Who Designed the Michelin Logo?

O'Galop, pseudonym of Marius Rossillon (June 8, 1867 – January 2, 1946) was a French artist and cartoonist, best known for creating Bibendum, the Michelin Man. He created his first advertisement Michelin in 1898 and would continue creating posters for the company featuring the character until 1911.

The name of the plump tire-man has entered the language to describe someone obese or wearing comically bulky clothing. (e.g. "How can I wrap up warm without looking like the Michelin Man ?")

Today, Bibendum is one of the world's most recognised trademarks, representing Michelin in over 150 countries.

Why is the Michelin Man White?

Tires weren't colored black until 1912, thus, Bibendum is white. Prior to 1912, tires were either grey-white or had a light translucent beige hue. Carbon was subsequently added to the rubber formula as a preservative and a strengthener.

While attending the Universal and Colonial Exposition in Lyon in 1894, Édouard and André Michelin noticed a stack of tyres that suggested to Édouard the figure of a man without arms. Four years later, André met French cartoonist Marius Rossillon, popularly known as O'Galop, who showed him a rejected image he had created for a Munich brewery — a large, regal figure holding a huge glass of beer and quoting Horace's phrase "Nunc est bibendum". André immediately suggested replacing the man with a figure made from tyres. Thus O'Galop transformed the earlier image into Michelin's symbol.