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A BRAND’S LOGO speaks to customers on many levels – whether we realise it or not.

There’s the initial recognisability factor—if a logo is too complex or unrelated to its brand, it risks being glanced over without communicating its brand’s message. For that reason, modern logos tend to err on the side of boldness and simplicity.

But a closer look at many logos reveals more subtle marketing tactics.

You may have noticed the subliminal features of some of these designs in the past. But have you looked hard enough to see them all?

1. FedEx

The FedEx logo hides an arrow in its negative space (between the ‘E’ and the ‘X’. Even a glance inspires thoughts of efficiency and forward motion.

2. Vaio

This logo for Sony’s computers represents the brand’s integration of analog and digital technology. The ‘VA’ is designed as an analog waveform, the ‘IO’ is binary code. Clever lads.

3. Baskin Robbins

This logo, introduced in 2005, cleverly uses the company’s initials to advertise its number of ice cream flavours (31).

4. Le Tour de France

Slightly more abstract than the other examples, the Tour de France logo contains a well-integrated biker.

5. Toblerone

See the dancing bear in the mountain? The design is a tribute to the Swiss town where the chocolate was developed.

6. Milwaukee Brewers

Can you see the baseball glove?

7. Amazon

The cleverness of this logo is twofold. The arrow points from a to z, referring to all that is available on Amazon.com, and it doubles as a satisfied smile (with dimple).

8. Sun Microsystems

Before it was bought by Oracle, Sun was a major computer manufacturer. Its logo is a perfect ambigram; it can be read from any direction. (Note also that the graphic doesn’t actually include an S, merely artfully arranged u’s and n’s.)

9. Coca-Cola

The soda brand’s latest campaign in Denmark points out something you may have missed; the Danish flag (with a bulge) embedded in the white script.

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