Creative designs that can reveal something beyond what is initially perceived and reaslised intrigue viewers and attract them to the object of design (e.g., image of brand logo): implicit visual information, hidden meanings, a puzzle or metaphor. Inspiring designs can improve memorability of the brand and strengthen a positive brand attitude. However, the designed image should not be overly artistic (i.e., distracting), neither be too complicated nor challenging to interpret (i.e., deterring). A successful creative visual design needs mostly to be clear, aesthetic, and inviting to explore and contemplate.
This post is dedicated to a particular form of creative design that is based on an interplay between ‘positive space’ and ‘negative space’, as introduced with 51 examples of brand logo designs by Digital Synopsis (“51 Creative Logos That Use Negative Space”, DigitalSynopsis.com, viewed September 2023). The ‘spaces’ contain explicit and implicit figures, respectively, with associated meanings, which may complement each other, and sometimes combine into an integrated, expanded meaning. (Note: Digital Synopsis provides an online professional guide and resource of creative ideas and exemplars for design in advertising and branding.)
Digital Synposis explains that in art and design, “the negative space is the background space around and between the subject of an image.” The subject occupies thereby the ‘positive space’ and is the dominant figure to be perceived in the pictorial image. For example, the shape of a palm tree is a ‘positive space’ while the sky background and the space between the branches and leaves are ‘negative space’. Yet, in a creative design, the negative space may receive a shape or form of a figure representing its own meaning. Side by side with graphic aspects of creating such designs, we should pay attention also to psychological aspects of perception that apply in viewing, distinguishing between spaces, and interpreting them. Hence, the key and link to understanding the design concept from the psychological perspective of the consumers-viewers is: “Negative space can be used creatively to form compelling visuals that have dual or hidden meanings“.
From the consumer’s viewpoint, this is an exercise in (visual) perception: different figures are embedded in the same image, offering dual meanings. At a given moment, one of the figures is explicit and the other hidden or implicit. However, what one sees (i.e., perceives) is the product of visual focus or perspective (i.e., how one looks at the image and to what part he or she attends). Viewers can alternate between figures by shifting their focus of attention, even without moving their eyes (i.e., shifting the point of focus within the visual field captured while holding the same fixation on the logo image). Hence, this kind of creative design involves alternating perceptions, although this may be a more modest case of the phenomenon (further explanation is given below).
The following annotations are proposed for a subset of selected exemplars of brand logos (logos were chosen where the ‘negative space’ seemed more successful in adding meaning to the whole logo image or creative in its implicit embedding of a figure and meaning in the image) — Look before reading:
- Logo 2: The title BATMAN appears with two white eyes at the bottom of ‘M’ = head figure of Batman (black background, text colour red);
- Logo 4: Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium — a tree (oak) appears as foreground figure (black) / facial profiles of a gorilla and a leopard are ‘nested’ in the (white) background space between the roots of the tree and the branches above;
- Logo 9: Safari into Africa — a white space is shaped in the form of the African continent, positioned between legs of the explicit figure of an elephant (combined meaning: an elephant in the African safari);
- Logo 11: Snooty Peacock — the main figure is portrait of a lady with blown hairdressing (purple) covering half her face / revealed half of her face (white space) is shaped like the body of a peacock while the lady’s hair can be interpreted as the peacock’s wide-open tail;
- Logo 17: Yoga Australia — a girl exercising yoga (black figure) / “The hand and leg enclosure forms the map of Australia” (annotation in origin, part of white background);
- Logo 19: Kölner Zoo — the explicit main figure is an elephant (green) / white space between the trunk and front leg in form of a giraffe + white space between front and back legs in form of a rhinoceros;
- Logo 24: Ed’s Electric — white foreground objects, plug and socket, appear on black background, but as part of background, the letter “E” lies between the white foreground objects (“E” pops-up as foreground figure while it is in background);
- Logo 30: FedEx (Federal Express) — the attached words (abbreviated) of the brand name ‘Fed‘ (purple) and ‘Ex‘ (orange) appear on white background / a white interim ‘negative space’ between the ‘E’ and ‘x’ is shaped in the form of an arrow that signifies moving forward (the additional sub-title “Express” is probably meant to emphasise ‘moving fast’) — it is one of the best known, and frequently cited, brand logos;
- Logo 38: Flight Finder — on sky blue background, two white letters “F” are positioned against each other, one as mirrored image of the other, with blue negative space enclosed between them in shape of an airplane;
- Logo 43: Happy Catfish — a foreground figure of the fish (black) ‘wraps’ the facial figure of a smiling cat as negative space, part of the background (grey), as if explaining the dual name of the type of fish, while the cat’s smile signifies the happy catfish — perfectly merging the meanings of the brand name in the logo image.
Some additional logos deserve mentioning (e.g., Logo 3 Artpeak, Logo 14 Two Knives, Logo 29 Formula 1, Logo 35 One Design) — they also are clever and appealing. The logo of One Design warrants, however, a critical note: The ‘One’ is represented in two forms, the word “ONE” and the number “1” in the middle of the word (black), but the letter “N” in white, as part of background, overrides the “1” — in this logo the “N” in negative space seems forced, hence artificial and confusing.
The phenomenon of duality in visual perception has been discovered and tested in experiments by researchers in psychology with exemplary images that demonstrate rivalry between two visual percepts. Some well-known examples in this ‘genre’ include: (1) vase / two faces (silhouette); (2) rabbit / duck; (3) young woman (‘wife’) / old lady (‘mother-in-law’). Example 1 is more similar in style to the brand logos, composed of ‘positive space’ and ‘negative space’. Yet, examples 2 and 3 are more sophisticated and ambiguous because viewers typically cannot see the two distinct figures (percepts) at the same time — they must alternate perceptions while viewing the image to see each of them (this is known as ‘bistable perception’, meaning that at any moment one of the perceived figures is visually stable).
The ambiguous images exhibit at least three properties that can distinguish them from images composed of negative space and positive space: (1) the figures in an ambiguous image largely occupy the same space (overlapping) rather than adjacent or intertwined (the ‘positive’ figure is usually more dominant) ; (2) The figures in an ambiguous image have mostly separate meanings rather than complementary; and (3) as explained above, the figures are hard to see simultaneously in an ambiguous image.
Therefore, in more sophisticated and ambiguous pictorial images, viewers often have difficulty to change their perspective and see something different in an image from what they have seen or perceived initially (i.e., shift from what is explicit and apparent for them to what eludes them — alternating between them requires somewhat more effort). In most of the examples brought by Digital Synopsis this looks to be less of an issue because of a clearer separation between positive space and negative space. Thereby, less effort is required for alternating perception more quickly until a viewer may get the impression of perceiving the explicit and implicit figures conjointly. Yet, some logo designs are still more challenging.
The creative use of negative space in the design of brand logos is intriguing: it can increase interest and captivate viewers who reveal the added meaning embedded in the visual design of the logo. A clever design does not necessarily mean being complex; furthermore, a more sophisticated design, and especially an ambiguous image, does not necessarily contribute to communicating a vital message to consumers about the brand. The more commendable logo designs appear to be those that are artful and clever, yet not too effortful to ‘decipher’ and interpret, and of course are aesthetically appealing.
Consumer / Shopper / Customer Behaviour 