# An experiment: Tell me if you can see the arrow **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 29, 2004, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-experiment-tell-me-if-you-can-see-the-arrow/277102 "2004-11-29T05:48:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![gardentraveler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gardentraveler/32/3576_2.png) [@gardentraveler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gardentraveler)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2004, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-experiment-tell-me-if-you-can-see-the-arrow/277102/21 "2004-11-29T12:27:39Z")
I’m part of the “didn’t see it till I read the spoiler” crowd. Saw the kiwis, but only because I was already thinking about looking at the negative space. ---
**Author:** ![Antigen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Antigen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antigen)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2004, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-experiment-tell-me-if-you-can-see-the-arrow/277102/22 "2004-11-29T12:29:20Z")
Ever since that other thread about the logo, that arrow is _all_ I see. It’s driving me crazy! ---
**Author:** ![clayton\_e](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c57346/32.png) [@clayton\_e](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clayton_e)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2004, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-experiment-tell-me-if-you-can-see-the-arrow/277102/23 "2004-11-29T13:28:03Z")
I only saw it after reading “tell me if you can see the arrow”… I never noticed it before. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2004, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-experiment-tell-me-if-you-can-see-the-arrow/277102/24 "2004-11-29T14:23:03Z")
I also spotted it within a couple of seconds. Sounds like we’re **all** a bunch of little kids. ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2004, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-experiment-tell-me-if-you-can-see-the-arrow/277102/25 "2004-11-29T14:36:41Z")
Never noticed it before, but once you said there was an arrow somewhere, I saw it immediately. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2004, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-experiment-tell-me-if-you-can-see-the-arrow/277102/26 "2004-11-29T14:42:59Z")
I never saw it till a guy on a 60 Minutes story pointed it out. I’ve since wondered if FedEx did it deliberately, or if it just worked out they way. ---
**Author:** ![caphis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e19adc/32.png) [@caphis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/caphis)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2004, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-experiment-tell-me-if-you-can-see-the-arrow/277102/27 "2004-11-29T14:45:39Z")
> [@Larry Mudd](#): > > In some ways, the best logo I ever made was for “Spirit Optical” and the logo consisted of elegant text reading “SPIRIT”, which formed a stylized drawing of a woman’s face. (The letters were mostly formed of arcs- the “s” and the tail of the “p” formed a lock of hair, the loop of the “p” the left frame of her eyeglasses, the “I” and part of the tail of the “R” the bridge of her nose, the top curve of the "R"the right eyeglass frame, and the “IT” the edge of her face and some hair. (Damn I wish I could just link to the logo, that really sucks as a description.) So why can’t you? That sound pretty neat. ---
**Author:** ![AngelicGemma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/439d5e/32.png) [@AngelicGemma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AngelicGemma)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2004, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-experiment-tell-me-if-you-can-see-the-arrow/277102/28 "2004-11-29T14:47:54Z")
I didn’t see it until I read the clue, but I wasn’t looking hard. ---
**Author:** ![shijinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@shijinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shijinn)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2004, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-experiment-tell-me-if-you-can-see-the-arrow/277102/29 "2004-11-29T15:11:01Z")
> [@LorieSmurf](#): > > I noticed it, but only because you said “see the arrow”. If you hadn’t have said that, I probably wouldn’t have noticed. I’ve looked at this logo a zillion times and never noticed it before. me nine. ---
**Author:** ![trupa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/aeb1de/32.png) [@trupa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/trupa)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2004, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-experiment-tell-me-if-you-can-see-the-arrow/277102/30 "2004-11-29T15:19:53Z")
> [@LorieSmurf](#): > > I noticed it, but only because you said “see the arrow”. If you hadn’t have said that, I probably wouldn’t have noticed. I’ve looked at this logo a zillion times and never noticed it before. Ditto. Exactly. One more data point. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2004, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-experiment-tell-me-if-you-can-see-the-arrow/277102/31 "2004-11-29T15:30:49Z")
I didn’t see it at first, but I found it after reading the info below the spoiler. I went back and looked at it trying not to see letters and then I was able to spot it. I never read the actual spoiler. ---
**Author:** ![Jadis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/87869e/32.png) [@Jadis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jadis)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2004, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-experiment-tell-me-if-you-can-see-the-arrow/277102/32 "2004-11-29T16:29:28Z")
This reminds me of the alternation that the Big Ten made to their logo when they added Penn State to the mix (thereby making the Big Ten eleven teams). Check out what they did: [http://bigten.collegesports.com/](http://bigten.collegesports.com/) For those that can’t see it: In the negative space between the G-T-E, there’s a blue eleven. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Roscoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f6c823/32.png) [@Captain\_Roscoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Roscoe)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2004, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-experiment-tell-me-if-you-can-see-the-arrow/277102/33 "2004-11-29T16:32:34Z")
I saw it straight away but like others knew about it from a previous thread. The first time round I couldn’t see it until it was pointed out to me. ---
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2004, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-experiment-tell-me-if-you-can-see-the-arrow/277102/34 "2004-11-29T17:50:33Z")
Just saw it. Never knew about it–that’s pretty cool. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2004, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-experiment-tell-me-if-you-can-see-the-arrow/277102/35 "2004-11-29T19:16:35Z")
I saw that ages ago. Where have you guys been? ---
**Author:** ![TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tellmei_mnotcrazy/32/3419_2.png) [@TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TellMeI_mNotCrazy)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2004, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-experiment-tell-me-if-you-can-see-the-arrow/277102/36 "2004-11-29T19:25:53Z")
Read about in another thread here, and now I can’t “unsee” it. Reminds me of the optical illusion type thing where you’re looking at a white page with black splotches. After looking at it enough, you finally realize there’s dalmation there, and once you’ve “discovered” it, you can’t unsee it. ---
**Author:** ![luluBahrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e5b9ba/32.png) [@luluBahrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/luluBahrain)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2004, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-experiment-tell-me-if-you-can-see-the-arrow/277102/37 "2004-11-29T19:37:05Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > I never saw it till a guy on a 60 Minutes story pointed it out. > > I’ve since wondered if FedEx did it deliberately, or if it just worked out they way. They did it deliberately. I read an article from the man in charge of the team who designed it. He had to use different fonts or some such thing on the E and the X in order to get that effect. I would link to it but I have no idea where I saw it now. ---
**Author:** ![FilmGeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@FilmGeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FilmGeek)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2004, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-experiment-tell-me-if-you-can-see-the-arrow/277102/38 "2004-11-29T19:47:45Z")
I see it all the time. I do a lot of puzzling, photography and film making though, so looking at negative space is a must. ---
**Author:** ![rjk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ed655f/32.png) [@rjk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjk)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2004, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-experiment-tell-me-if-you-can-see-the-arrow/277102/39 "2004-11-29T19:51:28Z")
Now that the OP mentioned it, the FIRST arrow is really obvious, as are the hidden messages in the others. Does anybody see the other, more subtle, arrow at the OP’s link? It’s a partial one that your eye fills in. Look at the upper left, between the arms of the ‘F’ and the top of the ‘e’. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_Wright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@Steve\_Wright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_Wright)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2004, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-experiment-tell-me-if-you-can-see-the-arrow/277102/40 "2004-11-29T21:13:49Z")
As with so many before me; since I was _looking_ for an arrow, I spotted it in seconds … but it wouldn’t have occurred to me, if I hadn’t been looking. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-experiment-tell-me-if-you-can-see-the-arrow/277102.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-experiment-tell-me-if-you-can-see-the-arrow/277102.md?page=3)