Apple Logos Don’t Grow on Trees

You don’t simply plant an apple seed, watch the bees pollinate and then wait three years for an Apple logo to be picked. You entrust that job to a company. In this case, Apple’s ultra-famous logos are produced by a small, 132 year-old company set behind an iron fence in the industrial area of Richmond (N. Calif.). The Thomas Swan Sign Co., Inc. was born in old San Francisco, and now is on its second family and third generation of owners. It employs 35 workers who design and manufacture all types of signs in almost any material. For Apple’s stores, the company makes the white, backlit logos that mark the storefront, their associated hardware and lighting boxes. They also manufacture the backlit logos that appear behind the Genius Bars. The company’s Web site notes that Pixar, Williams Sonoma and Pottery Barn are among the company’s many other retail clients.

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