G1 Autobot and Decepticon naming and faction insignia's

[Sinnertwin]

Sure, Budiansky wrote some of the most memorable characters, but it was the advertising agency Griffin Bacal that gave us the brands: The Transformers, Autobots, Decepticons and insignias

In 1983, Griffin Bacal were asked by Hasbro to adapt two Japanese toy lines, Diaclone and Micro Change, for the American market. Griffin Bacal suggested to merge the two into one single series, and Jay Bacal, Joe's son, suggested the name "The Transformers". Griffin Bacal also had the idea of making the robots the main characters of the series (the Diaclone backstory had portrayed them as piloted mecha) and make them sentient alien machine lifeforms. Lastly, Griffin Bacal divided the robots into two groups, "Autobots" (good) and "Decepticons" (evil) and designed faction logos for them, based on the heads of the robot toys that would later become known as Prowl and Soundwave, respectively.