Who designed Coca-Cola’s Spencerian-script logo in 1887?

Frank M. Robinson designed Coca-Cola’s Spencerian-script logo in 1887. Robinson was the company’s bookkeeper and the business partner of pharmacist John Stith Pemberton, who created the original Coca-Cola drink in Atlanta in 1886.

Robinson suggested the name “Coca-Cola” and wrote it in the flowing Spencerian script used in business correspondence at the time. His lettering became one of the most recognizable wordmarks in the world, even though the logo has received small refinements over the decades.

A common mix-up is to credit Asa Candler with designing the logo. Candler acquired the business and helped build Coca-Cola commercially, but Robinson created the original lettering. The logo’s script is distinct from later packaging elements such as the red disc and the contour bottle.