Olympus revolutionised the SLR.

OM System is a lesson in a beloved legacy carried into a new company. The brand traces to Olympus, founded in 1919 in Japan as Takachiho Seisakusho — originally making microscopes (and early thermometers) to replace imports. The name “Olympus,” adopted in 1921, evokes Mount Olympus, home of the Greek gods (echoing the founders’ earlier “Takachiho,” a mythic mountain in Japanese lore) — a signal of global ambition. Olympus grew into a maker of microscopes, cameras and medical endoscopes. (Honest caveats: no confirmed official brand hex was retrievable, so the blue below is approximate, and the wordmark typeface is undocumented.)

Its camera legacy is legendary. The PEN series (1959) brought compact half-frame 35mm cameras, and the OM-1 (1972) — designed by Yoshihisa Maitani, the smallest and lightest full 35mm SLR of its era — revolutionised the SLR (it debuted as the “M-1,” renamed after Leica objected). Olympus carried that compact philosophy into the digital PEN and OM-D Micro Four Thirds mirrorless cameras.

The pivotal recent chapter: after years of losses (and the 2011 accounting scandal), Olympus sold its imaging business to Japan Industrial Partners (JIP) in 2020, creating OM Digital Solutions, which now sells cameras under the brand “OM SYSTEM” (from 2021), retiring the Olympus name on new cameras. Crucially — a myth to avoid — Olympus Corporation still exists and is a global leader in medical endoscopy; it exited cameras, it didn’t disappear. The identity carries a deep Olympus blue (on the medical company) into OM System’s newer, minimal look. A legend, reborn under a new name.

OM System lives in deep blue. Click a swatch to copy the hex.

The Olympus/OM System palette centres on a deep blue (Olympus blue, still used by the medical company), with a gold/yellow accent and gray, while OM System’s newer camera identity leans dark and minimal. The deep blue reads as trustworthy, precise and premium — fitting for optical and imaging instruments demanding accuracy — and it carried decades of Olympus recognition. The gold accent adds a note of quality and warmth. It’s a credible, understated scheme that suits precision cameras and optics, distinct from the reds and blacks of many camera rivals. The honest caveat: no confirmed official hex was retrievable — the deep blue (observed near #08107B) and gold accent here are approximations, and OM System’s official brand hex is undocumented.

The lesson is a precise, deep blue for optical instruments. Olympus’s deep blue signalled accuracy and quality across cameras, microscopes and endoscopes. For designers, it’s a reminder that a calm, precise primary suits precision-instrument brands. The takeaways: use a deep, trustworthy primary for optical/precision products (the blue); add a warm accent for quality (the gold); and treat specific hexes as approximate when no official spec is confirmed.

The wordmark is a clean sans — precise and understated.

Both the historic “OLYMPUS” and the newer “OM SYSTEM” wordmarks are clean, all-caps sans lettering — precise and understated. The even, modern letterforms read as trustworthy, technical and quality-focused, matching a maker of precision optics and cameras, and the restraint signals engineering credibility rather than flash. Olympus set its wordmark in a deep blue; OM System’s newer identity leans darker and more minimal, marking the transition to a new company while honouring the OM heritage (the name references the classic OM film system). Either way, the type is clean and precise — the look of instruments you trust for image quality. (Because both faces are custom and undocumented, the honest description is “a clean sans,” not a named font.) The type behaves like the brand: precise, understated and quality-focused.

OM System kept the flame alive.

OM System is a lesson in a beloved legacy surviving a corporate exit. When Olympus decided the shrinking camera market no longer fit its business, it could have simply killed the cameras — but the OM and PEN legacy was too valuable to fans and photographers, so the imaging arm was spun out to JIP and continued as OM System, keeping the compact, capable, weather-sealed philosophy alive under a new name. Meanwhile Olympus itself thrives in medical endoscopy. It’s an instructive story about brand and product legacy: a heritage that resonates with a devoted community can be worth preserving as a standalone company, even when its original parent moves on. The OM name carries a 50-year lineage forward.

For designers and brand-builders, OM System offers a clear takeaway: a beloved product legacy can be worth preserving as its own company, even when the parent exits. The lessons: recognise when a heritage has value beyond its parent’s strategy (the OM/PEN legacy); carry the identity and philosophy forward under a new name (OM System’s compact, capable cameras); and be precise about what continues and what changed (Olympus still leads in medical). It’s also a reminder to keep the facts precise — Olympus was founded in 1919 (named for Mount Olympus), made the Maitani OM-1 (1972) and the PEN series, sold its camera business to JIP in 2020 to become OM System (2021), while Olympus Corporation continues in medical endoscopy. OM System kept the flame alive — proof that a beloved legacy can outlive a business exit.

Keep OM System’s identity on hand — save it to a board in the Made Good inspiration library.