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Design Shack showcases inspiring web design, alongside resources and tutorials for you to succeed in the same way. It is carefully curated and edited by Josh Johnson and David Appleyard.
50 Fantastically Clever Logos
I know everybody and their brother does logo roundups so you’re probably sick of them, but I don’t believe I’ve ever done one and there is a particularly impressive brand of logo design that I wanted to point out.
Today we’ll look at 50 logos that are the result of going beyond the typical thought process and injecting a little wit and hidden symbolism into the design process.
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What Makes a Logo Clever?
To explain what I mean by “clever” logo design, let’s take a look at a typical logo, (i.e. one that isn’t clever).
The logo above is a nice piece of work. The colors are perfect, the lettering is masculine, the overall feel is athletic and the glossy effect works well. It’s everything that it needs to be.
However, my favorite type of logo design is that which takes the assignment one step further. Rather than just making something attractive, these designers look at the design process with a pinch of added intelligence and a perspective that skewed enough to see things differently than the rest of the world.
These types of logos make you smile at the brilliance of both the idea and the execution and have several layers of meaning that can hit you in waves. Some are amazing in their obviousness to all who see them and some find excellence in hidden secrets.
I’ve broken down this collection into three categories: visual double entendres (two things in one), word and character art, and ambigrams. Ambigrams definitely also fall into the word art category but I wanted to give them special recognition because they’re so difficult to pull off effectively (if you don’t believe me, try to make one!).
Visual Double Entendres
Lion Bird
If you stare straight at the bird’s feet for a second, a stunningly clear lion’s face emerges. Brilliant design!
Chad 2010
I love this one. There’s a sort of ribbon theme that makes both a face and the continent of Africa.
Spartan
Simply beautiful use of negative space. The golfer and his swing double as a soldier’s face.
DesignTent
A tent and a pencil.
Pepperhorn
A pepper and a horn.
GreenLabs
Green here is symbolized by a tree and labs is represented by the brain. That’s a sharp looking tree brain!
Airtistic
Another pencil idea very similar to the one above. This one is a parachute and a pencil.
Ecotaste
A tongue and a leaf. A little creepy but a great idea!
Guitarshop
The letter “G” and a guitar. Simple but effective.
Mr. Couch
This is definitely one of my favorites. The couch has cleverly been crafted to also be a face with a mustache. Excellent work!
Eco Pup
The dog’s ears are leaves. Sometimes subtle is better.
Mailhouse
The open envelope creates a house shape.
WordRefuge
The open book makes a tent. Not my favorite but it makes for a good visual read.
Australian Pork
This one makes me laugh. Australia has been turned into a pig’s snout!
MetroMobile
The city skyline doubles as a row of cell phones.
PokerHills
I love that the shape of the hills genuinely matches the shape that cards make when you peak at them while they lie face down on the table.
Match
This one goes on and on. The matches come together to make a heart. There are two of them (they match). Fire represents passion. etc. etc.
ThinkTank
Ideas are often represented by lightbulbs. Turning the phrase “think tank” into a lightbulb tank was genius.
Rockit
This one is an excellent piece of art. The rocket blasting off and leaving smoke trails clearly makes a guitar shape.
Suitcase
This one is simple but so incredibly effective. It looks like both a suitcase and a folded dress shirt with a tie. The latter really emphasizes the “suit” aspect and therefore represents professionalism.
AirTime
Another really subtle double entendre. The hands on the clock make an airplane.
Uptown
The buildings in the city skyline are all arrows pointing upward.
Country Living Dentistry
The white picket fence is a perfect picture of country life, here it’s been turned into a toothbrush to symbolize dentistry.
Push the Bottle
Another excellent use of negative space. The hand pushing a button makes the shape of a bottle. Notice how the fingers of the fist create the liquid in the bottle.
Pencil
It’s amazing how little had to be added to make a pencil appear (just a triangle!). Some logo designers really have a gift for simple touches that change everything.
Spice Mountain
It definitely looks like both a mountain and a pile of spices.
Night Golf
Not only does the round shape of the golf ball reflect that of the moon, the little dips look like craters! A great visual simile.
Maritime Law
The logo says everything it needs to. Scales are a clear representation of law and justice and the bowls have been turned into boats to represent the maritime aspect.
GradBooks
This idea seems a little obvious but I’m sure it took a lot of tweaking to get to this point.
Antisocial Network
The sort of abstract skyline design is a cliche for community and has been transformed into a familiar hand gesture.
Mars
Another one of my favorites. The carrot has been beautifully crafted to make a rocket ship.
Nurd
The car’s headlights make it look like a big nerd with glasses. Yet another example of the use of subtlety in wit.
Bananas Films
The film strips have been hung to mirror the shape of a group of bananas.
Food Writers
The negative space in the tip of the old style fountain pen has been turned into a spoon.
SparkPlug Creations
This is definitely not the best logo in the world, but the whole lightbulb spark plug idea is pretty clever.
Word and Symbol Art
Fish
The word fish has been crafted into the form of a fish. What more could you want in a logo?
Bipolar
A few simple typographic characters that perfectly represent the word below.
CodeFish
Coding is all about characters so it was perfect to build the fish out of typography.
Inequality
The equality symbol has been slightly modified so that the bottom is shorter than the top; a perfect statement of inequality.
Fuel Quoter
The quote has been simply turned on its side and it looks remarkably like a gas pump.
Infinity Crime Studio
The symbol for infinity has been altered to look like pair of mischievous eyes.
Octave
If you’re at all familiar with music theory you know that an octave has eight notes (hence “oct”). Here the “o” and “c” have been stacked to make an eight.
Nosey
The impressive part here is how naturally the word seems to make a face. It’s an excellent designer that makes complex ideas look effortless.
Twins
The two has been pushed over to look like an “n.” Since the word is “twins,” hiding a two in the logo was a great decision.
Upside Down
This one you have to stare at for a second to really appreciate. All the letters are upside down. The “w” is an “m”, the “d” is a “p”, etc.
Spork
The obvious solution was to make a spoon and a fork illustration. However, putting the ampersand in represents an extra step in the thought process that makes the idea really unique.
Umbrella
At first glance this logo says “brella.” Can you spot the other two letters?
Ambigrams
In case you’ve never heard of them before, ambigrams are words or phrases that you can spin around 180 degrees and still read them. They often require quite a bit of work and thought in order to make them easily readable.
Awesome
That sort of Old English look is definitely one of the styles you see the most with ambigrams. Notice how the “e” and “o” have been heavily transformed but still read well in the context of the word as a whole.
Edge
It’s not easy to create an “e” that still looks like an “e” when you spin it around. Well done.
Eveva
This one feels like an ambigram, but as one astute commenter pointed out, it actually isn’t. The beginning “e” and ending “a” are the same, but the letters in between don’t work when flipped. Nice illusion regardless!
Conclusion
I hope the collection above isn’t just another “list post” but instead is a healthy dose of inspiration that encourages you to put a little thought into your logo creation process. When appropriate, consider how you can infuse something unique and witty to make the logo that much better.
Leave a link below and tell us your favorites. Also point us to any logos that match this style that you’ve seen on the web.
Great list!
However, Eveva doesn’t seem to be an ambigram. The ‘v’s become upside-down triangles. And mirrored, everything’s backwards. Or am I missing something?
Wow awesome list and some great choices. Thanks for including some of mine, its an honor.
This is the best list i have seen yet! Seriously inspiring. Thanks for compiling it. It’s definitely bookmarked.
Derek, oh crap! I didn’t even think about the v’s!
Sean, love your work!
Simply amazing…What a thinking :)
Awesome put together. The umbrella logo is amazing. Best part is i haven’t seen alot of these all over the web yet..great post!
AMAZING!!
2 thumbs up!
This is a brilliant article! One that I will reference and provide the student designers with!
Thanks :)
Great finds on all of them. A good logo design is crucial.
This is a nice collection. Loved Food Writers, Pencil and Australian Pork.
the logos are good but why did you insist on explaining every one of them like your readers are toddlers? fuckhead
Thanks for posting this!
Thanks Joshua :)
Some of your readers are not designers and appreciate the explanations. Thanks for a cool list.
You give us more value, than a simple showcase..
Love your work, inspired me..Thanks
Liked the post but i have questions about those ambigrams.. especially the first one.. with its old english type face, we can not expect people to see it
Fabulous and inspirational!
Nice work. These are all very clever, but they’re all clever in the same way. Almost every picture is a picture of two things in one. However, for effective branding and logos, the most important thing isn’t being clever, but conveying the logos (idea) of the company and what it does…
Nice job on compiling this list. It must have taken you quite a while! Maybe not necessary to explain each one. We can figure them out. ;)
It doesn’t matter, since these are mostly taken from logopond and many might not be real companies.
Some fantastic and clever examples! Many look very similar, so i’m wondering how many different sources they came from.
I’ve been messing with the “upside down” idea for ages, and wanted to turn it into a t-shirt.
umop episdn
amazing!
Reminds me of the FexEx Logo where the negative space between the “E” and the “x” in “Ex” is an arrow representing targeted speed.
Mind blowing ! amazing … I wish I could see the design process of some logo’s from their rough sketch to final result.
These are really good – its a great collection. it goes to show the level of professionalism a logo can bring
As a designer who has been out of her element for a while, this has definitely stirred my senses. Thanks!
Great post, and great logos indeed.
Just to play devil’s advocate for a moment, I will say that some of the cleverness is a touch lack luster because a majority of these are fake entities.
It is a bit more difficult when creating a clever solution for a real-world client that has a service and name already in place.
Although these solutions are brilliant and beautiful, it is a little easier when you come up with “noun” + “noun” = a symbol of the two combined.
Not to take anything away from these excellent solutions or discredit them, I would just say reader be aware that design thinking that makes sense of the abstract and confusing world of actual commerce can be quite a bit more challenging.
I really like the logo of Bedroom Expressions. A company owned by the Denver Mattress Company, and part of furniture row. The logo incorporates a bed that looks like a woman in a skirt. Very subliminal.
Try this link. http://furniturerow41.reachlocal.net/
Great Inspiration! This is ultimately my favorite type of logo design also. It’s hard to pick favorites but the bipolar logo I have come across before and it always sticks out. It’s simplistic design could yield endless possibilities for marketing materials.
How about this one? You’ll like this one…
http://www.sohowines.hk/images/shark.jpg
For “inequality records”:
[QUOTE]The equality symbol has been slightly modified so that the bottom is shorter than the top; a perfect statement of inequality.”[/QUOTE]
You mean “top is shorter than the bottom”?
A great compilation though…
Wow! Amazing collection of awesome designs. Thanks for giving us a chance to rejuvenate our grey matters with simple but effective ideas.
UHH-SOME!
I really like the Bipolar, Bananas Films and Green Labs, Night Golf, Spartan, Awsome ambigram, Edge and many more, but those are my faves
I had clicked here, expecting to see some of the logo’s already in my collection of inspiring designs, and did indeed notice some of them. But there were a let of new ones as well.
Thanks for compiling this great collection. This is going into my delicious.
Aussie ISP Westnet’s logo is a work of evil genius.
http://www.westnet.com.au
Subtle, subversive, and extremely gutsy. So inappropriate, yet what could be more appropriate for an internet service provider?
For those who can’t see it, count yourselves lucky.
Really a smart logo. nice..
Great collection.
Ambigram = Readable upside down. Not that the words are just the same upside as downside. lol.
Very cool!
I haven’t seen any of these before!
One nice and simple ambigram from a real-life company: SONOS!
http://www.sonos.com/assets/0/88/220/230/236/240/20319c29-1e28-47f6-b003-4cd6c3361dd9.gif
Thank you. Inspiring stuff.
Amazing!!!
Really good collection Joshua, indeed not just another list post but it has some great logos. Especially I like Lion Bird logo.
Nice work to compile some creative executions. Many logos did hint at the business the company was in but many did not. An ideal logo should have a subtle and creative hint at the line of business.
A touch of humor and play of color to a design helps.
Great collection – love the ones that get you thinking, although i couldnt help but notice most of the companies names consist of two ‘things’ eg spice + mountain, mail + house… which to me seems easier to come up with something. I always tend to get clients like ‘Teds club’ and ‘RT printing’.. Any tips on finding inspiration for these types of company names?
A lots of creative logos but I liked the most “Spartan” logo :)
@mes – I’m not a designer and I thought the addition of pre-school explanation was a complete waste of my time in an otherwise wonderfully fulfilling article.
I definitely disagree with all the comments that logos for fake companies serve no inspirational purpose. The exact same techniques can be used for a company called Bob’s Print shop. The key here is to find out a few things about the business, what it’s all about, etc. Maybe you make a printer that looks like a shop, or a house made of paper, etc. These logos, “real” or not, are great pieces of work and provide legitimate inspiration to anyone really looking for it and willing to apply what they learn.
Nice collection…
Check out my logo at:
http://logooftheday.com/2009-03-28-youth-forum/
Umbrella is almost perfect. Needs two raindrops where the arches of the m would be. Not everyone is smart enough to fill them in on their own.
Wit gives the best messages!
I love clever logos, but it should not be clever at the expense of the brand. These are great, but some seem like they might only be exercises instead of logos in the wild. It would be interesting to know how many clever logos get rejected by clients for being too interesting…
Finnish brewer Olvi has had a clever word art logo of a the letters of the company name form a barrel. The name company name Olvi is an archaic name for beer.
http://www.olvi.fi/image/image_gallery?img_id=64259&t=1280188103754
In the Fish logo made from letters F-I-S-H, the ‘I’ is actually the ‘eye’! Eye… er, I found that pretty cool :)
I am glad you explained them all. I enjoyed the explanation and then going back to see what you explained. Even with explanations I didn’t get some. I loved the whole post. Thanks for taking the time to post this. They are all wonderful!
~a
nice examples…
Simply put: “Less is More”. Each logo is just a real eye catcher. Congratulations to all graphic designers.
Most of these are too complicated — the artist was trying too hard to be clever, especially disappointing for made up companies since they could have done *anything*. The ones that work best keep it simple or subtle or both. And what @Jonathan says is accurate — there are many similar ideas here. On the shark theme, check out this logo: http://www.sharkstainless.com/
I count only a dozen that I would actually consider good. In my rough order of preference: Airtime, Food Writers, Night Golf, Infinity Crime, Metromobile, Uptown, Bananas, upside down, Spartan, Mailhouse, Word Refuge
Here’s one of my favorites with something hidden (with a great description of its creation): http://www.thisuser.com/2008/09/designing-puzzazz-logo.html
Great collection. I’m will show them for my students.
Liked most of them,they are in deed clever. Most of them needed lots of sketch work and hard work with void thinking.
As aptly said that lots of them can not be put in to commercial use,but still efforts are apriciated.
Why i do not see any 3D logos,seems it is much more difficult to design.
Overall it is a visual feast.
Keep up the good work and posted.
V
Oh-my-god! Awesome post Joshua!
I love it how these logos are so savy. Great inspiration!
Really great collection and some nice inspiration. Also all logos here are great quality work. Nice job finding them :)
Some of these just show another level of thinking.
It takes some vision to see a golf swing as a spartan helmet etc. A real appreciation for shape.
I love these logos, but I can’t stop thinking that some of the names were put after the graphic idea. Maybe not! haha.
Nice collection.
These are all very good logos, most I have not seen before. Thanks for sharing :)
Stream Companies
awsome awesome AWESOME!
One the best logo collections I’ve ever seen. Some of them are really creative.
I love these logos,.
Nice
Most of them are just student exercises, right? Cause there’s no way to locate a link or any info, if you google them you only find them in blogs like this one.
Good collection anyway.
A really good selection of logos. Some are totally inspired, others simply hillarious.
Thanks for feeding the brain
Good Collection, Congratulations for the post.
well done!
Some cool logos. Word Refuge is my favourite!
great collection is very good, interesting and shows much creativity
Really awesome, great creativity. Every logo is self explanatory.
Talking about ambigrams, here is the cover of a lithuanian hc band’s Bora last album “Phantom Hunters”.
http://c3.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/66/l_a67473b9cd404f8ba8490d0df695181e.jpg
These logos are clever however they are not ‘real’. I’ve tried looking for them on the web and these products, companies and services do not exist. Good inspiration and thats about it. For REAL identity and logo work check out http://www.underconsideration.com/brandnew/
SOme of this logos sux. I prefer logoyes.com for my logo choice.
They are funny and smart, but it’s very easy when you make the logo first and then decide the name. The process is usually inverted :-)
Very nice list. Thanks for the explanations.
Who did these? I may need one logo designed and would like to contact one of the artists.
http://ml-in.facebook.com/photo.php?op=1&view=all&subj=189259930580&aid=-1&pid=2053557&id=542903243&oid=189259930580
save our seas was designed by http://www.fabienneanghern.com
oops:
http://www.fabienneangehrn.com
truly amazing collection
Amazing!!! Very Nice Collection, Congrats !!!
wow,, awesome…, like this whole collection
Very Talented!
Looking at these just make me think about redoing my logo, but that’s in the near future.
Had to digg this.
Wow! Wonderful ideas! so smart & clever! :-D thanks for sharing!
Genius design…really! Lion Bird is fantastic.
Great list. I wish you had credited the designers that created the amazing work.
These are beautifully simplistic and minimalist which is lovely! And even if some of the negative comments on here are true the logos illustrate what can be achieved with a creative mind and a talent for design!
Nice selection.
But you forgot the best one: Fed Ex
;)
Amazing collection. Got into the brains of intelligent designers.
wannabee join ing ing ing
Inspiring!
awesome compilation and great work by the logo creators…
Love the list. Pokerhills can also represent; “Poke her hills”. As the cards do resemble the feminine shape, with a heart tattoo to match.
Really like Pepperhorn. Lovely collection.
the big ten football conference has a pretty ingenious logo. when the conference added an eleventh team, they didn’t want to change the name, so they incorporated an 11 in the negative space of the logo.
http://clevelandleader.com/files/bigten.jpg
If sometime I´ve got enough money to pay design my logo, I am sure will be with you. Farfallina kids wear (Ubatuba-Brasil)