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Company Logos and Their Meanings

funonthenet.in — From FedEx to Sun Micro

Who dugg this? Made popular Dec 25, 2006

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  • bdickason, on 10/12/2007, -1/+15The Fedex arrow really struck home as something I never noticed consciously. It's a great piece of typography.
  • daGUY, on 10/12/2007, -1/+13The "families" and "eight" logos were very clever.

    I always thought that variation of the IBM one was stupid, though - the first two letters are substituted by pictures that share the same pronunciation, but the "M" can't be replaced with a picture that's pronounced the same, so they left it as is. Strikes me as a bit odd...you don't recognize the logo until you get to the "M," and then you have to go back and figure out what it means. The page says it was used for an internal event, but I remember my friend's old Aptiva featured it in the default screensaver and other places.
  • groovytrance, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8@bitcloud

    it's no accident. Lindon Leader designed it in the mid-nineties. a brilliant design.
  • haydesigner, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6"I'm not convinced that the arrow in the FedEx logo was intentional"

    What, 3 lines of copy didn't convince you? Or, did not inspire you enough to actually do 2 minutes of googling on the veracity of it? Here, let me do your work for you:
    --------------
    http://www.thesneeze.com/mt-archives/000273.php
    A snippet from the interview:

    • At what point in the design process did you realize you could create an arrow with those letters?

    First of all, by the time we’d gotten to this point we’d already created and reviewed over 200 designs; some close-in to the “old” Federal Express logo and others progressively more daring (though all the while retaining the enormous cache of the famous orange and purple (despite the fact that many respondents in focus groups thought the Federal Express colors were “red and blue”). The current design was one of six semifinalists that were being refined for a presentation to very senior management.

    If you put a lower-case “x” to the right of a capital “E” (Ex) you can begin to see a hint of an arrow, though it is clumsy and extremely abstract. I thought that, if I could develop this concept of an “arrow” it could be promoted as a symbol for speed and precision, both FedEx communicative attributes. And, by the way, different kinds of arrows were utilized with some of the other semi-final candidates, though none of those were “hidden.”

    Once I decided to refine the concept of the embedded arrow, I found that, to make the arrow more legitimate and identifiable, one needed to actually reconstruct the letterforms in order to make the arrow happen. This leads to your next question:

    • Did you have to manipulate the font in anyway to create a perfect arrow?

    Yes, indeed. I was studying Univers 67 (Bold Condensed) and Futura Bold, both wonderful faces. But each had its potential limitations downstream in application to thousands of FedEx media, from waybills and embroidered courier caps to FedEx.com and massive signage for aircraft, buildings and vehicles. Moreover, neither was particularly suited to forcing an arrow into its assigned parking place without torturing the beautifully crafted letterforms of the respective faces. To avoid getting too technical here, suffice it to say I took the best characteristics of both and combined them into unique and proprietary letterforms that included both ligatures (connected letters) and a higher “x-height,” or increased size of the lower-case letters relative to the capital letters. I worked these features around until the arrow seemed quite natural in shape and location.

    • Why choose to keep the arrow so subtle? It seems to show remarkable restraint. Weren't you or the people at FedEx ever tempted to make it more obvious with an outline or a different color?

    A good question and one that I am frequently asked. An arrow, in and of itself, is one of the most mundane graphic devices in visual communications. Truly, there is nothing unique or particularly strategic (marketing-wise) in using an arrow as a brand identifier. Early on, before the brand rollout in mid-1994, FedEx’s public relations agency was preparing to emphasize the arrow as a secondary graphic to underscore the “speed/precision” positioning. They proposed to leverage this in their FedEx communications. Landor put its foot down and said, “No way.”

    The power of the hidden arrow is simply that it is a “hidden bonus.” It is a positive-reverse optical kind of thing: either you see it or you don’t. Importantly, not “getting the punch line” by not seeing the arrow, does not reduce the impact of the logo’s essential communication. The power of the logo and the FedEx marketing supporting the logo is strong enough to convey clearly FedEx brand positioning. On the other hand, if you do see the arrow, or someone points it out to you, you won’t forget it. I can’t tell you how many people have told me how much fun they have asking others “if they can spot ‘something’ in the logo.” To have filled in the arrow, or to somehow make it more “visible” would have been like Henny Youngman saying “Please take my wife” instead of “Take my wife. Please.” Punch lines that need to be explained are neither funny nor memorable.
    -----------------
    That last line is the best.
    Like someone else said here, this is why smart companies pay talented people some significant money to do identities.
  • bitcloud, on 10/12/2007, -3/+9The Fed Ex arrow looks to me like a happy accident... The font hasn't been altered, and the kerning is the same throughout the rest of the logo...
  • calvinator, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6Sorry, there is no spoon...
  • dougbdl, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5I always thought that the Milwaukee Brewers had one of the greatest logos when they had the one where the baseball glove was formed out of the 'M' mad the 'b'.

    Very clever!

    http://www.tommcmahon.net/2005/06/the_old_milwauk.html
  • XorLor, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4The marriage logo would be better if one of the Rs was upside down.
  • inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3great insight. wish this could be turned into a mashup inviting additions from readers for their own favourites. Would form a good brand library and reference material for many.
  • groovytrance, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3@haydesigner

    thank you very much for posting that. it was becoming frustrating reading posts from people who thought FedEx's logo just "happened". Not only is that ignorant, it takes away from the brilliance of those who create such things.
  • haydesigner, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3The article is wrong about IBM... Paul Rand (who designed the iconic IBM logo in 1972) himself designed the 'eye bee M' logo in 1981.
    It wasn't "designed in-house for some internal event at IBM"... most professional designers who have been involved in logo/identity have come across this factoid at one time or another.
  • piggy2, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2The RB in Arby's stands for Raffel Brothers. They had originally intended to call it Big Tex but someone else was already using that name. Man I could really go for some potato cakes and a cheddar melt right now :)
  • travisty, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3What, did this guy pick up a corporate identity book and throw together some of the examples. He's totally wrong about the IBM logo. That was designed by Paul Rand, who also designed the logo they use today. No digg.
  • otatop, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3I'm ashamed to admit that I never noticed Sun's logo said Sun in it. I always just saw 4 S's.
  • RockMyMonkey, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2This shows why people are paid insane amounts of money for a good logo.
  • inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2u can toss off any time.
  • egrumling, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1They missed one:

    http://www.franz.com/images/logos/nwa.gif

    Northwest Airlines - a logo as well as a description.
  • k8tek, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2I don't think here is where to do that!
  • shyampandit, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1awesome!
  • OrlyonokEaglet, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2The last two 'g' 's in digg are profile views of heads, there's an eye and a mouth.
  • reddevil3, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2You have to really look for the arrow between the 'E' and 'x' in FedEx. It's not that noticeable. I guess that's why its subliminal.
  • ClaiE, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1It must be intentional for FedEx, there is no way to doubt on this. Now, if they found this or it is intentional when they created this logo...
    There is some good explanations through this article... I want more !
  • polo3, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2The "8" logo reminds me of Scott Kim's work... http://www.scottkim.com/inversions/index.html#gallery
  • inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1@XorLor - subtly funny or funnily subtle? whatever...
  • jedioniram, on 10/12/2007, -5/+5Here's a replacement M: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M_(James_Bond)
  • crossers, on 07/14/2008, -0/+0Awesome! it was surprise!
    http://www.leannrimes.info
    http://www.shpe-sac.org
    http://www.pmidsig.org
  • groovytrance, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1i'd never taken notice of their logo like that. it's clever, indeed. but FedEx will probably always be my favorite, with the subliminal arrow.
  • ArtificialAnus, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1@calvinator

    Yes, there is a spoon, but I don't think it's intentional.

    The bottom island (penninsula?) of whitespace inside the little "e" looks like a spoon seen in profile, with the handle facing right.

    AA
  • mouraless311, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1This doesn't have to do with the symbol of a company but did anybody notice that arby's name is just a name made up of the acronym of there main product...... roast beef.
  • DagMX, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1loads fine for me. just wait a bit. server is lagging
  • forgetmenots, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1No Digg. He would have gone so much more into depth if he had any background at all with typography. Pfft.

    Any well created logo has this sort of meaning to it if its done with an experienced designer.
  • inactive, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1I'm not convinced that the arrow in the FedEx logo was intentional. You form that arrow anytime you put a capital E and lowercase x next to each other, and short of writing their name in all caps or all lowercase, it was inevitable that the arrow would form. If FedEx is actually aware of this arrow, then my guess is it happened like this: Somebody was probably staring at their beloved company logo when they saw that (probably those same people that can see 4-D pics), and emailed their discovery to all the executives immediately in an effort to procure a little "face time".
  • bitcloud, on 10/12/2007, -4/+3The guy is basically making a lot of it up... It's a good article, but it's littered with these "designed for some internal event" white lies...
  • Toast1185, on 10/12/2007, -3/+2"Kinda like the surreal green screen of The Matrix, they want us to read stuff in binary"
    The stuff in the matrix was not binary, it was Chinese (or at the very least East Asian) symbols. I was surprisingly disappointed when I learned that.
  • tiffanysterling, on 10/11/2007, -1/+0Tiffany 1837 cuff



    925 Sterling silver plated Tiffany Bracelet - Bracelets offer a wonderful expression of luxury, and have been a particular specialty of Tiffany's for decades. Our bracelets are selected from Tiffany's most fashionable models and carved to perfection with the utmost care. You'll find bracelets to match with rings or necklaces, or beautiful pieces to stand on their own. On September 18, 1837 Charles Lewis Tiffany and John B. Young establish Tiffany and Young, a stationery and fancy goods emporium at 259 Broadway in New York City. Since, the most renowned tradition in jewelry and style has unfolded, from the initiative taken that very day. The 1837 collection is full of modern pieces that commemorate this tradition; in honor of Charles Tiffany himself, fine crafted jewelry that speaks the unchanging in our history of flux.

    Tiffany-sterling-silver delights in the opportunity to offer our customers fine sterling silver rings, fake Tiffany necklaces, pendants, replica Tiffany bracelets, bands, brooches, replica Tiffany earrings and more, all at remarkably low prices.

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  • amzran, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1I always thought the Amazon arrow was very phallic looking. Then again I normally have my mind in the gutter.
  • bitcloud, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1Yeah I agree dorkino...

    you've got a basic bold sans serif font and tight kerning and you will inevitably get an arrow...

    I just love the way the author writes that it was "introduced"
    what, pray tell, was there before the arrows introduction?
  • inactive, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1Sun's easily the best. ;) I love that company.
  • phenolholic, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1i bet you a nickel that dorkino believes in god
  • diggmanchu, on 10/12/2007, -5/+2if you guys look there's also a spoon in the "e" in the Fedex logo

    "Fed" = spoon?
  • inactive, on 10/12/2007, -4/+1
  • k8tek, on 10/12/2007, -3/+0Their website cannot handle being dugg!
  • doogiemac, on 10/12/2007, -5/+1Bah, link is dead already :(
  • nagaisu, on 10/12/2007, -7/+2Well, (yawn*) this is a very interesti.....zzzzZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzZZZZZ............
  • diggthisman, on 10/12/2007, -6/+1Damn! clever way of giving free advertisements to these clowns.
  • SickFinga, on 10/12/2007, -9/+2http://duggmirror.com
  • archeron, on 10/12/2007, -7/+0im new and i dont know much yet can someone give me a tour and also how do you add an avatar to your user name
  • TeflonBubba, on 10/12/2007, -9/+1More than a couple "Ah, I didn't know that"s...
  • inactive, on 10/12/2007, -19/+0Like I give a *****

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