THE HIDDEN MEANING BEHIND REALLY GOOD LOGOS

BY RAY VELLEST BRANDING, DESIGN, INSPIRATION OCT 17, 2012

One feature that can make a logo shine more than any other is hidden meaning.
Remember the last time you saw a logo that made you go Ahaaa!? So, thats
what Im going to approach in this article, the cherry on the top of the logo cake.
There are plenty of articles that skirt around this topic on the web, but too many
think that hidden meaning is just about negative space; thats wrong.
Theres much more to hidden meaning than just using negative space. While
negative space does help to create good logos, its the actual concept behind it
that makes the big difference.
So what the heck? Lets take a look at some really cool examples. Even if you
have seen these before, youll probably end up learning something interesting by
reading the details.

LONDON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

Designed by The Partners, the London Symphony Orchestra logo is in its
entirety a marvelous example of hidden meaning in logo design. Most likely the
first thing youll notice in this logo are the letters LSO, an acronym for the name
of the company, but with an extra effort youll also be able to visualize an
orquestra conductor holding a baton in his hand.
This seems to me one of the best examples of hidden meaning, first because is
hidden in plain sight, but more importantly, because the secondary elementthe
conductorhas a very strong conceptual connection with the essence of the
business; which makes this logo very special.

BASKIN-ROBBINS
Back in 1953 Baskin-Robbins launched a quite innovative concept in the ice
cream market by offering a total of 31 different flavors. 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.
Then later in 2005, using their 60th anniversary celebration as a good occasion
to rebrand their identity, a new logo was created and even though the number
31 was removed from in between the names, it was strategically included as part
of the identity itself. If not for the fact is in pink, most of the people would never
notice the number is still there.
One side-effect of this design is that, with some effort, you can also read the
number 12.

SUN MICROSYSTEMS
Designed by Vaughan Pratt, professor of computer science at Stanford
University, this logo is one of the best examples of a great logo designed by a
computer guy. 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?
This logo pretty much sums up my belief that anyone can design a really good
logo.

Even if professor Pratt did not know anything about symbology when he was
designing this logo, he really got it right, as the original version was designed in
orange, a color associated with the sun. It was only later that they changed the
color first to purple and finally to blue.

AMAZON
Designed by Anthony Biles while at Turner Duckworth, the Amazon logo must
be one of the most know logos of the web, specially considering the shear
amount of traffic this site receives on a daily basis. And if not for a strategically
placed arrow, this would be a pretty boring logo.
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 thats
not enough, the arrow also represents a smile suggesting the experience one will
have when shopping at their online store.

LE TOUR DE FRANCE
Made out of a custom-made handwritten type, Le Tour de France logo contains
a hidden cyclist shaped by the letter R and U riding a cycle which wheels are
made out of the letters O. The last O is colored in yellow, the same color of
the famous jersey given to the winner of the event. On a more subjective level,
the yellow wheel also suggests the idea of a sun; quite appropriate as the event
runs in the summer.
On a unrelated note, I cant avoid seeing a cyclops looking at me from the center
of the logo. :)

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.
Oh, in case youre wondering, VAIO is an acronym for Video Audio Intelligent
Organizer.

TOBLERONE
This world-famous Swiss chocolate has a hidden Bear in the snows of Matterhorn
illustrated in their logo. The mountain is located in the border between
Switzerland and Italy, so that explains why is it there, but what about the bear?
Thats a homage to the town of Bern, where the Toblerone was originally
manufactured; and the bear is the official symbol of the town.
A curious fact about this logo is its name. The name Toblerone is a portmanteau,
a word made out two or more words, and is the combination of the name of its
creator Tobler with the word torrone, a traditional type of nougat originating
in Italy. By the way, thats a great technique to come up with good names for
new businesses.

MYFONTS
Designed by Underware, a Netherlands-based type studio, the MyFonts logo is
composed of beautiful custom made handwriting type where the My part of the
wordmark also doubles as a hand. Thats what I call brilliant design, as it fits
perfectly with the concept behind the name itself. Subjectively is saying that by
using their site you are getting your hands on their fonts.
And oh, yeah, turn the logo upside down and My becomes a dinosaur. Not
related, but funny!

CARREFOUR
Designed by Miles Newlyn, the Carrefour logo has that sort of characteristic
that once you see it, you wont be able to unsee it ever again. Sure thats a
feature of every logo covered in this article, but it works specially well in in this
case. The negative space letter c is positioned in such a central area of the
logo that is practically impossible to not see it anymore.
The interesting story behind this brand is the fact that the Carrefour mark is
composed by two arrows, pointing left and right, reflecting the literal meaning of
the French word carrefour (it means crossroads). But also, in a more
symbolic interpretation, the crossroads can be understood as the multiple
choices of products offered by this supermarket chain.
Oh, and the logo uses colors of the French flag, the country where Carrefour was
founded.

FEDEX
Designed by Lindon Leader, 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.
For what its worth, I believe this is the most know case of hidden meaning in
logo design.

ITS ALL ABOUT TELLING A STORY

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. In other words, creating hidden meaning is more about telling a
interesting and compelling story.
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?
Did you already know the secret of these logos? Do people react with
an Ahhhh!, when they see your logo? Let us know in the comments.