Branding of Agora

In 1985, I needed a business name for my new company. I was looking for something that started with the letter ‘A’ so it would be listed at the beginning of the big ol’ telephone directory.

The word AGORA caught my imagination. Upon further reading, it met more of my criteria in addition to beginning with the letter ‘A’. The word AGORA has a multicultural identity – in Greek and Turkish, AGORA means ‘Marketplace’, and in Portuguese, AGORA means ‘Now’. The word ‘Now’ also fit right in with my ‘sense of urgency’ in making things happen, like NOW.  It eventually went on to become one of the tenets that AGORA is based on, to this day. By this time, it was a no-brainer that ‘AGORA’ was the name I was looking for. The rest, as they say, is history.

AGORA was originally called AGORA Leather Products. Leather, inherently is symbolic of Quality.
Moreover, leather was also used in the manufacturing of some of the products that AGORA would go on to make.
Thus, AGORA Leather Products was born.

Here is a copy of our first logo showing the letter ‘A’ on a leather briefcase.

Around 2001, the logo was modified to present a softer look that mirrored our bags and cases with rounded corners.
The letter ‘O’ was replaced with a globe that is representative of AGORA’s growing international business.

(continued see part 2 of Agora Branding)