A Logo of a company or an enterprise holds a significant role in branding which sometimes can even make or break a business. A good logo which is quite simple and easily recognisable will evermore have a tremendous recall value rather than a complicated logo. A simple logo can quickly reach a customer that eventually ease the masses associate and identify that particular product or some kind of service. This is the precise purpose why logos go through strenuous designing and redesigning levels to communicate the brand they’re representing well. If the representation of a logo id pretty much catchy and simple, it will surely reach the people in a rapid way.
Have you ever observed the logos and speculated what their meanings were or what motivated the designer? We all Definitely, we all view them every day at various locations like the house, on TV or some other spot out in the street, say on hoardings. We’re certain that some or the other time, you might have wondered how the logos of some of the popular companies of the world were conceived. Logos of some of the best well-known companies have quite amazing tales and hidden meanings. Here are 19 logos that you have a look and understand the history behind every logo. Take a glance!almost every day and what they represent.
1. Amazon – Everything from A to Z
Upon the first glimpse, what maximum people observe in the logo of Amazon since its beginning 2000 is a smiling face. This is correlating the brand with happiness and presenting it a positive implication. The logo of Amazon is not just the smiling face and more than this, it is providing the public passionate ideas which indeed delivers a subliminal message.
The colossal online store aptly takes on the name Amazon to convey it as an extensive store directory. Further, it is indicated by the arrow connecting the ‘A’ to ‘Z’ to signify the audience that Amazon sells “Everything from A to Z.” The smile which is below the name itself is in the shape of an arrow that points from the letter “A” at the beginning of the word “Amazon” to the letter “Z” in the middle.
2. Apple – Tale of Adam and Eve
If you consider the apple had something to do with Newton’s law of gravity, then you’re absolutely wrong. However, if you deem that the Apple logo had to do with the origin tale of Adam and Eve, then you guessed precisely. The logo of Apple symbolizes the forbidden fruit from the “Tree of Knowledge” in the Garden of Eden.
Despite the original logo for Apple highlighted an image of Sir Issac Newton, the father of gravity is not truly the idea why the fruit was selected to portray the computer firm. The logo has a fairly simple explanation as the name of the company is Apple and that’s the reason the logo is in the shape of an Apple. There is also meaning behind the bite mark which is there to give the logo scale, otherwise, people might confuse it for a cherry.
3. Adidas – Conquering the mountain
Have you ever looked at the Adidas’ symbol? It barely looks like a mountain. Well, that’s exactly what it’s deemed to indicate. Adidas is a brand company which is well-known for its modest three-stripe logo, the simplistic design of which was first created in 1976. The three stripes of the logo never literally intend anything.
The brand was just supposed to be unique that would look great on a shoe. In the ’90s, they were turned diagonally so as to create the shape of a mountain peak. The latest design holds the basic idea behind the original logo which now represent the struggle athletes must persist to attain greatness.
4. Audi – Four Hoops
Plain and simple, right? Well, it is not just simple and obvious. In fact, each of these hoops represents the 4 founding companies of the Auto-Union Consortium way back in 1932. The companies are DKW, Horch, Wanderer and Audi.
5. BMW – The Accidental Propeller
BMW has a history in aviation and its logo actually remains reliable to its roots. The German car company BMW was once known for producing more than automobiles. The blue and white colors in the logo represent a propeller in motion with the sky peeping through. In reality, BMW had a part in World War II as an inventor of aircraft engines for the German military.
This has driven many to think that the white and blue checkered logo is designed to imply a plane’s white propeller with a blue sky after it. While this makes for huge branding now, this was not the original intention for the design.
Back in the day, BMW aspired to adopt the colors of the Bavarian Free State in their logo, but doing so was forbidden, so they modified the colors just by reversing and accidentally created the propeller design.
6. Cisco – Know your Roots
Cisco Systems is popular for their telecommunication devices, so it makes complete understanding that they’d prefer a symbol that signifies electromagnets for their logo. However, what many masses don’t recognize is that the electromagnetic waves are in the contour of the Golden Gate Bridge. But why? This is because Cisco is remarkably proud of their birthplace.
The company was earlier established in the year 1984 in San Francisco, so the Golden Gate Bridge shape is a tribute to the company’s roots. The name “Cisco” itself is indeed taken from “San Francisco” (which is the reason for not capitalizing it in the logo).
7. Google – A Touch of Green
The Google logo might appear quite basic on the exterior, after all, it’s merely the company’s name in a neat, vivid font. But when you begin supplementing the colors, you might notice something is lacking in it. The Google logo has four primary colors in a row since it’s broken by a secondary color. The three colors such as red, yellow and blue are given to the logo simply to show that they don’t work by the rules and are also a kind of playful without making the symbol massive.
To indicate that, they just used simple letter and colors. But, there is something else with the logo. Apart from the three colors, you might have observed green L at the end that throws the whole primary color scheme out the window. The green color was actually added as a way to reveal the public that Google is a little unique than other companies. The four-color scheme represents Google’s objective to be an innovator, not a brand that does what’s expected.
8. FedEx – The Buried Arrow
The FedEx logo is an interesting one! At a first look, all you can actually notice are the two different colors. But if take a closer look, you can view an arrow which is created between the spaces of the letter ‘E’ and ‘X’, representing the company’s forward-thinking ways and outlook towards the future.
The colors used in the FedEx logo really alter for the different parts of the company. Every logo highlights a purple “Fed,” but the “Ex” comes in different shades. The brand typically has enough color variations in its logo design to generate its own team of Power Rangers.
9. IBM – Equality for All
The IBM logo that we know has the three letters of the brand’s name which is written in a big serif font with horizontal lines of whitespace running through it, breaking the logo up. The idea behind the horizontal lines is due to the fact that initial photocopies had complications representing huge blocks of solid ink. The original logo had thirteen lines going through it, but that whole was lessened to eight since the original thirteen produced ink bleeding issues in the company’s print media.
The current logo has white lines passing through give the appearance of the ‘equal to’ sign in the lower right corner, representing “Equality”. The bottom right corner of the logo is broken up in such a way so that the serif on the bottom of the “M” displays an equal sign, representing the value of equality. In fact, IBM’s logo has a hidden message for the whole world hidden in the big blue logo that represents its company.
10. McDonald’s – The Golden Mammaries
True, it literally means “M” for McDonald’s and there truly isn’t any other hidden meaning McDonald’s had intended. Alternately, it evolved to intend something inadvertently by customers, at least according to design consultant and psychologist Louis Cheskin. In the early ’60s, McDonald’s wished to change their logo but Cheskin insisted on omitting the golden arches.
He then said it’s because customers unintentionally identify the logo as “symbolism of a pair of nourishing breasts”. Whether we unconsciously accept this or not, Cheskin convinced them and now the logo is one of the most recognizable ones in the world. But, for you, will they appear as breasts of any form?
11. Mercedes-Benz – Dominance
The Mercedes-Benz logo is the most confident one of the bunch. The tri-star is representative of the company’s dominance in quality and style over all things land, sea, and air.
12. Mobil – Strength
The significance of this logo is in its colors. The red is said to represent strength and the blue represents faithfulness and security that the company provides.
13. NBC – Proud as a Peacock
Ever question why the peacock has so many colors? It’s because, during the 50’s, NBC’s owner was RCA and they had just started to manufacture color televisions. RCA required people who were watching black-and-white televisions know what they were missing, so they created a colorful logo.The NBC peacock is another instance of a logo that uses multiple colors, but there’s a logical reason why such a colorful logo was picked it to sell more color TVs.
The NBC peacock debuted in the year 1956 during a time when the network was controlled by RCA. To celebrate their new color TVs, the company embraced the colorful peacock as their logo, which could only be completely experienced on a color TV.
14. Nike – A $35 “Swoosh”
The tale of the world-popular Nike Swoosh logo is a great model for designers to keep in mind. The designer of the Swoosh, Carolyn Davis, was actually a design student when she designed the logo for the company and was only paid $35 for her contribution. This might look like an admonitory story for budding designers, but at least it has a cool ending. Later, when the business developed, Davis was retroactively remunerated for the design with a diamond ring in the Swoosh design and 500 shares of Nike stock.
The logo itself was created as a response to the simplicity of the Adidas logo. The Swoosh shape was designed to convey a sense of motion, but it had to be simple enough to rival with Adidas and look good printed on the side of a shoe.
15. Pepsi – Key to the Universe
In the year 2008, Pepsi spent $1 million to pay Arnell Associates to come up with the new logo As a result, Pepsi had to pay millions more to re-brand everything. Then Arnell’s document was leaked and it was entitled, “Breathtaking Design Strategy.”
It proposes that the new logo is some kind of Da Vinci Code. According to Arnell’s document, the Pepsi logo draws on Feng Shui, the Renaissance, the Earth’s Geodynamo, the theory of relativity, the universe, and more.The Pepsi logo is the key to the universe. All this, and still 2nd to Coke. Ouch!
16. Pinterest – Just Pin it
The social media giant Pinterest is a Gladstone of the words “pin” and “interest,” since it lets users pin things they’re interested in to a board. Since the word “pin” and the process of pinning something to a board play such a significant role in the brand’s identity, the Pinterest logo has a pin design hidden in the letter “P.”
This pin-shaped “P” is used throughout the base of Pinterest’s branding, embracing its social buttons. It’s also used in the phrase “pin it,” which is habitually used to draw attention to media that can be pinned to a Pinterest board. All of these hidden “pins” are designed to get people pinning things by mimicking the action of pushing a real pin into a bulletin board.
17. Toyota – Heart of Hidden Symbols
Toyota, the automobile manufacturer’s logo is composed of overlapping ovals, which represent the intersection of their customers’ and company’s hearts. Even the hollow space after the logo symbolizes the endless opportunities the future may carry.
The three ellipses that are found in the logo for Toyota represent three hearts:
- Heart of the Customer
- Heart of the Product
- Heart of Progress in the field of technology
18. Sony VAIO – Analog & Digital
VAIO is Sony’s brand line for its laptops. The logo is not just a stylized brand name but indicates to turning analog waves into a digital form too. Sony Vaio brand sells computers, laptops and tablets and they chose a logo that would both represent their past and reach towards the future.
The Vaio logo combines imagery from both analog and digital electronics into one single element. The “VA” portion is in the shape of an analog waveform while the “IO” depicts the digits one and zero, which are nothing but, Input and Output and are generally used as binary codes.
19. Volkswagen – Car for People
Volkswagen keeps its logo very modest, but heartwarming as well. The ‘V’ and the ‘W’ can easily be seen. ‘Volks’, in German, means people while ‘Wagen’ means car. It’s the car for the people! Can’t get simpler than this.
These are the logos and different well-known brands and companies. Now, you might have got some sense of the hidden meanings of these logos. Really interesting, right? If you think these logos and their meanings are interesting, do share them with your friends who might not be aware.