Graphic design is part of Trident’s DNA. And, whether humanity likes it or not – from the very first cave painting to the annoying temu pop up interwebs ads (Trident wouldn’t allow such trash on this site, you’re welcome Trident readers), graphics, branding and advertising of all kinds flood pretty much every human being’s life. From the ubiquitous Coca Cola logo in a remote Cameroonian village to the MacDonalds golden arches around every street corner, logo’s are everywhere. In fact, as we know only too well, those desirable, high end status, fashion and lifestyle brands are so sought after they become targets of knockoffs. Even before the advent of AI, which creates logo’s that all look the same, brands have been so much part of modern life they become almost invisible.
However, some surf brands’ logos have become almost as iconic as the Mercendez Benz logo, or the Colonel’s majestic moustache. So Trident will fearlessly delve into some of surfing most iconic brands and what our informed but subjective opinion on their logo’s reveal. So without further ado, Let’s get into Trident Reviews surf logo’s part one. The good – the bad – and the downright hideous.
The Big Three 1: Billabong.
Let us begin with the one surf brand logo almost all South Africans will know. Billabong is a huge brand for SA, which is ironic as its an Australian brands. The purpose of this review isn’t to delve into the current status of companies and how bought out whom, so we’re not tunnelling further into the rabbit hole. Anyway; the iconic two wave logo is exactly that – iconic. Surfer and non surfer alike generally will recognise the clean, simple logo. Once a titan of surf brands, ‘Bong has sadly become a shadow of what it once was. Kinda like all surf brands really. Anyway, the logo is instantly recognisable as we’ve established. And Billabong’s weird wavy font, with the bigger B and G is equally iconic. So much so that said font has come back into use several times, even as font styles constantly go in and out of bring trendy. Just like the mullet. Objectively, we score Billabong a 4 outta 5, and it might have been higher if it was as simple and graphic as Rip Curl’s curling wave.
The Big Three 2: Quiksilver.
When Kelly left Quiksilver, so to did everyone’s interest in the brand. A real pity as the Quik logo is actually probably the best designed and most thoughtful of the Big Three. The iconic logo was supposedly originally inspired by Japanese artist Katsushika Hokusai’s artwork “The Great Wave off Kanagawa”. Trident would score Quik the full five, but as cleverly designed and carefully considered as the graphic is, it’s perhaps too esoteric, too intellectual and less representative of actual surfing than the others. So, a 4.
The Big Three 3: Rip Curl.
Well, it’s a wave. Obviously. And although it’s a right, one could imagine it’s a super gnarly A frame, so it could be a left breaking wave as well. Objectively Rip Curl’s logo is the most graphic and literal logo. (Which is a good thing). You can only design a logo this representative of a wave and surfing once. Trident subjectively feels that a logo should eventually become its own icon, and not necessarily a visual representation of the thing it’s promoting/selling. Thus, a logo for surfboards that has a surfboard in it would be dumb as hell, unless done really stylishly. Sometimes you see a Coca Cola bottle with its branding. That’s fine. But how often have you seen a car in, er a car’s logo? Never? Ja, ‘coz it would look stupid. Imagine a plumber using the poo emoji as their logo. A little on the nose. If you excuse the weak pun’s reference to smell. But actually, a poo logo for a plumbing company would be pretty sick. Plumbers, contact Trident to design said logo for you. Don’t use AI, we will do a far superior job.
We digress. Rip Curl has a wave as a logo, which is cool. So do Bong and Quik. A surfboard would have been kinda lame for any of them. We must also make mention of the Search logo, which is also super iconic. We subjectively love it, just as we do their weird circular squiggly font one Rip Curl has. Anyway, this brand would also get a full 5, but their confounding insistence on changing their font for no apparent reason gets them a 4.
Volcom.
The original bad boys (sorry Bad Boys) of surfing. What goes on in the Volcom house stays in the Volcom house. And online. The cool diamond design is rad, in our opinion, although perhaps again not as clearly representative of surfing as Billabong or Rip Curl. Sorta like Quiksilver then. It does make us think or a surfboard nose, or perhaps a surfboard nose guard. We like it though, and we still like the badass vibe of Volcom. Even if they’ve sold out. Like everyone. A solid 4, but no higher than that.
Hurley.
Ag. Nike’s sidekick attempt at getting into surfing. Again. For like the 23rd time. The logo is okay, but it’s a stylised H, so no attempt at an obvious surf brand. Not necessarily a bad thing, the MacDonalds M doesn’t look like a hamburger after all now, does it? However, Hurley’s logo is even far more generic than most. Definitely not a 4. We might have given it a 3, but because you could create a Hurley logo yourself by putting two of your fingernail clippings together, we give it a 2,5 outta 5. Rounded up to 3 out of respect to Carissa, Filipe and John John, World Champions surfing under the Hurley banner. Clearly Hurley has to be doing something right.
To be continued.
