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These 20 logos reward a closer look: familiar letters, gaps, and shapes can suggest a second image or idea. The readings below are interpretations reported by SitePoint, not proof that every company intended a hidden message. A few familiar examples—FedEx, Amazon, and Baskin-Robbins—also appear in design textbooks, while most of the less familiar readings are documented here as secondary interpretations.
How to read the hidden details
Logo cleverness works in several ways. A gap between letters can form a new shape; typography can become a person or object; repeated forms can make a pattern; and an illustration can carry a second reading. The categories below are a practical way to notice those devices, not an official taxonomy.
| # | Preview | Product | Price | |
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| 1 |
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Logo Design. Global Brands | $23.30 | Buy on Amazon |
| 2 |
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Principles of Logo Design: A Practical Guide to Creating Effective Signs, Symbols, and Icons | $22.30 | Buy on Amazon |
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Logo, revised edition | $22.04 | Buy on Amazon |
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Logo Design (Bibliotheca Universalis) (Multilingual Edition) | $13.99 | Buy on Amazon |
Evidence matters, too. SitePoint’s list, published August 20, 2012 and updated February 13, 2024, is the source for all twenty readings here. Its interpretations should not automatically be treated as company-approved design rationales. Graphic-design textbooks also describe the FedEx arrow, Amazon smile-and-arrow, and Baskin-Robbins 31, which corroborates those readings but is still secondary evidence. SitePoint’s 20-logo list; Graphic Design: Learn It, Do It.
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Negative space and letterforms
Negative space is the area around or inside the printed shapes. A designer can use it to make a second form without drawing that form directly.
#1 Best Overall
1. FedEx: an arrow between E and x
The gap between the capital E and lowercase x in the FedEx wordmark forms a right-facing arrow. A graphic-design textbook also points out the arrow in that negative space. It is a particularly clear example of a second image emerging from the spacing between letters. SitePoint; Graphic Design: Learn It, Do It.
2. Amazon: A to Z and a smile
The curved arrow beneath the Amazon wordmark runs from A toward Z, suggesting a range of products; its curve also reads as a smile. The same two readings are described in a graphic-design textbook. SitePoint; Graphic Design: Learn It, Do It.
3. Baskin-Robbins: 31 in BR
The pink portions of the BR mark can be read as the number 31, referring to the brand’s 31-flavor concept. A graphic-design textbook independently includes this reading. The number is a brand reference, not a research statistic. SitePoint; Graphic Design: Learn It, Do It.
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4. Goodwill: a smiling G
The Goodwill symbol can be read as a capital G and as a smiling face. The interpretation depends on seeing the face-like shape within the letterform. SitePoint.
5. Milwaukee Brewers: M and B in a glove
The glove-shaped mark incorporates forms read as the initials M and B. The letters are not simply set beside the illustration; they help make its silhouette. SitePoint.
6. Elettro Domestici: ED and a plug
In this mark, negative space is described as forming both the initials E and D and the shape of an electric plug. The interpretation links the lettering to the electrical-products name. SitePoint.
Rank #2
7. The Installers: an I made from doors
Door shapes and the lit negative space between them combine to suggest a capital I. The logo’s second reading is built from the space left open by the doors. SitePoint.
8. Hope for African Children Initiative: people within a map
The design uses the outline of Africa, with an adult and child appearing in the negative space inside it. The map and figures are meant to be seen together rather than as separate symbols. SitePoint.
Pictures that double as letters or words
9. Tostitos: people sharing salsa
The figures suggested between the letters in Tostitos appear to share a bowl of salsa. A branding textbook describes the T shapes as people dipping a chip into salsa, adding a related interpretation of the wordmark’s lettering. SitePoint; Strategic Brand Management, 2nd Edition.
10. Atlanta Falcons: a falcon and an F
The falcon form in the team mark also resembles an F, tying the image to the team’s name. The second reading comes from the silhouette rather than a separate letter placed alongside the bird. SitePoint.
11. London Symphony Orchestra: a conductor in LSO
The LSO lettering is described as suggesting a conductor holding a baton. The letterforms become a small performance scene as well as the orchestra’s initials. SitePoint.
12. My Fonts: a hand across the name
The lettering is accompanied by a hand-like form that appears to swipe across it. This gives the wordmark a gesture associated with interacting with type on a screen. SitePoint.
Rank #3
13. Hidden Cork: a glass and its cork
The H and C are described as forming a wine glass, with the cork suggested in negative space. The image turns the company name into a small visual pun. SitePoint.
14. Families: a family within the typography
The mark incorporates a family into its lettering, making the people part of the word rather than a separate illustration. SitePoint.
15. Snooty Peacock: two images in one
The logo is described as combining two images in an Escher-like visual reading. Its effect depends on letting the eye shift between interpretations of the same forms. SitePoint.
16. Elefont: an e and an elephant’s trunk
The lowercase e is incorporated into an elephant-like form, with the letter and trunk sharing the same visual structure. SitePoint.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Patterns, numbers, and brand references
17. Sun Microsystems: SUN repeated in a circle
The SUN lettering repeats around a circular pattern. Repetition makes the word itself the building material for the emblem. SitePoint.
18. Sony Vaio: analog meets digital
The VA portion of the VAIO logo is described as an analog waveform, while I and O evoke the binary digits 1 and 0. The mark juxtaposes two visual languages of electronics. SitePoint.
19. Big Ten Conference: a number in the wordmark
SitePoint describes the conference mark as using negative space to include the number of teams during a period when the conference name and membership count differed. That is a historical reading, not a statement of today’s membership or logo configuration. SitePoint.
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20. Unilever: icons within the U
SitePoint describes the U as containing facets representing the company’s businesses. A branding textbook gives a more specific account: it describes the Unilever logo as consisting of 25 icons representing values, competencies, and processes. That count belongs to the textbook’s description; it should not be treated as a current, independently verified inventory of the logo. SitePoint; Strategic Brand Management, 2nd Edition.
What makes a hidden-logo claim credible?
Seeing a plausible second image is not the same as knowing the designer’s intent. For these examples, SitePoint supplies interpretations for the full set, while textbooks independently cover some familiar marks. A company or designer’s own documented explanation would be stronger evidence of intent; the available accounts do not establish one for most of these twenty.
That distinction prevents a clever observation from turning into invented brand history. For example, adidas’s official history says its three stripes were selected because they showed most prominently in photography, and the company explicitly rejects a numerological meaning: “Those telltale stripes, by the way, don’t hold numerological meaning.” The company page is labeled September 2022 and discusses 2023 refinements, so its description is tied to that dated account. adidas logo history.
When looking at any mark, ask what visual device creates the second reading, what it depicts, and whether the interpretation comes from the brand, a designer, a textbook, or a secondary article. That keeps appreciation of the visual trick separate from claims about why it was made.
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