Nelly Furtado logo (2000–2009)
Contributed by Ian Hooker
on Mar 16th, 2026. Artwork published in
circa October 2000
.
Whoa, Nelly! (DreamWorks Records, 2000)
The Canadian pop star Nelly Furtado used a logo that appears to be based on the caps of Caruso Roxy [edit: or possibly on Action Is, a digital font indirectly based on it, see comments]. It can be seen in her first four albums, from 2000 to 2009. “I’m Like A Bird,” the lead single from her first album, won a Grammy in 2002 for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.
Graphic design by noted Los Angeles album designer Kevin Reagan.
“I’m Like A Bird” UK single cover (2000)
“I’m Like A Bird” single cover (variant, 2000)
Folklore (DreamWorks Records, 2003). The title is in a grunged Shelley Script.
Loose (Geffen Records and Mosley Music Group, 2006)
Mi Plan (Nelstar Entertainment, 2009)
Promo sticker
9 Comments on “Nelly Furtado logo (2000–2009)”
Looks more like Action Is than Caruso Roxy.
If you don’t believe me, have a look at the lyric video for her song “Promiscuous”.
You are certainly right that the lyric video you linked to uses Action Is – it’s evident from the problematic spacing and its non-curling apostrophe.
Strictly speaking, the logo that Ian focused on in his post uses neither Caruso Roxy or Action Is. It’s lettering loosely based on one of these. The letterforms were modified or redrawn to various extents. None of them are a direct match, and some of the shapes can’t be found back in the typefaces, see for example the wide symmetrical T.
Action Is was based on a use of Caruso Roxy (or its close follower Holiday), so the logo lettering could have been patterned after either. We tagged Roxy because that’s the original. I agree it’s more likely that, in 2000, Kevin Reagan looked at the 1998 freebie than at the obscure 1960s phototypeface. But who knows? We’d have to ask him.
Was the lyric video designed by Reagan as well? Also, when was it made? The linked version was uploaded to YouTube in 2022. It could be the case that it belongs to the 2000s identity. I can also imagine that it’s much younger – such lyric videos weren’t really a thing back in 2006 – and that its designer wanted to use a digitally available font that comes close to the logo lettering – and found Action Is.
Anyway, I have adjusted the tagged typeface to Action Is now. Ian, please chime in if you disagree.
Thanks!
Was the designer trying to evoke a “Groovy Sixties” aesthetic, or the contemporary nostalgic recollection of that aesthetic? My instinct is that the designer was trying to express “1960s pop songbird” and not “Austin Powers”. But only the designer would be able to answer whether he was inspired by the original typeface, or the derivative.
Pretty much.
Sorry, I was wrong—the logo for Nelly Furtado WAS Caruso Roxy. Just the lyrics of “Promiscuous” were done in Action Is. Sorry for the mistake.
How do you know for sure; did you get in touch with the designer?
The modified T in Nelly Furtado’s logo didn’t look like the T in Action Is.