What golfers silhouette was used to design the PGA Tour logo?
I created a logo exactly like this PGA silhouette for SPESSARD HOLLAND GOLF COURSE near Melbourne, Fla in late 1979, early 1980…I was working for John’s Custom Casuals in Cocoa Beach when I drew this exact logo. I worked there {this was your typical airbrushed t-shirts type place} late 1979 to about Feb. 1980 and then worked as a technical illustrator for Harris Corporation for the bulk of 1980 {Ray Raboin was my immediate boss and Ed Panosian was his boss}. I am a photorealist and I traced this image, with some slight alterations {as you can see, the arm positioning is an impossibility} from an existing photograph and far as I can recall, it was Johnny Miller as he was one of my favorites {yes, I was a golfer also}. The exact pose probably can be found in one of the well known Golf Magazines from the 2nd half of 1979. I used this silhouette minimalist style as a way to speed up results for various commercial purposes, deadlines etc. I did use this exact style on several other jobs at the time. I later went on to be a freelance commercial illustrator in S.F. and L.A. and this was one of my earliest jobs. I cannot tell you how my illustration went from Spessard Holland to the PGA, maybe someone can back track this info now. I was paid $60 for the logo. I was 21 at the time. I personally delivered this logo to Spessard Holland after completion.
Like the logo of any company, it has changed a huge number of times. All companies are trying to keep up with the times, changing at least their logo to look fresh. There are many stories when a logo change or rebranding helped a company to orbitalize a second wind and strengthen its position in the market. Although some companies do not need this. For example, recently thanks to https://clubandtee.com/best-golf-driver-for-beginners/ I learned about some companies that produce very high quality golf equipment. Their success is only due to the quality of their products, not advertising and rebranding. I think it would be nice if all companies were striving for a similar result.
