In 1933 the Hungarian Francesco Illy, together with Roberto Hausbrandt as equal partner, the company for the trade of cocoa and coffee “Caffè e Cioccolato Illy & Hausbrandt”; in 1935 he introduced an automatic espresso machine on the market which replaced the compressed air one for steam and he also developed systems for vacuum preservation of coffee. The first logo was designed in 1934 by Xanti Schawinsky, the graphic designer who collaborated with the Boggeri studio and who designed the Olivetti logo in the same period.
In 1966, in harmony with the development of the company and with the strengthening of the image, the restyling of the logo was thought of with the intervention of Carlo Mangani who isolated the logo in a red square and introduced the design of two cups of coffee from above, used since 1960 as a sign in the bars that offered this coffee; the logotype was also used alone.
In 1985 the logo underwent a further restyling operation which made it even more essential and easy to read; note the all tiny.
In 1992 Illy undertook the idea of commissioning famous designers to decorate the espresso cups; in this way the new corporate mission transformed the daily action of making an espresso into the art of espresso and chose to express itself through the world of art. In 1996 the company decided to adapt its identity to the evolution it was pursuing; for the restyling of the logo, the Illy writing was used, taken from a work by one of the fathers of pop art, James Rosenquist, dedicated to the Trieste-based company.
