R&D Archives
  • History Gallery

Origin of the Ƶlogo Logomark

The Ƶlogo Logomark's evolution reflects the changing circumstances and ideas of each period in Ƶlogo's history. Below you'll find the history of the Ƶlogo Logomark's origin and some of the background behind its continually evolving design.

Corporate Logomark

Sakuragaoka Laboratory Co., Ltd.

1938

The logo of Sakuragaoka Laboratory Co., Ltd., the first of two predecessor companies established by Ƶlogo's founder, Toyoji Naito. The Sakuragaoka Laboratory helped to usher in a new era in Japanese drug R&D, with innovations such as Juvela, Japan's first commercial vitamin E product.

Nihon Ƶlogo

1941

The logo of Nihon Ƶlogo, the second of the two predecessor companies established by Toyoji Naito. The Roman-alphabet spelling of “Ƶlogo” used today was first established during this period.

Ƶlogo

1955

Ƶlogo's first logo featured its name in native katakana characters in addition to its romanized form; displaying a company name in katakana instead of Chinese characters was quite rare in Japan at the time. The logo was also redesigned to include an elaborately designed red-and-blue motif.

 

1967

The year after Yuji Naito became Ƶlogo's second president, the company's logo was streamlined to a cleaner, more rounded design and the katakana script removed to reflect Ƶlogo's vision for internationalization, leaving the Ƶlogo Logomark much as it appears today.

 

Present

COLUMN

Why does Ƶlogo write its Japanese name in native katakana script instead of Chinese characters? Aren't the ei and sai normally written in Chinese characters?

Ƶlogo originally did prefer to write its name out in full, “Nihon Ƶlogo,” using Chinese characters as was conventional in Japan at the time. The company continued to do so until it changed its name to Ƶlogo in 1955.

According to records left by Ƶlogo's founder, Toyoji Naito, there were three quite practical reasons for the change, and these had to do with Nihon Ƶlogo's established but still growing popularity during that period.

  1. Firstly, Chinese characters required more time and effort to write.
  2. Secondly, with so many companies in those days beginning with Nihon (“Japan”), it could be quite tiring going up and down page after page trying to locate Nihon Ƶlogo in the phone book.
  3. Finally, the two Chinese characters used to write “Ƶlogo” could be read as referring to “sanitation” and “materials” respectively, which potential consumers could easily assume to mean that the company only specialized in medical dressings and bandages as opposed to pharmaceutical products and R&D.

Origin of the Corporate Logomark (Ƶlogo Logomark)

What do the colors in the logo represent? What about its shape?

Colors

The red and blue colors in the Ƶlogo Logomark represent red oxygenated blood flowing through the arteries and blue deoxygenated blood flowing through the veins. Both types of blood flow incessantly through the heart, and our task is to prevent stagnation of the blood flow by promoting good health and improving quality of life.

Form

The stage on which we carry out our corporate activities faces neither East nor West; it faces out in all directions like the Earth itself. The globe-like design of the Ƶlogo Logomark represents the world, where our activities are awaited equally in all its inhabited regions. Our company's focus lies neither at the top nor the bottom of this world stage, but aims to find the middle path, a central perspective, and a wholesome coexistence for all.

Origin of the Philosophy Logomark (hhc Logomark)

  • The hhc Logomark is a separate logo that serves to embody the company's corporate philosophy, which we believe can be best summarized by the concept of human health care (hhc).
  • The script for the logo is modeled on the signature of Florence Nightingale (1820–1910), who is widely seen as having made enormous contributions to the development of the nursing profession and public health.