Big names ahead

Once you see it, you’ll never unsee it: 12 brand logos’ hidden messages

Image: Yucel Moran

A good logo has to communicate what the brand it represents is all about. It should do so in the simplest and most elegant way possible, conveying the brand’s spirit and core concept. The following 12 famous brands have managed to create iconic logos that not only represent them successfully but also include a subtle, partially hidden message. Did you know about any of these?

Image: James Orr

The name of the French supermarket chain means "intersection" in its native language. This meaning is clearly reflected in its logo, with its two arrows pointing in opposite directions. Additionally, hidden in the space between the arrows you can see the shape of the letter "C."

Image: BoliviaInteligente

Amazon’s logo has a ubiquitous online presence. It’s simple, and it has been streamlined over the years. If you’ve ever wondered what the arrow beneath the logo means, take a look at its starting and ending points: it goes from A to Z.

Image: Zozz_

The name Cisco comes from the common abbreviation of San Francisco, its hometown. The logo portrays the two towers of the Golden Gate Bridge, arranged in a shape that also suggests a sound wave.

Image: Bangyu Wang

Why does Apple’s logo have a bite mark on it? The reason is practical: if there was no bite mark, the smaller versions of the logo—used on a variety of gadgets including the iPhone—might look like a cherry.

Image: jp26jp

The FedEx logo looks quite normal, but it hides a small detail, overlooked by most: between the second "E" and the "x," the negative space forms a small arrow pointing forward, symbolizing speed and precision.

Image: Safwan C K

The triangular Swiss chocolate Toblerone uses the Matterhorn—one of Switzerland’s most iconic mountains—as its logo. But, if you look closely, inside the mountain you can spot the shape of a bear, which is the official symbol of the Swiss town of Bern, the original home of Toblerone.

Image: Eduardo Pastor

If you’ve ever wondered what the red logo of the Levi’s brand means, then you should take a look at the stitching on the back pocket of any pair of their jeans—the shape matches perfectly.

Image: Jacob McGowin

If you take a closer look at the neckline of the redheaded girl in the Wendy’s logo, you’ll notice that her shirt collar subtly spells out the word "mom." This detail is meant to evoke the feeling of home-cooked meals, just like something made by your mom.

Image: appshunter.io

The NBC logo is formed by the colors of the rainbow, which represent the colors of modern television. But at the center, you can see the shape of a peacock, with its beak pointing to the right. The colorful shapes around it represent the bird’s spread feathers.

Image: Pablo Martinez

While some people suggest that the two-colored BMB circle represents a propeller, based on the airplane manufacturing history of the brand, the truth points elsewhere. The blue and white segments actually represent the flag of Bavaria, the region where the company originated.

Image: Crystal Jo

The world’s largest chain of ice cream shops, Baskin-Robbins, is best known for offering 31 flavors of ice cream. Its logo cleverly features the number "31" highlighted in pink, hidden within the center of the design.

Image: Alexander Shatov

The stylized logo and lettermark of the electric car brand Tesla is designed to resemble the cross-section of an electric motor. Or, at least, a meaningful part of it.

UKELELE, ANYONE?

Which Are The Most Insanely Difficult Musical Instruments To Learn?

Image: Rachael Cox

Every musical instrument has its own complexities and requires a certain amount of skill and dedication to master. But, as everyone knows, not every instrument is equally easy or hard to learn. Which of the following would you consider the most difficult? The violin, which requires the player to contort his or her hands in complicated positions for hours, or the theremin, which must be played in the air, without being able to use frets, or keys as a reference? Read on and learn about 10 complicated but ultimately beautiful instruments.

Image: Baher Khairy

We will start with an obvious choice here. The violin is a legendary instrument not just because of the range of expressiveness that it can convey but also because of the level of dexterity needed to play it.

One of the reasons behind this is that there are no guides on the violin for finger placement. With the violin, the lack of frets means that the player must rely on muscle memory to know exactly where to put their fingers.

Image: Kazuo ota

The french horn is a very beautiful instrument to look at, indeed. But that beauty comes, in part at least, from the intricate pattern of golden tubes and buttons that almost makes it look like a strange and ancient machine.

Playing the french horn requires a great deal of breath control, and it can be hard to figure out how to position the mouth to get the right pitch. The finger position of this instrument is also challenging. The high notes are relatively close to each other, which makes it difficult to tell the difference between them.

Image: Mohsen Taheri

If a piano and a bagpipe had a child, it would probably be an accordion. This instrument uses air pressure to create its notes and tones, which are played on a piano-style keyboard.

The reason an accordion is so difficult to play is that it requires a lot of different actions to happen simultaneously. Also, it can be quite heavy and tiring to play for long periods.

Image: Manuel Nägeli

Anyone who attempted to learn guitar and found it too difficult should steer clear of the harp. If six strings are hard, imagine having to play forty-seven strings, all of which are very close together.

Learning the exact position of each string and how to pluck it without plucking its neighboring strings is not a piece of cake.

Image: Johnny Cohen

Bagpipes require an extraordinary amount of air, which can be overwhelming for a beginner. Then there is the playing technique.

Grace notes are just about everywhere in Highland pipe music. As for that deafening sound, you’ll need a good pair of earplugs if you want to practice indoors.

Image: Michael Myers

The clarinet is a woodwind instrument, one of the hardest instruments to learn in its class. Its reed opening requires some good tongue and breath control to get a sound out.

Another major challenge many people cite is the finger holes, as closing these properly in time isn’t simple, and when even the tiniest bit of air is allowed in, the clarinet turns from sublime to squeaky or simply won’t make any sound whatsoever.

Image: Gilles Gravier

As we have seen in the previous examples, if the instrument looks hard to play, then it probably is. The oboe is similar to a clarinet but much bigger and it creates a brighter and clearer sound compared to the clarinet’s mellow tones.

The oboe is a double reed instrument that requires the player to control multiple things at the same time. It demands a lot from the mouth, lips, tongue, and breath because the sound of the instrument’s notes isn’t just controlled by finger placement. Also, an oboe player needs to learn to breathe through their nose while breathing out through their mouth.

Image: Cinescope Creative

If playing a keyboard instrument is hard, imagine having to play two keyboards and 25 brass pedals, all at the same time. Unless you are a master prog-rock keyboard player, an organ player, or some other virtuoso, the Hammond organ is a beast to be reckoned with.

Most people battle with the overwhelming number of moving parts that are required just to get a sound out of the organ, let alone a tune. This instrument requires a player with profound multitasking abilities, patience, coordination, and mental strength.

Image: Hao Zhang

Another instrument whose complexity becomes apparent when looking at it is the pipe organ. An instrument so big that it only fits inside huge buildings and requires intense coordination of the hands, feet, eyes, and ears, to play it effectively.

It takes a really long time to master the organ, and sometimes that mastery can be limited to only one specific machine since almost no two organs are the same.

Image: Mark Fletcher-Brown

Imagine playing an instrument you can’t even see, only hear. That is the theremin. Or, at least, that is the part of the instrument that you are supposed to play. No frets, no keys, nothing. Only the movement of your hands in the air, responding to the eerie sound.

The theremin is an extraordinarily sensitive instrument: the slightest loss of control will show up in the sound, as will any other interference in the instrument's electromagnetic field.