Logos, as you all know, play are a major part in branding. A good logo can help the masses associate and identify your product or service. This is precisely whylogos go through vigorous designing and redesigning stages to communicate the brand they’re representing well.

Of course, there are those that don’t do so well as the meaning behind them somehow gets lost. For the ones that do their job successfully, you can’t help but marvel at how ingenious the design is and how they convey meaning with the use of space and symbols. That is, if you know what they mean or what to look out for. To help you with that, we’ve compiled logos that we found have hidden meanings in their designs.

1. Amazon

The giant online store aptly takes on the name Amazon to convey its wide store directory. This is further hinted by the arrow linking the ‘A’ to ‘Z’ to say that they have everything from ‘A’ to ‘Z’. Which should be able to satisfy you, hence the dual meaning of the arrow being a smile.

2. FedEx

The shipping company’s logo seem like a simple one with only its name. However if you take a second look at the space between the ‘E’ and the ‘X’, you would notice an arrow. With it so perfectly placed there, it is no wonder that the arrow represents speed and percision.

(Image source: The Branding Journal)

3. Sun Microsystems

This logo was designed bycomputer science professor Vaughan Pratt. While not having designer chops, Pratt managed to come up with a ingenious design by making Sun’s logo into an ambigram, which is a typographic design that spells a word out in various directions.

Here, he constructed the design that no matter what direction you twist and turn it, you can still read the word “Sun”.

4. Le Tour de France

The name of the of the annual and vigorous biking competition isn’t the only feature in this logo. Look closer at the letter ‘R’ and the yellow circle next to it. You’ll be able to see a cyclist in racing postion. The yellow circle can also represent the sun to signify that the race takes place during day time.

(Image source: Web Designer Depot)

5. Cisco

Cisco is well-known for designing, manufacturing, and selling networking equipment. It is therefore not surprising that they decide to incorporate an illustrated digital signal into their logo.

But there’s another meaning to that digital signal. In fact it looks like an abstract of the famous Gold Gate bridge in San Francisco. By choosing this design, Cisco managed to both convey what they do and where they are located at.

(Image source: Business Insider)

6. Nintendo Gamecube

I’m sure anyone will agree that this is a good logo with its clever cube-ception game going on. But it’s about to get even more clever. If you look at it this way, the blue lines also form the letter ‘G’ and the black space in between forms the letter ‘C’. And what do they represent? That’s right, Gamecube.

Well played, Nintendo. Well played.

7. MyFonts MyFonts is a font resource for all your font needs. Being a font resource site, they’ve got to walk the talk by having a customized font as their logo. And what better way to do that than by having the ‘My’ stylized to also look like a hand? You know, to suggest that you can get your hands on the fonts you need. (Image source: Web Designer Depot)

8. NBC

NBC was once known as the Peacock Network when the bird was first used as its logo in 1956. The peacock has now evolved to this with its 6 colored tail representing the departments; News, Sports, Entertainment, Stations, Networks, and Productions.

Additionally, the peacock is depicted facing right to show that the television network is looking towards the future.