FedEx Corporation is an American multinational courier delivery services company headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee. The name “FedEx” is a syllabic abbreviation of the name of the company’s original air division, Federal Express (now FedEx Express), which was used from 1973 until 2000. The company is known for its overnight shipping service and pioneering a system that could track packages and provide real-time updates on package location (to help in finding lost packages), a feature that has now been implemented by most other carrier services.
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History of the FedEx Logo
When Frederick W. Smith founded Federal Express Corp. in 1971 in Arkansas, he likely had no idea that it would spark the modern air/ground express industry. The idea had begun several years earlier when Smith conceptualized a system for shipping urgent, time-sensitive items like medicine, computer parts, and electronics—an idea he developed while studying at university.
In its first decade, Federal Express thrived, growing steadily and reaching US$1 billion in revenue by 1983. From there, the company expanded internationally, launching operations in Asia Pacific and Europe.
However, as the industry grew, so did the competition. Other companies began offering similar overnight services, turning the industry Federal Express had pioneered into a highly competitive market, often driven by price rather than differentiation.
Recognizing the need to stand out, it became clear that Federal Express had to better communicate its broad service offerings and reinforce its position as an industry leader. The company developed a more formalized design policy that would promote consistency across various touchpoints like catalogs, trucks, and airplanes, leveraging its vast network to increase brand visibility.
Landor Associates, led by Senior Design Director Lindon Leader, was tasked with developing the new design policy. The objective was to ensure that the new corporate identity reflected Federal Express’s core values—precision, service, speed, and reliability. Landor also conducted consumer research to better understand the public’s perception of the brand. By the 1990s, the term “FedEx a package” had become synonymous with shipping, regardless of the carrier, highlighting the brand’s strong presence in the marketplace. This contraction, it was decided, could serve as a powerful asset. Moving away from the national associations of “Federal” would help position the company as a more global entity, essential for its ongoing international expansion.
During the logo’s development, after hundreds of design concepts were tested using the company’s purple and orange color palette, Leader had a breakthrough. He noticed that a hidden arrow formed within the negative space between the “E” and “x.” Although early versions of this design felt “clunky,” the final logo came together with a harmonious fusion of two typefaces.
The final design, a custom logotype, drew from the sans-serif typefaces Univers 67 (Bold Condensed) and Futura Bold. By adjusting the letter spacing, increasing the size of the lowercase letters relative to the uppercase ones, and incorporating the company’s colors, Leader created a distinctive and proprietary design. The intersection of the two typefaces revealed a subtle arrow, symbolizing speed and precision.
Despite the logo’s use of the shortened “FedEx,” the full name “Federal Express” or sometimes just “Express,” set in ITC Century Condensed, was also used as a secondary element. The new wordmark was paired with a new tagline, “The World On Time,” reinforcing the company’s position as a global, time-sensitive delivery service.
The final logo, with its blend of compactness, global appeal, and symbolism, was not only immediately recognizable but also easier to apply consistently across the company’s vast network. Nearly 30 years later, the same logo continues to be in use today.
Logos with similar colors:
