How Much Did These Logo Redesigns Cost?
Logo design can cost anywhere from $0 to hundreds of millions of dollars. In this quiz, we give you a famous logo redesign and four price options. Can you guess how much each one actually cost? The answers will shock you — some of the world's best logos were dirt cheap, and some of the most expensive ones were... questionable.
The Quiz
1. The Nike Swoosh (1971) — designed by a college student for Phil Knight's new shoe company.
A) $15 B) $35 C) $500 D) $2,000
Reveal Answer
B) $35
Fun fact: Portland State University student Carolyn Davidson was paid $35 for her design work (about $250 in today's money). Phil Knight's reaction was lukewarm: "I don't love it, but it'll grow on me." It did. The Swoosh is now worth an estimated $26 billion as a brand asset. In 1983, Knight thanked Davidson by giving her a gold ring in the shape of the Swoosh and an envelope of Nike stock — now worth over $1 million.
2. The original Google logo (1998) — the colorful wordmark that launched a trillion-dollar company.
A) $0 B) $500 C) $5,000 D) $50,000
Reveal Answer
A) $0
Fun fact: Co-founder Sergey Brin designed the Google logo himself using GIMP, a free open-source image editor. The company had no money for a professional designer. Brin added the multi-colored letters and an exclamation point (later removed). The logo went through minor updates until 2015, when Google paid for a proper redesign using their custom Product Sans typeface — but the original $0 version built the most valuable brand in history.
3. The Pepsi globe redesign (2008) — the controversial modernization of Pepsi's iconic circle.
A) $50,000 B) $200,000 C) $1 million D) $5 million
Reveal Answer
C) $1 million
Fun fact: The Arnell Group charged Pepsi $1 million for the redesign and produced a legendary 27-page document justifying the new logo. The document referenced the golden ratio, Earth's magnetic field, the Mona Lisa, the Parthenon, feng shui, and the theory of relativity. It was leaked online and became a subject of industry mockery. Despite the controversy, the new globe is still in use. The full rebranding, including packaging and marketing, reportedly cost over $1.2 billion.
4. The BP Helios logo (2000) — the green and yellow sunflower design replacing BP's classic shield.
A) $4.6 million B) $50 million C) $211 million D) $500 million
Reveal Answer
C) $211 million
Fun fact: This is one of the most expensive rebranding efforts in corporate history. The $211 million covered not just the logo but the complete rebranding of over 28,000 gas stations worldwide. The Helios sunflower was designed by Landor Associates to reflect BP's push into renewable energy with the tagline "Beyond Petroleum." The rebrand became ironic after the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill — the worst marine oil spill in history.
5. The Twitter bird redesign (2012) — the simplified blue bird named "Larry."
A) $0 (done in-house) B) $15,000 C) $250,000 D) $1.5 million
Reveal Answer
A) $0 (done in-house)
Fun fact: The 2012 Twitter bird was designed by Twitter's in-house team, led by creative director Doug Bowman. The bird is constructed from 15 overlapping circles, making it a masterclass in geometric logo design. It was named "Larry" after NBA legend Larry Bird. The original 2006 Twitter bird was bought from iStockphoto for about $15 by co-founder Biz Stone. In 2023, Elon Musk replaced the beloved bird with an "X."
6. The London 2012 Olympics logo — the controversial jagged design.
A) $60,000 B) $400,000 C) $800,000 D) $625,000
Reveal Answer
B) $400,000 (approximately £400,000)
Fun fact: Designed by Wolff Olins, the London 2012 logo was one of the most hated Olympics logos in history. Over 80,000 people signed a petition demanding it be changed. Iran threatened to boycott the Games, claiming the numbers "2012" spelled out "Zion." Despite the backlash, the logo was never changed, and the Olympics were widely considered a huge success. The total branding cost for the Games exceeded $1 billion.
7. The Coca-Cola script logo (1886) — the flowing handwriting that launched a global empire.
A) $0 B) $100 C) $1,000 D) $5,000
Reveal Answer
A) $0
Fun fact: The Coca-Cola script was the handwriting of Frank Mason Robinson, the bookkeeper for founder John Pemberton. Robinson wrote the name in Spencerian script, a popular handwriting style of the era, at no additional charge — it was just part of his job. He also suggested the name "Coca-Cola," reasoning that the two C's would look good in advertising. That free handwriting is now the logo of a company worth over $250 billion.
8. The Uber logo redesign (2016) — when Uber changed from a stylish "U" to a confusing abstract pattern.
A) $5,000 B) $100,000 C) Undisclosed, but CEO Travis Kalanick personally designed it D) $2 million
Reveal Answer
C) CEO Travis Kalanick personally led the design
Fun fact: Kalanick was obsessively involved in the 2016 redesign, spending over three years on it. The resulting "atom and bit" logo was so confusing that users couldn't find the app on their phones. In 2018, under new CEO Dara Khosrowshahi, Uber reverted to a simple wordmark. The failed rebrand became a case study in what happens when CEOs without design backgrounds insist on personally directing visual identity.
9. The Apple logo by Rob Janoff (1977) — the rainbow bitten apple.
A) $500 B) $1,500 C) $10,000 D) $100,000
Reveal Answer
B) Approximately $1,500
Fun fact: Rob Janoff was paid a modest fee (accounts vary between $1,000 and $1,500) by the Regis McKenna agency for the design. He created only two versions — one with and one without the bite. Steve Jobs picked the one with the bite. The rainbow stripes represented Apple's ability to display color on its monitors. Apple switched to a monochrome version in 1998 when Steve Jobs returned. Apple's brand is now valued at over $500 billion.
10. The Accenture rebrand (2001) — when Andersen Consulting became Accenture overnight.
A) $5 million B) $35 million C) $100 million D) $175 million
Reveal Answer
C) $100 million
Fun fact: When Andersen Consulting split from Arthur Andersen, they had 147 days to find a new name, design a new identity, and rebrand everything worldwide. The name "Accenture" was submitted by a Danish employee named Kim Petersen, who combined "accent" and "future." The ">" symbol above the "t" was added to suggest forward thinking. The $100 million covered the complete rebrand across 47 countries in less than five months — one of the fastest corporate rebrands in history.
How Did You Score?
8–10 correct: You should teach a masterclass on branding economics!
5–7 correct: Strong instincts! The gap between cheap and expensive logos is wild.
0–4 correct: This quiz proves that price has almost no correlation with quality in logo design. A $35 swoosh can beat a $211 million sunflower!
Love learning about logos? Play Logo Quiz and see how many you can identify.
