Discover the secrets behind the world’s most famous logos. Part 3

Elon Musk also owns SpaceX, whose own logo is more than what it appears. The X is actually a representation of a rocket trajectory. SpaceX manufactures and launches advanced rockets and spacecraft, with the ultimate goal of enabling people to live on other planets.

Originally known as Thomson, TUI is a German, multinational travel and tourism company. TUI stands for Touristik Union International. Their logo cleverly combines the letters T, U & I, to create a winking, smiley face. The logo itself has now worked its way into the companies tagline: “We cross the ‘T’s, dot the ‘I’s and put ‘U’ in the middle”.

Hershey’s is an American confectionary company and one of the largest chocolate manufacturers in the world. Kisses are bite-size pieces of chocolate, and come in a distinctive teardrop shape, wrapped in foil. The negative space between the “K” and the “I” create a sideways Hershey’s kiss.

Sony Vaio, which stands for Visual Audio Intelligent Organizer, is a Japanese manufacturer of personal computers and laptops. Not only does their logo spell Vaio, but it also cleverly visualises both an analogue and digital signal, using the V and A to represent an analogue wave, and the I and O to represent binary from a digital signal. The logo was designed to represent Sony’s evolution of technology from analogue to digital.

Hyundai Motor Company is a South Korean automotive manufacturer. At first glance their logo looks like a slanted H, but it also represents two people shaking hands. One is the company, and the other is a satisfied customer, showcasing the company’s appreciation of their customers. The oval around the logo was placed there to represent Hyundai’s continuous expansion beyond Asia.

The Co-operative is the UK’s fifth biggest food retailer operating across the country with almost 2,800 local, convenience and medium-sized stores. Their current logo is made up of four letters, that are arranged to look like a clover leaf, with the stem of the P corresponding with the stem of the leaf. The logo first came into use in 1968, but was slightly updated in 1993 with a more rounded design. In 2016, Co-Op returned to their original logo, as they wanted to embrace their heritage.

In 1957, Margaret Calvert, was asked to design the signs for the UK’s first motorway. Her primary focus was to design a font that was easy to read at top speeds, yet also readable from a distance.

The success of this role led her to re-design the whole of the UK’s road signs, as they were often confusing, and used a jumble of colours, fonts and sizes depending on which region you were in. She had to convey a message primarily with images, while using as little words as possible.
Margaret based a lot of the designs on her childhood. The “Children Crossing” sign was based on a photo of Margaret and her little brother crossing the road. The “Elderly Crossing” sign was based on her grandparents, while the “Cattle Warning” sign was based on her cousin’s cow, Patience.

When her work was finally revealed to the British public, it was met with strong criticism as they found the designs too modern. However the designs were successful and helped improve safety on Britain’s roads. She eventually went on to design the logos and signage for both the NHS and British Rail.

Airbnb is an American online marketplace for people looking to lease or rent holiday lodgings, apartments, or hotel rooms while encoring participants to leave reviews related to tourism and to make reservations at restaurants.

Their original logo was created by the company founders, Brian Chesky and Joe Gebbia while they were still graduates, and took them mere hours to put together. Airbnb wanted to showcase their core values in their new logo: People, Places, Love and Airbnb. Each one of these is combined to form the logo. The logo also has its own name: Bélo.

The North Face is an American outdoor product company specializing in clothing and equipment catered towards climbers, skiers and hikers.

Their logo depicts the Half Dome rock formation from Yosemite National Park in California. One side of the rock is rounded and smooth, while the other side is a jagged sheer face, giving it the appearance of a dome cut in half. The North Face chose to represent this as the Half Dome is held in high esteem amongst the climbing community. The companies name derives from the fact that the north face of a mountain is the coldest and most treacherous side to climb.

Many associate the Japanese corporation with electronics and motorcycles, but Yamaha actually started out creating high quality pianos. They decided to represent the trade in their logo, opting to depict three overlapping tuning forks, which also cleverly forms a Y in the center.

The company started to move into the motorcycle industry in 1954, and is now recognised as a leading force in the motorsport market. They still continue to create pianos, as well as drums, synthesizers, keyboards and amplifiers.

The BRIT Awards is a British pop music awards show held annually every February. The BRIT Award statuette given to the winners features Britannia, the female personification of Britain.

Every year the statuette is redesigned by some of Britain’s best known designers, stylists and artists. The logo itself depicts Britannia silhouetted within a B, and is updated to reflect the changes to the statuette.

Toyota is a Japanese automotive manufacturer, and currently the second-largest automobile manufacturer in the world.

Toyota originated from surname of its founder, Akio Toyoda, with early vehicles produced by the company originally sold with a “Toyoda” emblem. In 1936, the company ran a public competition to design a new logo, which lead to a change in the brand name to “Toyota”.

The new logo was made up of three overlapping ovals, which cleverly spelt out the company name within the emblem. The ovals are also said to symbolize the unification of the hearts of their customers and the heart of Toyota products.

The Bank of America is the second largest bank in the United States.

The logo depicts a bold B and A created with white space, and hidden between those shapes is a bald eagle. The bald eagle, sometimes called the American eagle, is the national bird and national animal of the United States, appearing on most official seals of the U.S. government.

There you have it, some ingenious hidden meanings behind some of the world’s most famous brand logos. I hope it makes you realise the incredible work that goes into shaping a brand.

How many did you know? 

So next time you come across a logo, take a closer look, you never know what could be hiding right in front of you!