The SONY Logo

The Sony Logo is set in Clarendon.

I always thought SONY was a Japanese word, but it's not. The company name was originally Totsuko Products when it was formed in 1955 (according to the website SONY Insider) and changed its name to Sony Corporation three years later.

  
Sony was the first Japanese company neon sign to show its logo in an upmarket area of Hong Kong; designer Yasuo Kuroki had modified the logo which was displayed in ads for Sony’s miniature televisions. The logo had slab serifs that looked something like Clarendon, but Kuroki's final design in 1972 is the one that's still in use today. It has less radical thicks and thins. 

In my opinion, the S and the O could use just a little kerning; perhaps it's the screen rendering that makes it look just a little too far apart. The sunrise version is quite elegant and is employed fully in the animated version for motion picture, which I talk about in the next post.
Ironically, the company had an international call for entries in the early 1980's to redesign the logo. After reviewing the thousands that came in, three were chosen, awarded with a thank-you, and the logo was kept to its original (PTL!)