HP

HP operates with a dual-logo system unlike any other major tech company. The primary mark, a lowercase “hp” monogram enclosed in a circle rendered in Electric Blue (#0096D6), has anchored the brand since 1954 and appears across the vast majority of HP products and communications. But on premium devices, a radically different symbol takes over: four parallel diagonal lines angled at exactly 13 degrees, abstracting the letters “h” and “p” into pure geometric minimalism. Created by British agency Moving Brands between 2008 and 2011 but not adopted until 2016, this Progress Mark represents one of corporate branding’s most ambitious experiments in gradual identity evolution.

Logo history

HP’s visual identity traces back to 1939, when Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard founded Hewlett-Packard in a Palo Alto garage now designated as the birthplace of Silicon Valley. The original mark was a simple circular badge with a slanted “hp” in lowercase, the ascender and descender extending beyond the circle’s boundary, a design convention that has persisted through every subsequent iteration. The monogram was refined in 1954 into a cleaner standalone mark, then embedded in a blue-and-black vertical badge through the 1970s and 1980s as HP grew from instruments into computing. The circle returned as the sole element in 1999, shedding auxiliary text and frames. By 2012, the blue had brightened to a friendlier sky tone. Then in 2016, a year after the historic split into HP Inc. (PCs and printers) and Hewlett Packard Enterprise, the Moving Brands Progress Mark debuted on the Spectre 13 laptop, signaling that HP’s premium line would carry a fundamentally different visual identity forward.

Design philosophy

The Progress Mark’s four lines at 13 degrees represent both a typographic abstraction and a philosophical statement. Moving Brands embedded the 13-degree angle throughout the brand system (from graphic layouts to product design details), making it a governing principle rather than a mere logo attribute. The angle references the forward slash used in programming, connecting HP to its engineering heritage while suggesting forward momentum. On premium hardware, the mark appears without color, rendered in chrome, debossed metal, or simple black, relying entirely on geometric precision rather than brand color for recognition. The primary circular monogram, meanwhile, maintains Electric Blue as its sole color; HP’s brand guidelines are explicit that “there can only be one blue.” This chromatic discipline, paired with mandatory black text and white space, creates a visual system of extraordinary restraint where the blue gains maximum impact through scarcity.

Brand identity

HP’s current visual system extends beyond the two logos into a cohesive design language governed by diagonal energy. The brand’s signature element is the stripe, bold diagonal bars in Electric Blue that slice across marketing materials, packaging, and digital interfaces, creating dynamic compositions from minimal elements. Two secondary colors (Power Storm, a deep teal evoking electrical energy and technological pioneering, and Orange Bloom, a warm coral meant to signal creativity and inclusivity) provide accent flexibility while the core palette remains rigidly blue, black, and white. The custom typeface Forma DJR Office, a refinement of the DJR font family, balances clarity with personality across every touchpoint from product packaging to presentation decks. Photography guidelines mandate natural lighting with warm undertones and authentic skin tones, explicitly forbidding blue-tinted lighting, a telling directive that protects Electric Blue’s exclusive role as a brand element rather than an environmental mood.

Cultural impact

Few logos carry the historical weight of HP’s circular monogram. It predates Silicon Valley itself, witnessed the invention of the pocket calculator and the inkjet printer, and adorned the devices that brought personal computing into homes and offices worldwide. The mark has appeared on everything from oscillators that built Disney’s “Fantasia” sound system to the laptops carried by millions of professionals today. The 2015 corporate split created a fascinating brand experiment: HP Inc. retained the heritage monogram while Hewlett Packard Enterprise adopted a new green-accented identity, cleaving one of technology’s oldest brands into two distinct visual lineages. The Progress Mark’s slow adoption (conceived in 2011, rejected as too radical, then embraced five years later) illustrates how legacy technology brands navigate the tension between heritage recognition and contemporary relevance, ultimately finding that both can coexist when deployed with strategic precision.