Sony Walkman logo
The Sony Walkman logo is based on Burko Circle.
On July 1st, 1979, Sony changed the world with the release of their breakthrough portable music cassette player. Before this product, though people were able to listen to music on-the-go with boomboxes and portable radios, the Sony Walkman allowed you to privately listen to the music of your choice, on-the-go, with a truly portable device.
An earlier logo was used beginning in 1979 and continuing until 1981. Then from 1981 until 2000, Sony used this logo, based on Burko Circle, for its logo on Walkman cassette players and CD players. The designer made some alterations to the L and K. In some later Walkman models, they seem to have made additional edits to the logo, which include squishing of the W, and lowering the position of the circle within the A.
The original TPS-L2 Sony Walkman. This original model began to use the now-famous logo in 1981.
At time of launch in 1979, and continuing until 1981, the Sony Walkman actually used a completely different and custom drawn logo, as seen here.
Sony Walkman WM-20 as shown in a mid-1980s Sony catalog
Sony Walkman WM-F20 as shown in a mid-1980s Sony catalog
Sony Walkman WM-22 as shown in a mid-1980s Sony catalog
Burko Circle (top, from Dan X. Solo’s Sans Serif Display Alphabets, 1979) compared to the Walkman logo (bottom, 1981): A and N were made slightly wider, the dot in A was enlarged and moved up, L got a round outer corner, and K was given a curved leg for more stability.
Sony Walkman WM-41, 1987
In some later versions of the logo, as seen on the WM-FX421 in this photo, they have moved the circle downward, within the letter A, and they squished the letter W somewhat.
Sony Walkman WM-8 as used by Max in Stranger Things. “Stereo” is set in Harry Plain, “Walkman” is set in Burko Circle.
Classic Sony Walkman branding
2 Comments on “Sony Walkman logo”
An excellent discovery! Thanks for sharing.
Here’s the glyph set of Burko Circle, as shown in Dan X. Solo’s Sans Serif Display Alphabets (Dover Publications, 1979). Despite the name, Burko Circle probably wasn’t an official member of the Burko series by Headliners. It’s rounder in design and also isn’t shown in their c.1977 catalog. More on the typeface page.
See also the Sony Watchman logo: