Meaning behind the Logos
Discover the hidden meaning behind the logos of the world’s biggest tech corporations. From Apple’s iconic bitten apple to Amazon’s A-to-Z smile, each logo tells a unique story.
Apple
Apple’s original logo, designed by Ronald Wayne, depicted Sir Isaac Newton under an apple tree. In 1977, Rob Janoff introduced the iconic bitten apple with rainbow stripes, symbolizing knowledge and diversity.
Rumor has it that the bite on the Apple logo was a nod to Alan Turing, the father of modern computer science who committed suicide by eating a cyanide-laced apple. Janoff, however, said in an interview that though he was mindful of the "byte/bite" pun (Apple's slogan back then: "Byte into an Apple"), he designed the logo as such to "prevent the apple from looking like a cherry tomato.”
Google
Google’s original logo, created by Sergey Brin using GIMP, featured a multicolored wordmark. The colors were chosen to convey playfulness and accessibility. Over time, the logo evolved to a cleaner, sans-serif typeface, maintaining the vibrant color scheme.
Microsoft
The name Microsoft comes from a letter Bill Gates sent to Paul Allen in 1975: he used the word “Micro-soft” to refer to their partnership.
Microsoft’s 1987 logo featured a slash between “Micro” and “Soft,” emphasizing the company’s focus on microcomputer software. Today, the logo is represented by four colorful squares used for the Windows logo: red, green, blue and yellow. The colors symbolize the diverse portfolio of Microsoft products.
Amazon
Amazon’s current logo features a smile-shaped arrow pointing from “A” to “Z,” indicating the company’s aim to offer everything from A to Z and to evoke customer satisfaction.
Facebook (Meta)
Facebook’s original logo was a simple blue wordmark, chosen because founder Mark Zuckerberg is red-green colorblind and blue is the most vivid color he can see. In 2021, the company rebranded as Meta, introducing an infinity loop logo to represent the metaverse.
IBM
IBM’s logo has undergone several transformations since its inception. The current version, designed by Paul Rand in 1972, features horizontal stripes to symbolize speed and dynamism.
Intel
Intel’s original logo featured a dropped “e,” symbolizing the company’s innovation. In 2006, the logo was updated to include a swirl around the name, representing the company’s move beyond processors.
Cisco
Cisco’s logo features a stylized bridge, representing the Golden Gate Bridge, symbolizing the company’s origins in San Francisco and its mission to connect networks.
Oracle
Oracle’s logo is a simple red wordmark, chosen for its boldness and clarity, reflecting the company’s focus on enterprise solutions.
HP
HP’s logo features the founders’ initials, Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard.
Dell
When Michael started Dell in 1984, Michael’s mission was to change the world with his ideas. You may have even heard him say, “turn the world on its ear,” which is why in one of the logo variations, the “E” is slanted. Other variations have included a circular frame to symbolize the world.
Sony
Sony’s logo symbol is the brand’s wordmark. The brand name is unique so displaying the name on its own creates a one-of-a-kind symbol.
Samsung
In Korean, the word ‘Samsung’ means “three stars” and the name carries the founder Lee Byung-chull’s vision for the company – to shine like stars in the sky, large, strong and eternally shining. The word ‘three’ represents large, plentiful, and strong while ‘star’ means bright, lofty and eternally shining.
LG
The symbolic mark, dubbed the "Face of the Future", presented along with the new LG name, was inspired by an artifact from the Silla Dynasty, the "Smile of Silla." It symbolizes five concepts (world, future, youth, humanity, and technology) and describes LG's management philosophy of "Creating Value for Customers" and "Promoting People-Oriented Management." The one-eyed smiley face, created with the "L" and "G," represents goal orientation, concentration, and positivity. The asymmetric blank section represents creativity and adaptation.
Huawei
The original Huawei logo was created at the same time with the start of the company in 1987. The Huawei company featured in their logo the meaning of one of the hieroglyphs that formed “Huawei” in Chinese and it stands for “flower”.
Xiaomi
The "MI" in our logo stands for “Mobile Internet”. It also has other meanings, including "Mission Impossible", because Xiaomi faced many challenges that had seemed impossible to defy in our early days.
Lenovo
Lenovo’s logo is a simple wordmark, with the name derived from “Le-” (legend) and “novo” (Latin for new), symbolizing the company’s mission to create new legends.
ASUS
The name of the company, Asus, was derived from the name of one of the gods in Greek mythology, Pegasus. Being pretty experienced in marketing and branding, the Asus founders decided to shorten it to take the upper positions in the lists in alphabetical order.
Qualcomm
The Qualcomm logo has a sleek modern look. The double “M” glyph adds a unique and unexpected touch.
Nvidia
Nvidia adopted its first logo in 1993. It was then that its basic visual metaphor - an eye that sees everything - was chosen. This logo has a long history and generally symbolizes the eye of God, who sees everything, but in this context, it has a different symbolic meaning. The "eye" of Nvidia is in constant search of innovation and the future.
AMD
The logo is a combination of two arrowheads, a smaller one and a larger one. They could also be described as two square angles. They were oriented in two opposite directions. The arrowheads were solid black on the white background.
Adobe
The company’s logo was proposed by Marva Warnock, the co-founder’s wife. It was immediately accepted and used as a unique symbol until 1993. Throughout its existence, Adobe has had two emblems and the same number of fixed variations.
The classic letter “A” in the name Adobe has been replaced with a solid symbol – a separately placed square. Such a departure from tradition allowed for the creation of a bright and memorable logo that attracts attention while remaining familiar.
Salesforce
Salesforce logotype is based on a metaphor: the cloud symbolizes the cloud architecture on which theservice is built.
Dropbox
Dropbox’s logo resembles an open box, symbolizing storage and file-sharing capabilities.
Accenture
Accenture’s logo has an “>” symbol, representing its forward-thinking approach in consulting.
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