Anyone else notice the ‘hidden’ arrow in the FedEx logo? Focus your eyes in between the bottom of the E in ‘Ex’ and the ‘x’. Oooh. Any other logos with some hidden stuff (this is called, ‘negative space’, I think) we all have probably missed?
It’s kinda hard to ignore once you’ve been clued in about it. 
That “arrow” thing happens pretty much anywhere you get a capital E together with an X. Take, for example, the logo for Bowflex…
Or an emergency exit sign gives you a double-shafted arrow.
The Big 10 conference has a hidden “11” in its logo since they actually have 11 teams (Penn State was admitted in the 90s).
The old Bank of America “BA” logo had an eagle hidden in it, as seen on this mug for auction on eBay (not sure how long the picture will be available).
Can’t find anything in the new “flag” logo, though.
Not exactly. Bowflex’s logo creates an arrow with two lines coming out of it. The notion of creating an arrow had nothing to do with the design of the logo. Whereas in FedEx’s case, the logo’s arrow (designed by Landor) is intentional: the lowercase “x” creates a proper arrow and is meant to allude to the movement of packages.
Can you tell I’m a design geek?
hey you is spot on. i remember when the new logo came out. fed ex sent a little announcement out on the arrow.
also the sleek eagle in the post office’s logo is to make you think of speed. hhhhmmmm.
That is pretty impressive Hey you! 
More specific info about the FedEx brand is here, at Landor’s site. No details about the negative-space arrow, more about their transition from ‘Federal Express’ to FedEx.
Interesting stuff.
The name was originally adopted as they started out overnight shipping float checks between federal reserve banks, only adding freight to fill the planes.
The name was originally adopted as they started out overnight shipping float checks between federal reserve banks, only adding freight to fill the planes.
Sorry Padeye, you’re close… FedEx was always envisioned as a cargo/freight carrier. You’re correct that they tried to get a contract with the Federal Reserve (and that may have played a role in selecting the name), but the contract never happened.
For those interested, there’s some additional info at:
http://www.fedex.com/us/about/express/history.html
From that page:
“The company was named Federal Express because there was a patriotic meaning associated with the word “Federal” that suggested an interest in nationwide economic activity. At that time, [FedEx Founder Frederick W.] Smith was working on obtaining a contract with the Federal Reserve Bank and, although the proposal was denied, he believed the name was a particularly good one for attracting public attention and maintaining name recognition.”