In Pictures: Tech logos - the stories behind the designs

When Twitter tweaked its blue bird, the design world was atwitter (pun intended). We spoke with Silicon Valley graphic designer Steve Yamaguma of Design2Market to get his insights into a few familiar tech logos. More goes into design than most people realize. Think: subliminal messages.

TiVo: The Happiest Logo on Television

TiVo's fun, cartoonish logo harks back to the happy-go-lucky days of the dot-com boom. Many of those dot-com logos aren't around anymore, and no one's laughing. But TiVo survived and prospered, its logo has become an everyday icon, and so the TV character can keep on smiling.

Yamaguma's take: "Their use of the logotype and the TV logo icon was used fairly consistently, which helped build their brand recognition. But it was the actual name that really bore its way into mainstream consciousness. Its name has become a verb in today's lexicon, 'Can you TiVo that show tonight?'"

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