I’ve read articles about the classic FedEx logo before, but this interview with the design team about the power of negative whitespace is worth a look.
The key to success was subtlety. When you’ve got a genuine bit of magic in your hands, don’t push it at people. Let it happen.
FedEx’s PR firm immediately wanted to supersize it. They wanted to make it obvious, fill it in with another color. They wanted to feature the arrow in other brand communications. They didn’t get it. It wasn’t about the arrow. An arrow isn’t even interesting to look at. It’s only because of the subtlety that it’s intriguing.
