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Akio Morita in his biography of the Sony Corporation "Made in Japan" mostly attributed the creation of the Company logo (the name) to a cultural trend. One spawned by the American occupation of Japan after World War II. In the major cities across the nation groups of young "Americanized" Japanese boys began to congregate in groups. The locals called them "Sonny Boys" because of their open adoption of American mannerisms, lingo and appearance. Their modern, hip style seemed to represent the young Morita's and his cofounder, Masura Ibuka's vision of wanting Sony to be a progressive and forward thinking Company. So they dropped their original name and shortened the spelling of sonny to SONY and adopted it as their logo. Plus the four letters had no meaning in any language except latin in which 'sonus' means sound. Their first successful product was a small portable transistor radio was named the Sony (the TR-63 came in four colors) and it bore that nameplate. Some of their early products sported a "Sonny Boy" image etched in solder on one of its circuit boards. This hidden monogram paid homage to their newly created name, that was growing along with the popularity of their products. This pictographic was only found inside their models for a very short time. It quickly disappeared because it was thought that if it were to become too openly noticeable or too recognizable it might possibly cause confusion or dilute the impact of their proper name. Above is pictured an early model TV-700U B&W television along with a picture of the corner of one of it's main circuit boards showing where the icon was printed. Here is another interesting tidbit about Sony's name. As with most companies that expected to sell products in a global marketplace, they did an extensive amount of research into how it would translate into other languages. To their delight it was discovered that the word "Sony" had no meaning in most countries and therefor would make an excellent visual trademark for recognition around the world. To see Sony's first radio click the picture. Also take note that the Sony name had not yet taken its present shape and style. |