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Vintage Design

Blackletter (also known as Old English, Gothic, or Fraktur) is the first ever typeface/font. Johannes Gutenberg, often referred to as the Father of Typography created it way back in the 12th century.

Here’s what it looks like in text:

For a while, Blackletter was the only font available which I imagine was limiting creatively.
You see, font type contributes greatly to a design’s impact, beauty, and relevance. Speaking on the history of typography, Ben Barrett-Forrest, Head Of Design at Parade, corroborates the point above:


Thankfully, things have changed today.
We are no longer restricted to one font type. There are thousands of fonts available for design and text purposes. Fun fact: Steve Jobs played a huge role in making fonts mainstream by making a wide array of fonts available in the first Mac he designed.

But even with the vast collection of typefaces available, vintage designers and enthusiasts like you might feel left out. 

It seems like the overwhelming majority of fonts developed are more suitable for modern type logo designs, not vintage ones. And if you use them, it’s hard to get the desired results.

If you fall in this category, I have great news. 

In this piece, I’ll show you a host of typefaces you can use for retro or vintage logos to evoke that nostalgic feeling. You’ll even see how to manipulate them to your heart’s desires. 

Take these font logo examples manipulated in Kittl:

What distinguishes a vintage font from a modern one?

Most vintage typefaces have the following characteristics:

A lot of vintage fonts are serif because this style connotes a traditional and old theme. In line with this, Robyn Young, CEO and Head of Brand Strategy Young & Co said: 

Now, a vintage font doesn’t need to have all of the above elements. But it should have at least 2-3.

There are a lot of vintage typefaces, but some are more suitable for text and not logos. i.e. they are not display typefaces. Below are 10 best fonts you can use for a vintage logo design.

Firmin Didot, a French printer and type founder, was born into a family of printers and created the Didot typeface group. The font became widely accepted when released and is classified as Didone font type. 

Didot is illegible in text body due to its high contrast level but works well for logos. A lot of fashion brands like Armani, Zara, Elle, Valentino, etc. use this font for their logos:

You can download this free vintage font here.

This is a Victorian-styled font published by Alit design. It is great for logos, wedding designs, labels, etc. 

The Rumble Brave collection has three letters: ​​serif, script, and dingbat. Here’s what the typeface looks like in text:

You can purchase this typeface on the designer’s website.

Milkstore 01 is a part of the Milkstore font collection which consists of 4 other vintage handcrafted fonts i.e, Milkstore 02-05. Milkstore 01 is the focus here because the other fonts complement it. Here are its alternates:

This typeface is available in Kittl and has tons of glyphs that you can use to enhance your vintage logo further. See some logos with Milkstore 01:

And some of the glyphs associated with this font in Kittl:

You can purchase the Milkstore collection for $39 on Heritage Type Co. Or you can simply access it for free when you sign up on Kittl:

The Hollywood vintage font family boasts 370+ glyphs, 236 alternates, 82 final forms, 52 initial forms, and 30 ligatures. Annenkov Dmitriy developed this font, and it can be used in Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, or other similar software to create logos and posters that give off old-movies Hollywood vibes:

It is available for purchase at $12 at Creativemarket.

If you want to go for the elegant vintage look, then Troyline is the typeface for you:

It comes in two fonts: organic script and sans, and also in a rough and stamp style. See the Troyline typeface in use:

You can download it for personal use here or purchase it for commercial purposes via the creator’s site.

This is a vintage typeface created by Tobias Saul, independent lettering artist, typeface designer, and Co-founder of Kittl. It is inspired by vintage sign art and lettering and comes with glyphs:

The logos below (created in Kittl) used the Royal Signage typeface:

Click the green buttons above to customize Royal Signage in Kittl (for free). Or purchase it here.

Have you read George Orwell’s 1984? It inspired this vintage style font. 

Orwellian also follows Henry Caslon’s Italian model and is a reverse style typeface designed for display, not text use:

This typeface has a strong visual impact, which makes it great for passing across important messages:

Learn more about how Shiva Nallaperumal, typographer and Graphics Designer developed the typeface here. You can also purchase from Lost Type Co-Op.

Bignord is a stylish and bold vintage display font suitable for posters, logos, covers, etc. The collection comes with borders & lines, ornaments, and frames to enhance the vintage look. 

See samples of the Bignord font and other elements from the collection in action:

A handwritten font, Wolder gives off a western vintage vibe with its rough texture:

It is available for purchase on Fontspring or free download for personal use.

Tobias Saul created BlackRiver, for people who desired authentic and high-quality typefaces. The 20th-century vintage packaging designs inspired this font:

In no time, it grew in popularity among users:

Can you see the beauty of BlackRiver in the logos above?
That’s not all. BlackRiver is a variable font, which means the width can be manipulated in different ways like this:

Kittl has made designing vintage logos easier and faster with its wide array of vintage typefaces. See what ​​Mircea Zahacinschi, a Graphic Designer had to say about the vintage logo maker:

Now, let’s look at how you can create a vintage logo with two of the vintage fonts listed: BlackRiver and Royal Signage.

First, scroll through the thousands of ready-made templates available and make your choice. I chose ‘Arion Boutique’ uploaded by Yvonne K, Graphic Designer and Creative Director at Kittl:

Next, identify the font the current design uses and if there is a need for a change. The current font on this design is ‘Brilon’ as primary, and ‘Charoe’ as secondary.

I’m going to change it to ‘BlackRiver’ as the primary font, and ‘Royal Signage’ as the supporting font:

Then make other design elements adjustments as you see fit. Since BlackRiver is a variable font, I increased the width:

Used Kittl’s text effect and decoration function to further promote a vintage look:

There you have it! A vintage logo with the fonts, BlackRiver and Royal Signage.

Don’t Want 100% Vintage? Try Modern-Vintage

The traditional vintage design works for many industries but doesn’t for others. 

For example, vintage logos can work well for brands in the music, fashion (to an extent), and hospitality (cafes, bars) industries. But a vintage logo will not capture the essence of modern industries like bitcoin, tech & AI.

However, some brands want the best of both worlds. 

They want to capture the vibe of the past and the future via design. This is known as Modern-Vintage designs. 
For these types of designs, you can use modern-vintage fonts like Almeda, Brilon, Mogan, The Northwest, Fairwind, The forbes, Charoe etc

Here’s the Charoe and Brilon typeface in action in a Kittl logo:

Explore the vast library of vintage design templates and fonts today:

Tired of using boring fonts for your logos? Here are 10 unique vintage font logos you can use.

The best fonts for your Vintage Logo Designs

In 2020, the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization reported a 68% or $3.4 trillion increase in value of the agriculture sector. 

The booming farms realized the importance of branding to stand out from the competition. And many started investing in their brand logos. Unfortunately, the logo design results produced leave a lot to be desired. 

In the exact words of Jesse Frost, a Vegetable Farmer, the designs are: 

Too simplistic and lacking in individuality.

Why do you think this is so?

Why are a lot of farm logos out there ‘lacking in individuality’?

It’s because of the trend taking over the design industry. I’m referring to the trend where logos are of sans-serif font, minimalist looking, and flat. This results in logo homogeneity. To showcase this point, here’s what you get on Google if you query it with the keyword ‘farm logo design:’


Notice how most of the designs have the same theme?
That’s the problem.
Thankfully, this era seems to be coming to an end and as Bill Gardner, Founder of LogoLounge, said,

Retro/Vintage logos that are very expressive: 

Creating unique farm logos like the ones above lets you achieve two things:

 Help farms project their unique brand identities, and

 Stand out as a highly-sought vintage logo designer.

Achieving both is why vintage design enthusiasts are turning to a vintage logo maker like Kittl. It has lots of vintage design assets you can manipulate.

But let’s go back to vintage farm logos. Curious to see more visual examples?

A significant characteristic of a farm logo is the symbol used e.g., animals, fruits, farm equipment, etc. So, I’ve grouped the farm logos below according to similar symbols.

McPherson family farms, an Oklahoma-grown brand, is an excellent example of a vintage farm logo with an animal symbol. As you can see above, their logo has different animal types, a vintage frame, and typography that takes us back to the good ol’ days even though they just established the brand in 2018.

This logo is one of Kittl’s own and is available for free customization on the app. I included this design on this list because it is unusual to see a bird farm or, in this case, a Quail farm. 

Also, the color and texture of this logo are a cross between vintage and modern. It is a brilliant logo to emulate if you want to design a logo for a farm brand that chooses to veer off  the full vintage route.

The Victory Garden farm is a small-scale and local farm, and they convey that message well in their vintage-styled logo. This logo is faded but not washed out, which is important to note when designing vintage logos.

Using farm trucks, tractors, or other equipment gives that retro vibe to logos. As this piece by Logodesign puts it,

“A tractor or a vintage pickup gives a great, classic retro feel to a logo, and definitely has a kitschy appeal that lets the viewer know what your company personality is all about.”

The logo for Buhrmann Farms, created in a design contest on Designhill,  fits this mold perfectly. I particularly like the white splatters on the green ribbon. It shows attention to detail:

The client, John Buhrmann, was so impressed with this vintage logo that he left this feedback:

“I could not have been happier with the design, or the designer for that matter. Original artwork for my logo that will attract attention, and convey the message I am putting out about my business.”

Again, this proves why you should consider creating vintage and original logos for your clients in the agricultural sector.

Confession. This has to be my favorite logo on this list. 
And no, it’s not because it’s a Kittl design. It’s because of how the design elements work well together for the intended purpose. First, the color is old-fashioned, but in a good way. The frame and windmill are artistics, and the typography is beautiful.
However, I felt this logo would still be great if the overall texture was brighter. So I tried manipulating it in Kittl with this result:

I achieved this brighter look in less than a minute:

Here’s another farm equipment logo with a beautiful flowery design:

Coop’s blooms vintage logo was designed by DIX LIX MIX, a top-level designer, and it looks great. Who said vintage had to be boring?

This is a farm market logo with a fruit and vegetable symbol and the vintage car crowning off the quaint look. The logo is not colored but shows how black and white colors can also work to give a picturesque vibe.

Another Kittl’s design rounds up this list. This design adopts the customary green color common to agricultural brands, but doesn’t feel cliché. That’s probably because of the vintage element and texture. The logo stands out and can even fit on a brand’s label. 

How to Create Vintage Farm logos in Kittl 

I was going through the farm templates in Kittl, and came across this stunning logo:

As you can see, it is a diner vintage style logo. 
And I thought, “Why not transform this logo into one suitable for a small chicken farm?”  I did just that, and I’ll show you the process below.
Fair warning though. 

My design skills are rudimentary at best. But it’ll be a great test of how Kittl is easy to use for beginners and experts alike, as users have testified:


The first thing I did was to create a new document and import the design template of my choice:

Then, I decided to change the background color to “9c4a28”. I got this color code from another Kittl vintage design I admired:

I was satisfied with the current color scheme, so I just changed the brand name. Since it is a chicken farm, I named it “Anna’s Coop.” I know it’s not the most imaginative name, but let’s run with it, shall we?:

Then edited the other text fields and deleted some elements:

And voilà! We have the logo for Anna’s coop, a small chicken farm:

What do you think? Looks great?
I did this without any design experience. With your experience, I’m sure you can design something much better in Kittl, so why don’t you give it a try?

When you’re done designing, don’t forget to share a copy of your design with the Kittl community to inspire others:

Now, let’s look at what makes an original and unique logo.

Characteristics of a Great Vintage Farm Logo

One of the first elements of a vintage farm logo is the symbol. These symbols include a tractor or old truck, animals (cows, pigs, chickens), old buildings or barns, windmills, fruits or vegetables, etc. So when creating a farm logo, use a symbol relevant to the brand’s offerings.

Design assets such as ornate badges, banners, or ornaments herald a good vintage logo. These assets contribute to the vintage feel of the design. 

Green is the agriculture industry’s favorite when it comes to design. An analysis by 99designs of over 200 agricultural logos revealed ‘Green’ dominated by 64%. 

Despite these results, you don’t have to use green for your farm logo design. Other notable vintage farm colors include blue, orange, brown, and red.

Finally, for a farm logo to be considered vintage, it must have a vintage font. Not modern fonts like Sans-serif, but rather like Bevan, Signmaster Pro, London News, etc., all of which are available on Kittl.

You can check out our vintage logo design guide for more information about the characteristics of vintage logos.

You’ve seen all the fantastic design manipulations you can achieve with Kittl. 

To make it all better, Kittl is 100% free to use. Of course, there are paid plans, but if you would like to explore all the tool has to offer without spending a dime, the free option can work for you:

Are you tired of creating flat and boring farm logos? Learn how to design stunning vintage farm logos in Kittl.

How to design unique vintage farm logos for farm brands

Vintage may mean ‘old,’ but it’s not going out of fashion.
Take electric cars, the supposed future of the automobile industry. Many automakers are now going the vintage route. 

Zero Labs, a car company, is remaking the past for the future by converting classic or vintage cars to electric versions. The resulting automobile retains its vintage feel and look, but the function is modern electric. 

The cars look stunning, right?
But don’t just pay attention to their builds and colors. Look at the logos (Ford & Land Rover) in front. Notice how stunning they are despite being vintage?

Now, let me ask you something.
As a vintage designer, how long do you think it would take you to recreate such a unique logo?

If you’re a veteran designer, it could take anywhere from 15-20 hours or more. Maybe weeks if you’re a new or intermediate designer. And using Adobe Illustrator, the design industry standard, won’t make matters easier. 

Lia Torres, an experienced graphic designer observed this:

One reason is that it takes years to master Illustrator:

Now, what if you could create stunning vintage logos in a matter of hours?
That’s where Kittl, the vintage logo maker comes in:


The vintage car logos above were easily created, manipulated, and customized with Kittl in hours, not weeks. And designers love Kittl for that. 

Before we get into the nitty-gritty of how to use Kittl for your vintage car logo design needs, let’s take a road trip down memory lane.

Unless you’re living under a rock, you would have noticed that car logos look the same nowadays. Sure, there is a reason for this trend, and according to Alex Center, Founder of CENTER, a Design and Branding Company.

But there’s something elegant about the previous vintage versions of these brands’ logos. And since trends are constantly evolving, I wonder if car logo designs won’t return to the vintage style soon.
You see, car brands like Peugeot have started making this pivot as the logo they released in 2021 is reminiscent of its 1960s logo:

In light of this, we’ll look at the evolution of some brands from vintage to minimal logos. 

Fun fact: It has been reported that the typography for the Ford logo comes from the handwriting of the founder, Henry Ford. This makes their font unique.
Ford introduced its original logo in 1963. It was a product of its era with ornate frames and swirling shapes. Today? The logo is much more simplified and colored:

As the second-oldest American carmaker still in operation, the Cadillac brand has been in operation for over a century. Their first logo or “Crest’ was vintage-looking. 120 years later, this is what we have:

Evolution and adapting to trends is what it is:

Lincoln motors is named after Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the United States. To date, the car symbolizes luxury and prestige.

If you look closely, the logo above shows a snake swallowing a man, making the Alfa Romeo logo one of the most bizarre in the automobile industry. 
In 2015, they released their current logo which is not so different from the original logo. Here are both logos placed side by side so you can compare:


Finally, we have Mercedes, also known as Mercedes-Benz or just Benz. 

This brand is well known and associated with luxury. Their most recent (and recognizable) logo is sleek and minimalist. But it didn’t start that way.
Their first logo in 1902 was only the brand name, ‘Mercedes.’ Seven years later, the word mark on their vintage style logo changed to ‘Benz’. After a couple switches between the name ‘Mercedes’ and ‘Benz’ they eventually settled on hyphenating both names with the grey three-pronged star we know and love toda

Now, I’m no professional designer, but I attempted recreating their 1909 logo in Kittl in less than 5 minutes. Here’s what I came up with:

Want to try your hands at recreating some of the vintage logos above?

Now, we’ve seen how to recreate vintage car logos. 

How about designing retro logos for vintage car garages or shops? You can do that too with the design templates available in Kittl as shown below:

One of the first things you’ll notice when you log into your Kittl account is the different categories of designs:

Since we’re concerned about logo designs today, click on the ‘logos’ category:

Next, search for the type of logo you want to design. In this case, “car” samples:

Scroll down the results to find a suitable vintage design:

Then customize the logo template to your taste:

Didn’t find something the first time? Simply play around with other search terms to get varying designs. 

Feeling Stuck? Get Inspired by Other Brilliant Designers

Another benefit of using Kittl is you never have to feel stuck again thanks to its news feed. With this feature, you can get inspiration from the works of other designers. 

Other Kittl users have found this to be true:

You can also get praise from other community members when you post a design of yours:

Get started creating beautiful vintage logos and if you need more information, check out our vintage logo design guide.

Interested in vintage car logos? Here’s how to design them for car garages and shops.

How to design vintage car logos with little to no experience

On June 18, 2022, a Twitter user named @culturaltutor made a thread titled “The Danger of Minimalist Design (& the death of detail).”

Today’s minimalist design style is devoid of the character and identity vintage designs offer. The current logo design style trends mean everything (from logos to architecture) looks the same. 

His thread, like this one above by Jonathan Howard, went viral. 

Since then, designers and other people alike, have responded to the question Jonathan asked in the tweet above:


“Why do so many logos look alike these days?”

This response by David Perell, Founder of WriteOfPassage, captured it best:

This article by Radek Sienkiewicz on Velvet Shark, and this piece from 2020, amongst many others, addressed the same question.

There is a homogenization of logos today. For instance, in the fashion world:

Despite this trending “sameness” in logo styles, some designers crave creating something different and memorable. And according to Wix, logos that induce nostalgia (vintage) would make a comeback in 2022.  

It’s probably why you turned to vintage designing. 

There’s just something captivating about a vintage logo. 

You’ll see, step-by-step, how to create unique vintage logos like the ones above in this guide. But first, do you recall what David Perell rightly observed to be why almost all logos are looking the same these days? 

“My best guess comes down to two factors: Software and the internet... Designers are using the same tools, which exert the same unconscious forces on their creative process.”

In other words, design software has a lot of influence on the end result of a design.

Most designers are either using Illustrator, the oldie, which takes so much time learning how to manipulate to your heart’s desire. Or, Canva, with its me-too templates that’s a turn off for pro designers like you. 

The vintage logos you see above were designed with a different software, Kittl:

You’ll learn more Kittl and how it makes creating unique vintage logos seamless as we proceed. 

Outdated is not a euphemism for vintage designs, yet a lot of designers fail to grasp this. They tend to make vintage logos that are visually dull and unattractive. 

In the words of Sarah Giffrow, Creative Director of Upswept Creative:

“The big challenge is to create something that recalls a vintage era but in a way that doesn’t look dated”

See below an example of an outdated or bad vintage logo:

The logo example above was probably created with dated visuals and effects which is why it looks dull. A good vintage logo is one that functions in today’s world i.e one that perfectly strikes the balance between old and trendy. 

As Grace Fussell, Graphic Designer &, Head of Creative Agency, Blue Whippet Studio says:

“Vintage graphic design styles are far from stuffy—the best examples reinterpret retro graphic design styles to create something new and exciting.”

Here are three elements to consider for creating a lasting vintage logo: 

Typography: Using modern fonts like Helvetica or Bodoni will not give you that vintage look and feel. A good vintage logo uses typography like Hollywood vintage font, Bignord typeface, Blackriver, Victoria Fonts Collection, etc. For more typography inspiration, check out the Vintage Font Bundle.

Color: Vintage logos are typically in light, and subtle colors like beige, brown, green, pale blue, etc. Using colors out of this range won’t give you the distinct vintage look.

Geometric shape: Geometric shapes and vintage logos go hand in hand. If you picture 5 vintage logos right now, chances are 4 of them have geometric shapes like circles, squares, rectangles, etc. In essence, a good vintage logo should have any of the above shapes.

Now that we’re clear on what constitutes a good vintage logo let’s look at the…

This design was popular in the 1920s and 1930s, and they often look like this:

This flat, colorful and bold design was developed in America in the 1930s and inspired designs up until the 1980s:

It came about in the 1960s due to the influence of psychedelic music like The Beatles on hippie artists. This type of vintage design has whirling shapes, intense colors, and free-flowing lines:

This design style is popular in the late 19th and early 20th century. It is characterized by the use of curved lines and intricate flowery detailing:

That’s it for the types of vintage logos. 

Let’s look at the steps involved in creating a memorable vintage logo and how you can easily do it in Kittl, The Ultimate Vintage Design Hub.


I’ve broken the process of creating your vintage logo into three phases: Groundwork, Design, and Feedback.

Before you start any design in your tool, you need to do some groundwork. 

Therefore, in this stage, here’s what you should do:

Research: This is the most important aspect of any type of logo creation, and Ian Paget, Specialist Logo Designer and Founder of Logo Geek agrees:

“Research enables you to fully understand the problem at hand, which in turn lets you design a solution that can be presented with confidence, armed with the knowledge you need to back up your decisions.”

You must conduct in-depth market research, company research, and competitor research. This will help you determine the era your logo should come from (as this depends on the target audience’s age group), and how your logo can be different/unique from what is out there.

Why should your logo be unique? Aga Grandowicz, Team Lead – Marketing Design at Web Summit, has an answer:


“In order to meet the highest standards, a good logo needs to be properly conceptualised, well designed and unique. In particular, the aspect of uniqueness is often underestimated. In the current crowded market, making sure that a company’s logo idea hasn’t already been implemented in some similar form by somebody else is pivotal.”

Study logos associated with the era you’ve chosen and find inspiration for your design. Kittl’s template library is great for this. Just type in the era you want to replicate, and you’ll see design ideas:

Also, studying your chosen era will help you determine your vintage logo’s color palette and font.

Make a list of all the places/items the logo will be used as this will inform the design concept. 

The next stage is the design stage. Ideally, before embarking on any serious design creation, you should first brainstorm by sketching a rough outline or draft of your design. This sketch doesn’t have to be perfect; you can do it directly on Kittl.

Once you have this sketch, it’s time to bring it to life. If you brainstormed on Kittl’s community feed, you can easily import the design template and adjust it for your use.

However, if you sketched it elsewhere, you can create a blank template and upload your first draft or start afresh:

Now after designing your vintage logo and what next? 

Seek feedback. 

Creativity thrives under collaboration, and great designs are borne out of actionable feedback. As the first sentence of this DesignLab article states,


“The best way to improve the effectiveness of your designs is to always be seeking quality design feedback.”

You can seek feedback by showing your friends and family or submitting your design in communities like Kittl’s discord community.

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