The hidden meaning behind really good logos
1. Apple
One of the world’s leading brands, Apple was founded by Steve jobs and his partners in 1976. Apple’s icon is a bitten apple and is rumored that it signifies the forbidden fruit symbolically an apple. Furthermore the eating of this fruit by Adam and Eve in the Eden was a not good deed. That led Adam and Eve to be banished from heaven.
2. Starbucks
This is an interesting fact that I’m sure most of you might not know. Starbucks have taken its green lady symbol’s inspiration from a siren of Greek mythology. Sirens are dangerous creatures in mythology, which used to trap sailors by attracting them with their beauty and then killed them.
3. Sun Microsystems
The logo is an ambigram, a form of typographic design that allows a word to be read from different orientations. Can you see the word “SUN” spelled in the logo in four different directions?
4. Amazon.com
The arrow in the amazon logo represents the idea that Amazon store sells everything from A to Z, a brilliant concept that is also in the name of the business; as in the biodiversity one would find in the Amazon forest. But if that’s not enough, the arrow also represents a smile suggesting the experience one will have when shopping at their online store.
5. FedEx
The Fedex logo with its hidden arrow is one of the finest examples of negative space. The design looks great, but the best part is that is conceptually linked to the essence of the business it represents. Using the words of Leader itself, the arrow is a symbol for speed and precision; both core values of FedEx.
6. Baskin Robbins
The number 31 was present in the original logo, right in between the names Baskin and Robbins. One curious fact about this business concept is that the idea of having so many flavors came out of what later would become Ogilvy & Mather. Why 31? Just so a customer could have a different flavor every day of the month.
7. Sony Vaio
Designed by Timothy Hanley, the Sony Vaio logo is one of the best examples of hidden meaning that can only be seen if you understand a bit of how computers work; perhaps a logo made for computer geeks? The left side of the logo is made out of a wave symbol, representing the idea of analog technology. The right side of the logo is made out of the numbers “1? and “0?, the two digits used in binary computing, the digital. VAIO is an acronym for Video Audio Intelligent Organizer.
As the above examples show, hidden meaning is not only about using negative space, but actually about exploring the concepts behind of what make a logo unique. Actually telling a good story is what makes a good logo more than any other visual feature. Even logos with no hidden meaning at all became great logos with a good story. Now take a look at your own logo. What do you think? Is there an interesting story there?
Source: collection
