There is always a story hidden behind the logo of the famous brands. The logos of Pepsi, Nike, Apple, and Samsung, they are not the way they are because the designer liked the designs; it is because they depict some story through them. Some of the Greek mythology logos of the brand represent a symbol that is originally based on the mythological stories and the other various cultures. It is up to the designer to go with some specific tale to formulate a brand logo. However, both the story and the product logo should be related.
There is no denying to the fact that some of the brand’s logo designs are deeply rooted in our minds. We tend to evoke and link the good and bad experiences with a few visual representations. Today, we are bombarded with hundreds of advertisements daily; brands rival each other to gain the attention of the customer.
One of the best ways to grab the customer’s interest is to design an appealing logo which is not only aesthetic but is easy to remember too. Among many of them, there are a few of the brands which become enduring characteristics of our culture.
The Greek mythology logos connect the business with the people. We all have some ancient stories engraved in our subliminal mind all the time. When we see the story linked with the design, we tend to establish a relationship with it which results in making us the brand’s loyal customers. Following are a few of many brands who veils shocking mythological stories behind their logos.
Without any further ado, let’s explore these brands and their hidden stories.
Dove
It is a soap brand that has its own story behind its logo; the title “dove” was named after the goddess of beauty and love, Aphrodite; now how many of you knew about this beauty? Only a few of you, right? Nevertheless, the firm branded the soap as a dove because it is the symbol of Aphrodite. Thus it sends the message to the audience that by using this soap, you will have younger-looking and smoother skin. Who does not yearn to have baby skin? We all do, right? So why not try our hands onto it?
Starbucks
We all are crazy Starbucks fan and love its frothy caramel latte and know all about the black and white alarm that the green circular band surrounds with the coffee’s name. The logo puts the brand’s wide range of available ingredients and flavours in a nutshell. Starbucks is advertising using the Greek mythology as in Greek mythology the sirens used to be half female and semi-seabird creature of the enthralling beauty residing on the sea.
The main livelihood of these beauties was to sing enchantingly to the sailors passing on their ships and tempt them on the rocks. On the other hand, the siren that we see on the logo is a twin-tailed, and the theory behind it suggests that she is a Melusine. The medieval mythology says that the Melusine was a female who changed into limbs every time she went into the shower.
There is an interesting story behind it; the Melusine met the Duke of Aquitaine who fell head over heels in love with her and proposed her to marry him. However, she agreed on one condition only that he would not disturb her Saturday bath ritual. He failed to comply with her condition and broke the vow due to which she transformed into a dragon and ran away.
You may like it: Starbucks Logo Explained: Complete History & Evolution
Nike
Well, just a “swoosh” on the t-shirt or shoes are enough to tell us that the product is from Nike, this is because of the extensive advertisement that the brand does. But how many of us know about the history and the story of the logo? Not many of us, right? So let’s discuss why the brand went with the “swoosh” for a logo of their product.
The idea of the “swoosh” was derived from the wings of the Greek victory goddess named Nike. It inspires the warriors of Greek as it provides enormous and great power. The brand name of the company and its logo is perfect for its products as it sends out the message of victory and moving forward in people’s lives through sports. The logo of Nike is the perfect example of how Greek symbols are used today.
Goodyear
The logo of Goodyear is pretty different and unique, for those who do not know what Goodyear is, it is the world’s leader in the manufacturing of tires. The logo shows the winged shoe in the centre which is not seen elsewhere as such. The main idea of the winged shoe was, however, perfect for the company who wishes to spread the message of reliability and speed. The design clearly depicts the message of the company and goes adequately with the product as well.
Pandora
Various organizations have branded their names after Pandora; she was the woman from Greek mythology. The meaning of Pandora means “all gifted”; thus, the Pandora box is called after the woman. It is widely known that when the girl unbolted the box, all the world’s evils flew away and released into the world. The only thing that was left behind in the box was optimism, faith and hope.
All the organizations that use names like Pandora Jewellery and Pandora radio etc. were called after different mythological women. Since the literal meaning of Pandora is hope, therefore, the main message that the companies want to send over is the message of positivity and happiness to their target audience.
McDonald’s
How many of your thought that the yellow M shaped logo of the biggest chain of hamburger all over the world comes from its first letter? As surprising as it sounds the truth is otherwise. When two brothers Maurice McDonald and Richard McDonald started their drive eatery in 1940 in California, they did not expect it to rise like that.
After 12 years of continuous success, they chose to construct a bigger building for their business and decided they want to have two arches on the structures opposite sides. They fulfilled their wish, and the new restaurant was opened in 1953 in Arizona. However, later in 1962, they came up with the current logo.
First, they decided to go with the V only, but then they changed into M as they were inspired by the restaurant view from a particular angle. Since that day, they gave birth to the Golden arches, and it became an icon of commercialism.
Apple
One of the most widely known implications behind the logo of Apply is the Adam and even story and the bite of knowledge. Well, here is another surprise for you, the logo has nothing to do with that. The designers originally came up with the design in 1976 and showed Issac Newton relaxing under the apple tree.
Later another year, the company devised a new design of famous apple in colourful stripes and replaced the old man logo. One theory suggests that the colourful stripes on the Apple logo are because they wished to classify it from IBM’s logo. On the other hand, another theory states that the designers were impressed by the hippy culture; therefore, the logo represents the colour bars on the Apple ll screen.
Lastly, the logo designers went through the different blue and silver phases before deciding onto the black minimalist design that we adore today. The current design mirrors the constant change in computer designs.
The Tennessee Titans
You may never have thought that a professional team of football can be considered as a company, well that’s exactly what it is today. The monsters [read: Titans] were around before the Greek goddesses and God. Moreover, these are where the likes of Poseidon, Hades and Zeus come from. Some backstories are difficult to grasp, but they are pretty informative if given the needed attention.
Hydra Markets
The Hydra markets logo is the perfect example of the Greek mythology logo. The Lernaean Hydra or also known as Hydra of Lerna, is actually a serpentine monster of water in the Roman and Greek mythology. Hydra Markets is an STP company of brokers from Georgia which was created in 2015.
The organization offers to do business in a wide variety of currency pairs, CFDs as well as the precious materials. It is quite obvious in the picture that the logo has three-headed serpentine monster which references directly to the Hydra of Lerna and Greek Lernaean Hydra.
Amazon
Did you know the world’s online retail website that is currently ranked as the 14 most visited site is named after a race of warrior women? However, there is not any Greek mythology associated with the brand name, but only a handful of people know about the background story of Amazon.
BMW
There is hardly anyone in the world who cannot recognize the logo of BMW; we all tend to give away our heart pretty quickly whenever we spot that blue and white BMW logo on the road. Nevertheless, the most commonly known theory that is behind this logo is that it was associated with the aircraft machines and is exhibited on a rotating airscrew.
Wow! Another surprise for you, this is not the case actually. Originally BMW was called Rapp Motorenwerke; later in 1916, its name was changed to BMW. Earlier the logo had a smashed horse in the middle. Today it represents the name of the brand on the outer circle, and on the inside, there are four quadrants with the colours of the Bavarian state which are white and blue.
An essential read for you: BMW Flat Logo Revamp — A Smart Move or a Failure?
Twitter is our go-to-place when we wish to rant out and write our miseries out on the public; it is like our public diary. Those who are on Twitter know how they wish to hide their personal account from their friends and family, as they write their thoughts out on the public for the strangers.
Nevertheless, coming to its logo, the co-founder of Twitter once admitted officially that the logo of the portal is called Larry the bird. The brand name was in the honour of the Larry Bird who is one of the biggest basketball players in the NBA. Over time the bird changed, the platform became stronger, and the Larry became bigger. However, during the times when the current logo was introduced in 2012, the Creative Director of Twitter Doug Bowman said,
“The logo is crafted purely from the three sets of overlapping circles, which are similar to your networks, ideas and interests connect and intersect with the friends and peers.”
Playboy
Nobody in his/ her right mind could have guessed that the logo for the world’s most famous entertainment magazine for men was supposed to be stag? The logo was created in 10 minutes in 1953 by the designer of the famous rabbit wearing a tuxedo bow tie brand.
The logo represents the animals that have the sturdy characteristics are the symbols of masculinity. Such animals produce a lot, and they do not think much about their offspring.
The purpose of the magazine was to represent the world of the real man. Despite the common associations with the bold and sensual content, the magazine represents the culture and the lifestyle of the men. Men, in general, started getting inspiration from the founder of playboy and bunnies and rabbit becomes the idea of manhood.
Adidas
There is no denying to the fact that the only reason why we do not wear Adidas is because it is high priced; otherwise, we all adore its products. Well, here is a brief story about the logo and its creation. A family in Germany started off this company as a family business, Adolf (Adi) Dassler known as ‘Adi Dassler Adidas Sportschukfabrik’ registered the company. Formerly the logo did not have any particular shape, but there was one important element to their general merchandise which was three black stripes.
Later after a few years, it transformed into the black trefoil leaf along with the three white stripes, it depicted the continuous brand development. The current logo has three diagonal black stripes which resemble the mountains. The real story behind today’s logo is that it shows the struggles of people when they challenge themselves in different sports while adorning Adidas shoes.
Pepsi
There have been various changes in the world’s most known beverages. At first, when the company introduced the drink in the market, it bore a circular shaped logo. Since then, it has always shown the three-dimensional nature with the globe’s two halves in red and dark blue with the white swirl in the middle. The logo remained intact until Arnel Group redesigned the logo for $1milllion and faced quite a lot of criticism and controversy.
Nevertheless, later a 27-page long document by the name of “Breaking the code for innovation from convention to innovation” was released on the internet which proved the brand to be among many things on Golden Ratio. It was sarcastically named the Da Vinci Code of branding.
Interesting for you: Pepsi’s long history of logos
Saturn
Now coming back to some Greek mythological logos, apart from one of the names of the planets in our solar system, Saturn is a well-famed brand of the car manufacturers. The name was chosen after the Roman name for Cronus who was Zeus father.
Disney
Walt Disney has made some many childhoods perfect through his amazing Disney movies and series; we all are thankful to him for giving us the childhood that we had. His movies have inspired the generations for more than 100 years. The current logo that we see is the fairy tale castle with the name of the brand mentioned over it.
Disneyland all over the world decided to go with the castle of Cinderella since the launch of the first theme park in Minnesota in 1955. Later, when the Sleeping beauty released in 1959, the castle became hers and was established on the Neuschwanstein castle in the south of Germany. Ever since there have been various changes in the logo and almost every movie has its variation similar to their movie characters.
Trident
Trident is our go-to-gum when we want to get rid of the annoying cigarette smell from our mouths. Initially, it was the three branched spears Poseidon, and the brand name is translated into “three toothed” which means a gum that is chewed with the help of your teeth. Poseidon, the God of the Sea in Greek mythology owns the brand; therefore, the logo of the gum shows sea or water on it.
Versace
The first boutique of the brand was opened in Italy in 1978; the founder was brought up in southern Italy, which was under the huge influence of Greek mythology. The close association with the Gods and the hybrid gins helped Gianni [the founder of the brand] to select the Medusa head for his logo.
The allegorical Medusa was a woman with the snake’s hair who transformed everybody who looked at her into a stone. Due to her beauty, Poseidon raped her in Athena’s temple. Athena later turned her head into snakes because apparently he was disgusted by what happened in his holy place.
According to another theory, Perseus defeats Medusa by tormenting her with her own reflection that eventually killed her. The logo of Versace is not only an epic creature but also a statement about the fashion brand. When Versace chose the logo, the creator wished to establish an iconic brand with full dominance all over the world, and they have done it evidently.
The founder states that,
“Medusa is seduction, a sense of classicism and history…. She is an eternal attraction.”
Maserati
It is one of the well-known Italian luxury sports car manufacturers. The message of the brand concludes the ultra-luxury vehicles of the customers that are created in the iconic Italian designs. To send out their message, they used the logo of Trident since Neptune is the symbol of vigour and strength. Moreover, there is one of the facts attached to it that the Neptune statue is situated in the home city of the company, it is one of a classic example of the way they have done it.
Conclusion
A brand is a lot more than just their products and services, there is a wide range of stories and idealism hidden behind the logos. Once you go beyond their services and products you realize the development of the new connection you feel with the brands. We hope, the revelations of your favourite brands’ mythological stories were as shocking to you as they were to me, and you felt the connection too that we felt.
Originally Published at Fullstop360.com/blog.
