The Nintendo Wii logo (above) probably won’t go down in history as one of the most exciting logos of all time, but it does the job. It’s simple, it’s recognisable and there’s something quite pleasing about the dots on the ‘i’s. The name Wii is perhaps more controversial, but it does seem to have stuck.
But it all could’ve been quite different. This week, the Nintendo Memories Twitter account shared pages from a newly unearthed 2007 company handbook from Nintendo featuring unused designs for the Wii console.
There are a lot of them, and some of them are, let’s just say, rather outlandish. We’re not sure any of them would have made our best logos list.
There’s quite a lot to unpack here. There are people holding hands, docking together, there are multiple dots, there’s some slanty typography action. It’s quite hard to decide on a favourite, although there are some where it’s easy to see why they were rejected.
The thread has gone down a storm with gaming fans, with users pointing to their favourite designs that never were. See just a few opinions below.
this one is awesome, it looks like a wiimote being swung around and it even has the player number dots pic.twitter.com/nj4oWkawPyJanuary 28, 2021
some personal highlights for me include: 1) “who hired the guy who designed the sony vaio logo”2) “hey apple can i copy your homework?” 3) wrr. ~wrr.~4) “let’s lean into the whole ‘channel’ thing” pic.twitter.com/9v4G4SXqPoJanuary 28, 2021
This one’s cute. They’re holding hands ❤️ pic.twitter.com/dGRu9G7lRHJanuary 28, 2021
Would the Nintendo Wii have been the Wii if one of these other designs had been chosen? We do love a good unused logo list at Creative Bloq, as it allows us to ponder both the possibilities and the process. How did the designers get from that huge selection to the logo many are so familiar with today? Which ones were ruled out immediately while which ones made the top three?
You can explore more about the world of logo design in our guide, and while you’re at it, why not check out where to find logo design inspiration, too.
And if it’s more Nintendo you’re after, don’t miss our round up of the best Nintendo Switch deals and best Nintendo Switch games out now. Or check out today’s best deals on Nintendo kit below.
