At the time of his initial meeting with Steve Jobs in early 1977, Apple Computer was still very much in its infancy, having been incorporated for less than a year. Apple’s offices were in a local strip mall, and consisted of just the three partners – Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Mike Markkula.

The initial identity development was to coincide with the introduction of the brand’s first personal computer, the Apple II. The entire design process with the upstart client only took about two weeks. After the agency’s initial meeting, Janoff went to work developing the Apple icon based on his examination of physical cross-sections of real apples. A single design illustration was then created of a “rainbow-striped” apple.