Johnson’s Forever
Deutsch New York
2010

The Johnson & Johnson script logo was created in 1886 when co-founder James Wood Johnson added the company’s name to a bank check. This early incarnation of the handwriting-logo was used for almost 40 years until the 1920s when product packaging called for a more graphic version of the logo. This incarnation solidified the brand we are all familiar with.

We were approached by the Deutsch, New York advertising agency to design a set of custom-lettered phrases based on the Johnson & Johnson logo for the Johnson’s Forever campaign. We stylized the missing characters to best exemplify the unique script lettering of the logo as if they already existed. The capital ‘F’ curls and swirls to match, yet differentiate it, from the capital ‘J’ of the logo. Subtle curves and natural character connections mimic the penmanship of the late 1800s creating an authentic style. During the project, we were asked to create a custom font design based on the Johnson & Johnson logo. We experimented with a working font by adding more capital letterforms and fine-tuning realistic character connections that would feel authentic when typed on a keyboard.