The Beats logo has a secret meaning (and you won't believe you missed it)
Spot the headphones.
Ah, Beats. The Dr. Dre-founded headphone brand has faded from the spotlight somewhat thanks to Apple's wildly ubiquitous AirPods range – but that's not to say they aren't still pretty popular. Also popular is the logo, which users to this day are only just spotting carries a clever visual Easter egg.
At first glance, it just looks like a rounded 'b' inside a circle, right? Look again. Like many of the best logos of all time, this one has more going on – and in this case, there's a delightfully appropriate hidden image.
A TikTok video (below) has pointed out that the logo also resembles a side profile of somebody wearing headphones. And just in case it isn't obvious, the video (by digital marketing agency Raising Sails) even adds an eye and smiling mouth to the face. It's impossible to unsee after that.
@raisingsails Hidden logo meaning - I NEVER recognized this! 😂😱 ##fyp ##LetsFaceIt ##logo ##beatsbydre ##marketingdigital
♬ Stunnin' (feat. Harm Franklin) - Curtis Waters
RaisingSails is by no means the first to notice the hidden image – plenty of users have taken to Twitter to declare to the world that they too have spotted the little circular headphone-clad head. Because what's Twitter for if not sharing such life-changing realisations?
I was this many years/days old when I realised the Beats logo is infact not a lower case B but a wee red dot wearing white headphones. Go figure.June 24, 2021
U ever realize the beats logo is a person wearing the headphones?May 19, 2021
From Toyota's surprisingly communicative symbol to this video game logo that's stuffed with surprises, we've seen no shortage of hidden messages in logos big and small over the last few months. For 50 of them in one place, check out this mind-blowing infographic revealing the best logo design secrets. And if you fancy creating a logo of your own, take a look at the best Adobe Creative Cloud deals below.
Read more:
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- One of Apple's newest iPhone models could already be doomed
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Daniel John is Design Editor at Creative Bloq. He reports on the worlds of design, branding and lifestyle tech, and has covered several industry events including Milan Design Week, OFFF Barcelona and Adobe Max in Los Angeles.