THE GRIFFIN MARKETING CONSULTING LOGO
The Griffin Marketing Consulting logo uses a modern, contemporary interpretation of the Griffin logo used in various Griffin family businesses that have come before me. The Griffin is a fierce mythological beast that has the head, wings and claws of an eagle, with the body and tail of a lion. I've always been proud of these family businesses and have been waiting for the opportunity to use the logo.
GRIFFIN & SKELLEY
Griffin & Skelley was one of the earliest and largest California fruit packers. Founded in 1880 in San Francisco by my great-great-grandfather, Griffin & Skelley pioneered packing and then canning fruit & vegetables in cans, and used the new trans-continental railroad to ship east. Early consumer brand marketers, they used the Griffin logo on their Griffin Brand Seeded Raisins, and invented many other brands such as Mount Whitney Gage Plums, Griffin's Desert Bartlett Pears, Arrow Brand Plums, and Furtuna Brand Yellow Peaches. In 1916 Griffin & Skelley merged with 3 other canners to form the California Packing Corporation, or Calpak. My great-grandfather Andrew Griffin and his brother assumed leadership of Calpak. In an early product marketing coup they marketed a wide variety of products under the Del Monte brand. In the 1950's Calpak changed its corporate name to Del Monte. While Del Monte was subsequently acquired by RJR Nabisco, the Del Monte brand to this day can be found on grocery shelves around the world. Much to the chagrin of some family members, we Griffins still eat canned peaches and pineapple today!
GRIFFIN CHEMICAL COMPANY
My grandfather wanted nothing to do with the fruit business and went in a very different direction, starting Griffin Chemical Company in 1940. With plants in San Francisco and Martinez, CA, Griffin Chemical supplied the US Navy in WWII with various chemicals, and in the post war decades had military and agricultural supply businesses. The Griffin Chemical Company logo slightly modified the one used by Griffin & Skelley. The picture here is of the logo used on a decal that would be applied to the chemical barrels, identifying the material inside.
THE GRIFFIN EVOLVES
Designing the Griffin was the fun part. Suffice it to say, I've been thinking about this for a long time. You can see here the iterations that we went through to get to the Griffin that is used in our branding.
Once we had the design of the Griffin squared away, we then added back the concept of the shield and the powerful red background. Special gold editions of the logo were also created. Now I just need to think of some reason to sell something in a can or barrel, to which a Griffin Marketing Consulting label can be affixed.
