Unbelievably Clever Logo Designs
You probably see hundreds of logos a day — and forget just as many of them! These days, it’s hard to create a logo design that cuts through the stream of information and makes a memorable impression on viewers. That’s why these unbelievably clever logo designs are an inspiration for what you can achieve by using creative, outside-the-box design.
1. 2024 Summer Olympics
Creating a memorable logo doesn’t have to be complex — sometimes it just means keeping things simple, clean, and clever. The logo for the upcoming Summer Olympics, reveals 2, 4, and a silhouette of the iconic Eiffel Tower.
2. Pepperhorn
This logo for Pepperhorn is another example of using the two elements of a company’s name to create a unified logo.
3. Greenlabs
Greenlabs plays up both their intelligence and their focus on ecology by combining a brain and a tree into this unique and memorable logo.
4. Australian Pork
Australian Pork found a creative way to combine the two unique features of their brand — their home country and a pig’s nose — into another one of our favorite unbelievably clever logo designs.
5. Iron Duck Clothing
It’s a tough task to make a logo that marries together the concepts of ducks and fashion, but in the hands of a talented designer nothing is impossible. Here, Iron Duck Clothing pulls together imagery of a duck and a hanger to create a unique and memorable logo.
6. Wine Searcher
A major part of creative logo design is finding visual concepts that speak to all elements of a brand’s identity. Here, Wine Searcher has pulled together wine bottles and glasses to create a charming logo that speaks to these two different concepts.
7. Le Tour de France
By thinking outside the box, you can really make your typography come to life. That’s just what Le Tour de France did here by turning the letter R into a sleek cyclist image.
8. Magic Coffee
Is it a cup of coffee on a saucer or a magic hat? It’s both! Once again, we see how design can play with our expectations and our visual perception in a simple yet elegant logo.
9. Sushi
How do you take a simple concept and turn it into something visually appealing and evocative? Well, one of the tricks you’ll see in these unbelievably clever logo designs is the use of hidden imagery, like turning the letter H into a set of chopsticks with a tasty sushi morsel inside them.
10. Yoga Australia
The creative use of negative space is an underappreciated aspect of creative logo design. While you might miss it at first, a careful examination of this logo will eventually reveal the secret image created by the open space between our yoga model’s arms and body.
11. Lion Bird
This logo for Lion Bird is a great example of putting together two different shapes in a single logo. As you can see, this logo has both a bird and a lion’s face that alternately pop out based on what you’re focusing on.
12. Helping Hands for Pets
Here’s a good example of a logo that keeps drawing the viewer in through creative use of negative space and embedded imagery. In just a few seconds, you can understand the mission of the company as well as all the types of animals they serve. Now that’s good logo design!
13. Snake
Some of the most unbelievably clever logo designs offer viewers a reward for looking a little closer, like this logo, which has artfully hidden a snake inside their clean typographical design.
14. Beats
While you almost certainly recognize this logo, there’s a good chance you might have missed the secret image hidden in it. Take a closer look — do you see it? In the white circle, the “b” forms the lower part of a headphone earbud. Sometimes, clever logo designs can be invisible — even to people who have seen it hundreds of times.
15. The Guild of Food Writers
Here’s a great example of a logo telling the whole story of a brand in just a few simple strokes. As soon as you look at this logo, you can immediately see a spoon and a pen, which encapsulates the essence of The Guild of Food Writers.
16. Chick-fil-a
Chick-fil-a does a great job of showing how a logo can be clever while still retaining a sense of playfulness. By incorporating a cartoon chicken into their logo, they connect viewers both to their product as well as the family-friendly culture of their restaurants.
17. Circus of Magazines
Using a simple black-and-white design, this logo artfully combines two concepts into a single visually appealing logo. This is exactly the kind of work that will get you onto a list of the most unbelievably clever logo designs!
18. Ninety Percent
Just by nudging the top circle a little bit to the right, the designer here was able to create a clever and memorable logo that clearly conveys the brand’s identity in a simple, easy-to-remember format.
19. Cisco
You have probably heard of Cisco, but you probably haven’t spent much time thinking about their logo. But if you look at the lines in the logo, you can see a hidden homage to their hometown of San Francisco as the lines to replicate the iconic Golden Gate Bridge. Now, you are never going to be able to see anything other than that when you see this logo!
20. Backspace
With a name like Backspace, the logo concepts make themselves! You can see that the A is missing in the name, and the cursor at the end subconsciously compels viewers to hit the backspace key. This is a great example of connecting with viewers on a higher level through clever branding.
Inspired by these Clever Logos?
You might enjoy learning more about these company logo secrets, which explores why clever logos may not be all they’re cracked up to be. Or read about the history of these original logos of companies.