POLOKWANE – The golden arches of McDonalds, the Colonel’s face on your burger box. Some of the world’s most famous brands are so well known, people just have to look at them and they’ll know what company it is.
Some logos, on the other hand, are clever and well thought out that they even have hidden messages in them. Let’s take a look at some of these logos:
FORMULA 1
Have a closer look at the space between the “F” and red blur. See the number, one? Bet you haven’t noticed it! Designed in 2000, the lines of the red portion of the logo are meant to symbolize speed/passion and energy.
BEATS
One of the most famous headphone brands in the world, you would think that the logo is simply a lower case ‘b’ but look again, it is actually meant to symbolize a person wearing headphones.
TOBLERONE
The delicious triangular shaped chocolate was founded in Bern, Switzerland, which is also known as “The City of the Bears”. Look at the logo again, do you notice the bear hiding in the mountain? Also, remove the t, o, l, o and e from the name and it spells BERN.
TOUR DE FRANCE
At first glance, the Tour De France logo simply looks like the name of the competition in a fancy font. However, if you look closer, a cyclist makes up the letter ‘r’ and the yellow circle that acts as the bike’s wheel is also a sun, indicating that the event only takes place during the day.
CISCO
For some, the only reason why they know of Cisco is because the phone on their desk is a Cisco phone. Their logo is interesting because they were founded in San Francisco, hence their name ‘Cisco’ and the blue lines above the name represent the Golden Gate Bridge.
ADIDAS
Not only is it one of the most recognisable sporting logos in the world but Adidas’ three stripes have become an integral part of their shoe design. The brand name is a construction of Adolf “Adi” and Dassler “das” and the stripes are said to represent a mountain, symbolizing the challenges that need to be overcome by athletes. Did you know that adidas also means All Day I Dream About Sport?
SONY VAIO
Known for their excellent laptops, Sony Vaio’s logo is quite unique. The logo integrates concepts of digital and analog technology. The V and A are connected in a stylized analog wave with the I and O representing the binary code of the digital world.
AMAZON
At first glance, one would simply see the word Amazon but there’s more to this logo than meets the eye. See the arrow? It has two meanings to it. The first is that it connects ‘a’ to ‘z’, meaning they have any product you need. The second, is simply a smile, meaning they wish to give you the best service possible.
YOGA AUSTRALIA
When looking at this logo, the eye will immediately see a woman in a yoga pose. But look again, her leg and arm make up the shape of Australia! Cool, right?
EIGHTY 20
Eighty 20 is a consultancy based in Cape Town and the different coloured squares in their logo display the binary pattern for 1010000 and 0010100, which spells ‘eighty’ and ‘twenty’ in binary.
TOYOTA
Toyota has become a household name all over the world. According to the company’s website, the ‘rings’ represent three hearts. The heart of the customer, the heart of the product and the heart of progress in technology. Did you know that ‘Toyo’ means Fertile/plentiful and ‘Ta’ means Rice. In eastern cultures, an abundance of rice is synonymous with prosperity.
Will you look at these logos differently from now on?