A brand logo is a symbol, emblem or a stylized name to identify a particular brand. In layman terms, it is nothing but what gives that brand a recall value. While we come across so many brand names in our day to day lives, it is quite difficult to memorize each one of them. However, when a logo forms an association with the brand name in our mind, it is much easier to spot. Which is why there’s no surprise when brands spend huge sums of time, money, effort and thought into the process of logo designing. So today, we discuss some of my favorite stories behind some iconic logos in the industry and their meaning. Let’s see how these logos have defined and shaped these brands over the year:
1. Apple
Meaning of the Apple logo is one of the most searched terms on Google in the logo space. There are so many speculations around it and it truly deserves a separate blogpost of it’s own. However, I would try to condense that information today.
First Logo:
Apple logo has undergone multiple changes during it’s lifetime. The very first Apple logo was designed by Jobs, together with Ronald Wayne. Inscribed on the logo are the words “Isaac Newton – a mind forever voyaging through strange seas of thought – alone“, a quote from a poem by William Wordsworth that Jobs must have felt some affinity towards. Well, it looked nothing like Apple at that time.
The Apple:
Later, Steve Jobs sought the help of a designer, Rob Janoff to design the logo. He came up with a colorful Apple that celebrates Newton’s discovery of gravity and discovery of light being split into 7 colours upon hitting a prism.
Rumor has it that this logo was a tribute to Alan Turing, who laid the foundation of modern day computers and technologies like AI. Unfortunately, homosexuality was not accepted in the times he was born. So he decided to take away his life by eating an Apple infused with Cyanide to kill himself. Hence the bite on the logo. The story looks promising but was never confirmed by Apple.
Other theories infer that the bite refers to the business style of Jobs and Steve Wozniak. They always wanted a big piece of the tech pie. Again, this was not confirmed by any of the Apple officials.
In another conjecture, the big bite, represents the apple of knowledge eaten by Adam and Eve. Taking a bite from the forbidden fruit lead to their enlightenment, albeit at the annoyance of their god.
The Real Truth
According to one of Steve Job’s biographers, Jobs has explained that he named the company he co-founded with Steve Wozniak “Apple” after returning from an apple farm that he had just visited, recounting that he thought “Apple” sounded โfun, spirited and not intimidating.โ
As far as the bite is concerned, Rob Janoff- the designer says that it is purely for scale purposes. Otherwise, it could’ve been mistaken for a cherry or a tomato instead.
Just like the brand Apple, the history of the logos and their meaning also has a lot of mystery around it. Interesting.
2. 9gag:
I recently did a review of the world’s largest meme repository: 9gag. This is something really close to my heart and I have been a part of this community for over 10 years now. While the logic behind 9gag logo is pretty simple, it is a very less known fact. Back in the day when internet was yet to take the explosive shape we see today, a typical page on 9gag had 9 posts. You had to press the next button to move to the next set of memes. And hence the name 9gag. Today, we have an infinite scroll available at our disposal. It all makes sense now right?
3. Ferrari:
Another iconic brand and another spectacular story. Ferrari logo has a prancing horse on it’s two legs. As presumed by many, it is believed that this represents speed and acceleration: something that brand is known for. However, this is NOT true. This is a horse that was printed on the airplane of Francesco Baracca. I heroic airman of first world war. When the founder Enzo Ferrari, met Francesco’s mother, she gifted him the portrait of this logo and asked him to put one on his car as well. This would bring him good luck. Now, isn’t that one good luck charm?
The letters S and F at the bottom represent Scuderia and Ferrari respectively. Scuderia was the racing team at Grand Prix where Ferrari first featured in.
4. Wikipedia
The world’s largest and free encyclopedia library also decided to put in a deep thought when it came to the logo design. The logo is made of jigsaw puzzle pieces with letter/symbol printed on each piece. These symbols come from various scripts of the world and represent the multilingualism of the platform.
Also, each of these symbols represent the first letter of the word Wikipedia. (Like W in Latin, ย เคตเคฟ in Devanagari, เฒตเฒฟย (vi) in Kannada). Why is the globe incomplete you ask? That’s because a lot more articles are yet to follow. No matter how much information it holds, there’s always room for more. Noice Right?
5. Pandatechie:
While you may raise an eyebrow thinking how does pandatechie fit in all the aforementioned brands, but stay with me. My realism is often overshadowed with over optimism. So today, I take this opportunity to tell you about my logo. What does Panda symbolize. Well, since pandatechie is an extension of myself, a panda and I share a lot of similarities. Being clumsy is something up our ally all the times.
Secondly, panda is black and white both symbolizing that it doesn’t have any racist agenda like me. And finally, I am also a big fan of eat-sleep-repeat routine. I try to fix to a healthy routine and I am successful in it as well. However, my natural tendency is to follow this culture.
And despite all the shit we all go through, doesn’t this panda carry a swagger attached to it?
The slogan “Adapt or Perish” is something I live by. This helps me stay open to change at all times. And I strongly believe that anyone who resists adapting to technology will cease to exist in future.
Conclusion:
Ever since college, I have been a big fan of logos and stories behind it. I used to play many logo quizzes on phone. Every correct guess would also share some trivia as well which kept me hooked for hours. Did you know these stories behind the logos? Do you want me to make a part 2 for this?
Got questions? Want to take it to the next level? Reach out to me using your preferred platform from the links below
Until next time..
