Whether you notice it or not, logos are absolutely everywhere.
From the time you're jolted awake by your alarm clock, to the moment you fall asleep,
you are bombarded with hundreds of logos every day.
"Contract or no, I will not bow to any sponsor."
Most of these branding images might go unnoticed during your daily grind, but you better believe
they've been designed to make an impression, and will come to you when you're in need of
whatever they're selling.
Those carefully crafted commercial images might not always be esteemed works of art,
but oftentimes, there's more to them than meets the eye.
Here are some brand logos you see all the time that have a deeper meaning that you probably
realized.
RCA
The famous logo of an adorable dog focused on a phonograph was taken from a painting
titled "His Master's Voice" by Francis Barraud.
The U.K. brand The Gramophone Company bought the rights to the painting in 1899, changed
their company name to HMV in honor of the painting, and was eventually bought out by
Victor Talking Machine, which became RCA.
Despite so many corporate ownership shifts, the dog stayed.
If you've ever complained about the oversaturation of advertising in the United States, you can
definitely blame it partly on this dog, who had his mug plastered from New York to Los
Angeles before Spuds MacKenzie was even a twinkle in his great-great-great-grandfather's
eye.
Toyota
While driving behind a Prius that's going 10 miles per hour under the speed limit on
a single-lane highway, were you ever stuck asking yourself what the heck is the Toyota
logo supposed to be?
What is it, a saintly almond wearing a halo?
Toyota is the world's largest auto manufacturer and has one of the most recognizable logos,
but the meaning behind the loops are a mystery to most people.
Toyota unveiled its current logo in 1990, and it's probably safe to say that they're
not going to retire it for awhile.
The three ellipses are supposed to symbolize "the unification of the hearts of customers
and the heart of Toyota products" and the background is for the brand's "technological
advancement and the boundless opportunities ahead."
So... definitely not a holy nut.
"Yeah, well, forgive and forget."
NBC
The famous peacock logo displayed by NBC was designed by John J. Graham in 1956 to showcase
the network's slate of colorful shows.
"The following program is brought to you in living color on NBC."
Basically, NBC was capitalizing on the trend of color TVs, which were slowly entering American
homes.
Other networks eventually followed suit with their own prismatic branding efforts.
NBC's peacock has had a few stylistic changes since the the 1950s and, even though we now
have ultra-HD TVs with more colors than we can fathom, the logo still represents color
on the network.
Tesla
If you want an electric car that doesn't look like something Mr. Bean would drive, chances
are, you might land on leasing a Tesla.
Since 2003, Elon Musk has changed how electric vehicles are viewed, but what people might
know is that the T symbol doesn't represent the brand's name.
Instead, Musk revealed that, "Similar to SpaceX, the T is like a cross-section of an electric
motor, just as the X is like a rocket trajectory."
Versace
To create the symbol that embellishes so many fine sunshades, Gianni Versace was heavily
influenced by ancient Greek culture and chose Medusa to represent his brand-to-be.
"What in the world is a Medusa?"
"A Medusa, dear heart, is a creature with snakes on her head."
Medusa might be an odd choice for a fashion house to bank on, since she was a mythological
villain who became so hideous that even a glance at her would turn a person to stone.
"AAAAAAAHH!"
But Versace went with the pre-cursed version of the character, who was quite gorgeous and
didn't yet have snakes for hair.
Still, the implication is that both Medusa and Versace would be pretty great at stopping
you in your tracks.
Roxy
Frequently worn by beach babes, surfer chicks, and 1990s dELiA*s catalog models, Roxy was
initially developed as a women's swimsuit line from the popular surf, skate, and snow
brand Quiksilver in 1990.
It wasn't until three years later, when Roxy started to get a cult following from trendy
laid back California girls, that their recognizable logo was born.
If you look very closely Roxy's heart-shaped crest, it is actually formed by two Quiksilver
logos tilted.
The Quiksilver logo represents the brand's surf and snow sports focus.
Despite starting life as a swimsuit line, Roxy has been producing clothing and accessories
for both the beach and the slopes for over 25 years, and their logo is tribute to the
brand's big bro.
Lacoste
The brand Lacoste has been cemented as the shirt worn with the collar up by every jerky
preppy dude in an '80s movie, but before the infamous crocodile was a status symbol, it
was simply a cute representation of a tennis player's nickname.
In the 1920s, René Lacoste was a tennis super star who ditched his bulky attire for a cotton,
short-sleeved shirt primarily worn by British polo players.
His nickname in America was The Alligator, but because even back in the 1920s nobody
knew the differences between alligators and crocodiles, when he returned to his native
France, they called him The Crocodile.
Embracing this badass new nickname, he started to wear blazers, shirts, and sweaters with
his own personal logo, on and off the tennis court.
When Lacoste retired in 1931, he began to mass market his shirts, but it wasn't until
the 1950s when the brand landed in the United States and developed a following with tennis
players, golfers, and teenagers whose parents could probably buy their way out of a DUI,
that it became such a style staple.
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