One of the industry types we follow on twitter is a bloke by the name of Scott Brownlee. He works in the PR department for Toyota UK. He often posts links to interesting stuff, yes really, and he first caught our attention prior to the release of the 86. Or perhaps it was during Le Mans one year.
Anyway, Brownlee has just posted this link which explains the meaning behind the Toyota logo. As a graphic designer by day your AUSmotive editor finds this sort of stuff quite interesting. Not in the least because it’s fun seeing how other designers post-rationalise their solutions:
The three ovals in the Toyota logo are linked in a horizontally symmetrical layout – so it is recognisable both head-on and when seen in a rear-view mirror.
The inner ovals symbolise the heart of the customer and the heart of the company, overlapping to represent a mutually beneficial relationship and trust between the two, as well as forming a ‘T’ shape for Toyota. The outer oval one signifies the world embracing Toyota.
Each oval is drawn with different stroke thicknesses, pointing to Japanese calligraphy art and culture.
The space in the background within the logo is meant to exhibit the ‘infinite values’ which Toyota stands for. These are: superb quality, value beyond expectation, the joy of driving, innovation, and integrity in safety, the environment and social responsibility.
That’s pretty good stuff. Almost as good as the stuff they were smoking when they came up with that explanation!
2 replies on “You’re looking at a mutually beneficial relationship”
Here’s my attempt at rationalising it:
It’s a stylised T (for Toyota) in an oval. The end
Having worked with a Japanese company, I can assure you that they really do put that kind of effort into things like logos and they aren’t just taking the piss. It’s a completely different business culture that most Australians couldn’t possibly understand.
Big tip for getting the best out of a meeting with a Japanese businessman – when they give you their business card, take it with both hands, spend at least 5 seconds reading it, thank them for it and carefully place it in a wallet or (ideally) a dedicated business card holder.