Creating the Orange Brand (1970)

From the iconic World Tree to the Orange Crest, Cliff Cooper’s bold branding gave Orange its instantly recognisable, proudly British identity.

Which came first, the fruit or the colour? Cliff Cooper, Orange Founder and CEO, stakes his claim: “Our amps were covered in orange, but I believed we should also make a claim to the fruit itself. The Orange tree was the first thing that came to mind, so the Orange World Tree was included in the design, with its roots encircling the world, and then we came up with slightly different visuals for the World Tree as we developed the idea.”

Creating the Orange Crest

“Crests and coats of arms are very British, heraldic, and expensive-looking, which was everything I wanted our amps to be. I decided we should design our own crest, as it would certainly make our amps stand out. One of the things I never understood about the music equipment industry back then was how similar everything looked.

“We were a very small business with very small money, but we tried to appear bigger, hence slogans like ‘Voice Of The World’ (we even considered ‘Voice Of The Universe’!). Our advertising reflected this ambition.

“The photo below was taken of me in early 1970 in the back of the Orange Shop, with early artwork for the Orange ‘Voice Of The World’ tree idea. This later appeared on the crest as well as a stand-alone logo. In those days I lived and slept in that tiny back office, using a Vox column speaker cab plastic cover as a sleeping bag.”

A Lasting Mark

“Some four decades later, the Orange Crest remains an essential part of our brand’s livery, and I’m pleased it’s stood the test of time. It still attracts interest!

“We spent a lot of time designing and refining the symbols used in the crest. In 1970, to promote our music equipment retailing, we created a distinctive style of advertising: the cartoon comic strip. One of these explained the meaning of the Orange Crest; others took good-humoured swipes at our rivals. These ads appeared regularly in the trade press and were extremely effective.

“The artist behind the cartoons was Brian Engel, a member of the band Mandrake Paddle Steamer, as well as a talented songwriter and vocalist. Brian also painted the psychedelic fascia on the front of the Orange Shop.”