Secret messages hidden in famous logos from around the world

Ever wondered why there is a beautiful a mermaid placed in the middle of the Starbucks Coffee logo?

The café chain originated in Seattle, a city known for its seaport origins, so the company founders wanted a subtle nod to their roots in the design.

The original Starbucks logo featured a 16th century Norse woodprint of a naked siren (or mermaid) with two tails, with her naked breasts exposed.

In 2011, the current logo was finalised, with her breasts no longer visible and a closer zoom-in on her face.

The design team had been pondering how to make the logo look more human, worried that her symmetrical beauty made her “creepy”.

“As a team we were like, ‘There’s something not working here, what is it?'” global creative director Connie Birdsall told Fast Company. “It was like, ‘Oh, we need to step back and put some of that humanity back in. The imperfection was important to making her really successful as a mark.”

“In the end, just for the face part of the drawing, there’s a slight asymmetry to it. It has a bit more shadow on the right side of the face,” design partner Bogdan Geana added.

“It felt a bit more human, and felt less like a perfectly cut mask.”