hsv Logo - History, Design, and Meaning
Company Overview
HSV is the abbreviation for Holden Special Vehicles, a subsidiary of Holden that specializes in the design and production of high-performance cars. Established in 1987 in Australia, the brand has released more than a dozen models based on the most popular Holden vehicles.
Key Information
- Founded: 1987
- Founder(s): Tom Walkinshaw
- Headquarters: Clayton, Victoria, Australia
hsv Logo Meaning and History
The iconic Australian automaker Holden recognized a significant market opportunity for high-performance cars in the mid-1980s, leading to the formation of HSV in 1987.
The logo of the luxury car brand has remained largely unchanged since its inception, with refinements made over time and accompanied by bold lettering that enhances the original emblem.
The HSV badge, designed in 1988, features a solid black circle with a double red outline and a white image in the center. This image depicts a lion's head alongside a man in a racing helmet. The lion symbolizes Holden, the parent company, making its inclusion on the HSV badge logical.
The second part of the emblem, the stylized profile of a man in a white helmet, reflects the luxury brand's focus on racing high-performance cars.
A few years later, the badge was integrated into a new design featuring silver 'HSV' lettering, with elongated lines connecting behind the black circular badge. The inscription has all letters of equal size as the emblem and is rendered in a matte monochrome gray that resembles real metal, with the 'H' being the darkest and the 'S' the lightest.
When placed on vehicles, the black and red emblem transforms into a silver three-dimensional badge with a glossy finish. All white elements change to metallic, and the double red frame becomes solid silver. The lines on the three-dimensional badge are refined and made sleeker and more diagonal, evoking a sense of motion and dynamics.
The lettering is rendered in the same typeface as the printed version, without extra space between the letters (where the badge is placed), and the 'H' and 'S' are connected by a bottom line.
The bold yet elegant HSV logotype is crafted in a custom sans-serif typeface with thick lines and substantial letter shapes. A unique feature of the italicized inscription is its 'S,' which has elongated tails merging with the neighboring 'H' and 'V.' The HSV typeface was created exclusively for the brand, although it shares similarities with Aspire SmallCaps Black Oblique, with most lines modified.
The official color palette of the Holden Special Vehicles sub-brand consists of black, white, red, and silver. This timeless and powerful color combination effectively represents HSV as a strong, exclusive, and confident brand that prioritizes design and quality.
When placed on the car, both the badge and the wordmark turn silver, adding a luxurious touch to the high-performance vehicles and giving them a timeless and sophisticated appearance, regardless of their color and shape.
