Follow the arrow: Hidden designs in famous logos

Jacopo Prisco
Jacopo Prisco, CNN
3 minute read
Updated 10:21 PM EDT, Mon March 12, 2018
There is an arrow hidden in the FedEx logo. The clever use of the negative space between the last two letters has won the logo several awards and makes it one of the most effective ever created.
The arrow —
There is an arrow hidden in the FedEx logo. The clever use of the negative space between the last two letters has won the logo several awards and makes it one of the most effective ever created.
Bloomberg/Bloomberg/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Before it was absorbed by Delta in 2008, Northwest Airlines used a logo designed by Landor Associates, the same studio that made the FedEx logo. The circle and the arrow create a compass pointing to the northwest; but the arrow, together with the "N," also creates a "W" that has part of its left leg removed.
A compass —
Before it was absorbed by Delta in 2008, Northwest Airlines used a logo designed by Landor Associates, the same studio that made the FedEx logo. The circle and the arrow create a compass pointing to the northwest; but the arrow, together with the "N," also creates a "W" that has part of its left leg removed.
Tim Boyle/Newsmakers
The logo of German car maker BMW was long thought to represent a stylized aircraft propeller against a blue sky background, in a reference to BMW's historic past as a manufacturer of airplane engines. More recently, however, the company <a href="https://wheels.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/01/07/bmw-roundel-not-born-from-planes/" target="_blank" target="_blank">has clarified</a> that the roundel actually represents the flag of Bavaria, the German federal state where the company originated. The association with planes was apparently born out of a single 1929 ad that featured the logo next to an actual propeller plane.
Is it a plane? —
The logo of German car maker BMW was long thought to represent a stylized aircraft propeller against a blue sky background, in a reference to BMW's historic past as a manufacturer of airplane engines. More recently, however, the company has clarified that the roundel actually represents the flag of Bavaria, the German federal state where the company originated. The association with planes was apparently born out of a single 1929 ad that featured the logo next to an actual propeller plane.
CHRISTOF STACHE/AFP/AFP/Getty Images
The current Amazon logo was introduced in 2000, replacing an older version that had a yellow downward curve underlining "amazon.com." The curve was flipped to resemble a smile, but also turned into an arrow that starts with the letter "A" and ends with a dimple under the "Z." A <a href="http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=176060&p=irol-newsArticle_Print&ID=502612" target="_blank" target="_blank">press release</a> from the time clarifies that this is meant to emphasize that Amazon offers everything, from A to Z.
A to Z —
The current Amazon logo was introduced in 2000, replacing an older version that had a yellow downward curve underlining "amazon.com." The curve was flipped to resemble a smile, but also turned into an arrow that starts with the letter "A" and ends with a dimple under the "Z." A press release from the time clarifies that this is meant to emphasize that Amazon offers everything, from A to Z.
LEON NEAL/AFP/AFP/Getty Images
The Toblerone chocolate bar originates from the Swiss city of Bern, which sits not far from the famous Matterhorn mountain that is depicted in its logo. But if you look closely inside the mountain, you'll see the actual <a href="https://www.bern.com/en/detail/city-of-bears" target="_blank" target="_blank">symbol of Bern</a>: a bear.
Mountain bear —
The Toblerone chocolate bar originates from the Swiss city of Bern, which sits not far from the famous Matterhorn mountain that is depicted in its logo. But if you look closely inside the mountain, you'll see the actual symbol of Bern: a bear.
Ilya S. Savenok/Getty Images North America/Getty Images for NYCWFF
The NFL's Atlanta Falcons have a stylized falcon as their logo, although you may have looked at it for years without noticing that it also doubles as the team's initial letter "F."
It starts with... —
The NFL's Atlanta Falcons have a stylized falcon as their logo, although you may have looked at it for years without noticing that it also doubles as the team's initial letter "F."
Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images North America/Getty Images
The classic Milwaukee Brewers logo, used from 1978 to 1993, was a delightful design: the team's initials are combined to create a baseball glove.
Fit for a glove —
The classic Milwaukee Brewers logo, used from 1978 to 1993, was a delightful design: the team's initials are combined to create a baseball glove.
Dylan Buell/Getty Images North America/Getty Images
The logo of the George Washington Colonials NCAA team has a very cleverly hidden design in it: a stylized <a href="https://www.nps.gov/wamo/index.htm" target="_blank" target="_blank">Washington Monument</a>, in the middle of the "W."
W —
The logo of the George Washington Colonials NCAA team has a very cleverly hidden design in it: a stylized Washington Monument, in the middle of the "W."
Icon Sportswire/Icon Sportswire/Getty Images
In what is apparently a trope of Washington sports teams, the NHL's Washington Capitals have hidden the <a href="https://www.visitthecapitol.gov/" target="_blank" target="_blank">Capitol building</a> in their logo, right under the eagle's head.
Capitol eagle —
In what is apparently a trope of Washington sports teams, the NHL's Washington Capitals have hidden the Capitol building in their logo, right under the eagle's head.
Rob Carr/Getty Images
The logo for the Tour de France includes a cyclist. Can you see it? The body is the letter "R," while the "O" and the yellow sun make up the wheels.
Le cycliste —
The logo for the Tour de France includes a cyclist. Can you see it? The body is the letter "R," while the "O" and the yellow sun make up the wheels.
LIONEL BONAVENTURE/AFP/AFP/Getty Images
The round part of the logo of South Korean electronics manufacturer LG is made up of the letters "L" and "G," but also resembles a winking human face. Interestingly, rotating it slightly to the right and interlocking the "L" and the "G" <a href="http://www.ziked.com/post/21646233510/the-lg-logo-is-pac-man" target="_blank" target="_blank">turns it into Pac-Man</a>.
Pac-Man? —
The round part of the logo of South Korean electronics manufacturer LG is made up of the letters "L" and "G," but also resembles a winking human face. Interestingly, rotating it slightly to the right and interlocking the "L" and the "G" turns it into Pac-Man.
David Ramos/Getty Images Europe/Getty Images