Container Corporation of America Logo History

Container Corporation became an early advocate of systematic corporate identity in the 1960s. A new corporate logo had been developed by the design staff under design director Ralph Eckerstrom. A flat image becomes an isometrical optical illusion, signifying packaging while provoking visual interest.The corporate initials were packaged in a rectangle with two corners shaved at a forty-five -degree angle to imply an isometric box. Eckerstrom stated the requirements of a corporate identification program:''As a function of management, design must be an integrated part of overall company operation and directly related to the company's business and sales activities. It must have continuity as a creative force. It must reflect total corporate character. Unless it meets these requirements, the company image it seeks to create will never coalesce into a unified whole, but will remain a mosaic of unrelated fragments''. John Massey (b.1931 who joined Container Corporation in 1957, became the director of design in 1964. Under his direction, corporate design and the International Typographic Style merged. Visual identification and systems design in general - and design in Chicago in particular-were broadly influenced. Massey adopted Helvetica as the corporate typeface, and developed standardized grids for all signage and publications. A strong advocate of design consistency and unity, Massey used thematic and visual continuity in such diverse communications materials as the anual report to stockholders and trade advertising as early as 1961. In 1965, Container Corporation established the Center for Advanced Research in Design, an independent design studio that worked on advanced and experimental projects and received commissions from other organizations.