Smiling has always been associated not only with positive emotions but also with a kind attitude. Scientists have found at least 50 types of smiles in people. Therefore, it is only natural that logos that utilize a smile are popular. These days, a good logo is not just an image that identifies a company. It is a tool for communicating with the target audience. The friendlier the logo is, the more likely it is to positively impact the company’s image. It’s no coincidence that the smile is so widely used in modern logo design.
In some logos, you can see a hidden smile that is not immediately obvious. But if you look closely, the curved line suggests certain associations.
When designers create a company logo, they consider many nuances. For example, they consider the nature of the business and the image they want the target audience to have.
The curved line used in many modern logos is associated with a smile. It attracts customers’ attention and creates a positive image. This is understandable because a smile often conveys emotions that can bring even strangers together. When a company uses a smile in its visual image, it hints to customers that it strives to make them happy with its products and services. Below are examples of famous logos that feature the smiling symbol.
Amazon
This is one of the most famous companies specializing in online sales. Although Jeff Bezos founded the company in 1994, it has been popular worldwide for years. As an industry leader offering customers a wide range of consumer goods, the company quickly gained credibility. It has become a giant in its segment.
The Amazon logo looks very stylish. Under the characteristic black font used for the company name, you can see a yellow curved line with an arrow. On the one hand, this tells customers they are in the right place and will find what they want to buy. On the other hand, the logo’s veiled smile makes it stylish, original, and friendly to the target audience.
The effective contrast between bright yellow and black makes the logo recognizable despite its minimalist design. It looks friendly and attractive. Stylizing the smile as an arrow is a good decision. At the same time, it strongly suggests that the company brings joy to customers worldwide through its products.
Amazon’s visual style makes a lasting impression because it is thoughtfully designed.
Goodwill
This non-profit organization operates in the United States. Its mission is to help train and employ people facing obstacles. It’s no coincidence that the organization’s visual image uses a smile twice. It is half of the smiling face at the top of the logo on the left side. At the bottom of the same figure is a stylized capital letter of the company name, reduced in size.
Despite this goodwill, the logo uses rather cold colors. This is not strange, as the color scheme, which conveys seriousness and professionalism, is appropriate here. The combination of black, white, and blue speaks to the organization’s reliability. At the same time, the smile softens the logo’s semantic field and conveys benevolence.
Edgar J. Helms founded Goodwill in 1902. It has religious origins and is associated with the Morgan Methodist Chapel in Boston. Previously, the circular emblem’s centerpiece was a black cross with inscriptions inside. It bore the organization’s name and the word “way.” The emblem’s perimeter bore the inscription: “Not mercy, but a chance.” This reflects the organization’s work, which helps people with employment problems learn new job skills.
Colgate
Few people have not heard of this type of toothpaste. Although the company’s product line is broader, it includes a variety of products designed for dental and oral care. The brand is part of the Colgate-Palmolive group and was founded in 1806. Even among Colgate fans, few people know about the brand’s long history. Another interesting fact is that the logo’s color palette, despite numerous redesigns, has remained unchanged, even as trends have shifted over time.
The company has chosen a successful color solution for the logo. The combination of white and red colors creates a pleasant visual contrast, stands out, and looks bright. The italics look appropriate, and the smooth-edged font conveys loyalty and friendliness. And now, actually, let’s move on to the smile. Most people associate Colgate with a beautiful, snow-white smile. Even today, the company is represented in a variety of industries (from soap to pet food), but people still associate it with a healthy smile. This is reflected in the Colgate logo, which is recognizable and cute.
While it is not a literal representation of a smile, the curved white line cleverly conveys this understanding and the necessary association. This shows the logo designer did a good job.
Telenet
This Belgian company operates in the telecommunications industry. It was founded in 1996. As the country’s largest cable TV provider, the company is confident in the market segment it operates in. In addition to digital and analog television, it specializes in cellular and fixed-line communications. The company works with residential consumers and business customers under the Telenet Solutions brand.
The logo uses yellow and gray colors. The company name is shown in gray. An emblem sits in front of it. Inside the rectangular icon with smooth edges, you can see a smile and a wink. It vaguely resembles a smiley face, but the emblem’s shape immediately evokes television.
Experts note how effectively the logo’s color scheme balances boldness and modesty. The former shows up in the cheerful, slightly daring logo, while the latter appears in the font color and soft lettering. Altogether, it looks attractive and harmonious.
Danone
The French dairy products company is known worldwide and is associated with healthy food. The Danone logo is known to millions worldwide, as it appears regularly on supermarket shelves. The company name appears in a blue gradient font. Below it, a curved red line symbolizes a hidden smile. This color scheme suggests the care, love, and warmth the manufacturer invested in creating the product.
Danone is one of those companies that can boast a solid history. It has been operating since 1919. Its founder was Isaac Carasso. By the way, the company’s name has an interesting origin. It was named in honor of the founder’s son, Daniel. The father used a shortened version of his heir’s name as the basis. This is very touching, given that many Danone consumers are parents.
Today, the company’s scale is staggering. Ten years ago, the company employed about 100,000 people.
Bledina
The smile in this logo is not accidental; it is well-conceived, as Bledina is a sub-brand of Danone. Many children love this baby food. The smile in the logo looks elegant and gentle.
The color scheme combines green, white, and yellow. The badge’s arc-shaped contours stylishly harmonize with the “warm” yellow line, symbolizing a smile. Above the letter “e” is a stylized accent badge shaped like a grain. This hints at the products’ high-quality organic composition, which is pleasant and healthy for children.
TUI Group
This company, which has offices worldwide, was originally registered in Hannover (Lower Saxony). The German tour operator reached heights in its field that many competing companies could not.
From 1923 to 2002, the company was called Preussag AG. It operated in industrial transportation and logistics. Since then, the company has sold many of its industrial assets, converted its operations, and acquired several tourism-sector companies.
The company is not only successful but also has a stylish red-colored logo. In front of the company name, a stylized smile is formed by connecting and transitioning the letters of the word “TUI” into one another, resembling a winking smile. This visual technique is very successful. It conveys an intriguing emotion and invites modern tourists to join the company’s travels.
A simple sans-serif font suits this logo. It looks clean and does not distract from the visual impact mentioned above. By the way, the font was chosen for capital letters.
Kraft Foods
The company specializes in producing and selling packaged food products. It has achieved great success in its field, becoming the world’s second-largest company in this industry.
James Kraft founded the company in 1903. He served as president from 1909 to 1953. This American food industry giant is headquartered in Northfield, Illinois.
The company logo looks very stylish and interesting. The name is set in blue type. Opposite it, there is an original multicolored visual element reminiscent of a flower or fireworks. Regardless of interpretation, this composition evokes positive emotions. This visual technique conveys friendliness and attentiveness, which the company strives to deliver to its multi-million-strong audience.
Below the first word in the company’s name is a curved blue gradient line. It resembles a smile, further enhancing the positive emotions the logo conveys. Not for nothing, the overall composition looks modern, relevant, and successful.
Smile-Expo
This company specializes in organizing large-scale business events. Over its almost 15-year existence, the company has held more than 270 events in 14 countries.
The smile appears not only in the logo but also in the company’s name. Analysts in visual brand identification consider this logo successful for two reasons. First, it is simple and clear, which is important in business. Secondly, it is competently designed, making it an effective tool for communicating with the company and the target audience.
The logo has no hidden meanings or hard-to-analyze elements. This can be interpreted as the company’s ability to conduct business transparently and provide clients with a truly professional approach, which is important in its industry.
The orange-and-white color palette is an effective choice, conveying both friendliness and concreteness. The gradient smiley face with an open, pleasant smile leans toward cooperation and friendliness, suggesting strong prospects for Smile-Expo’s events.
The visual technique, in which the smile line resembles a whirlpool, is quite interesting. It can be interpreted as the constancy of a good mood and dynamism in the company’s development. At the same time, the message about the company’s readiness to deliver excellent experiences to customers at organized events speaks to its responsibility.
A smiling face in a square frame with sharp corners balances the composition, as if reminding us that the company organizes business events.
Yummy United
This brand includes a veiled smile in its logo for a reason. By producing children’s goods, the company strives to evoke positive emotions in its audience and is associated with benevolence and reliability.
Here, we see a combination of green, black, and white colors. The emblem’s soft contours soften the contrast in the color scheme. A smile appears under the letter “Y.” Here, a bold white line is used. This contour softens the letter’s vertical strip. As a result, it carries positive meaning and supports the composition’s harmony.
The logo’s color combination reflects the company’s fidelity to its principles and traditions, as well as its reliability. By the way, this international company has a unique feature: a so-called children’s board of directors. Its task is to approve the best product flavors for production. The company first implemented this idea in Italy in 2019; now, it uses it in its representative offices in other countries.
JoyToy
This is another famous children’s brand. But here we are no longer talking about food products, but about toys, as the name makes clear. The combination of different colors in the logo makes it fun and interesting. And the smile adds even more excitement, reminding us of the central emotion of joy that accompanies all children’s games.
Another important point worth noting is the diagonal arrangement of elements. It reflects the playfulness and lightness that the company aims to bring to its toy users’ lives.
The logo combines creative notes with a serious, thoughtful approach, emphasizing the high quality of its products.
PeoplePC
This company is a well-known American Internet service provider. Although its logo is one of the simplest on this list, it conveys everything it needs to. The thin blue lines of the sans-serif font look elegant. Below the letters “O” and “P” is an arc-shaped line that resembles a smile. The composition looks elegant and stylish. If you look closely, you can see not only a veiled smile but a full smiling face. It is formed using the two letters mentioned above. Not by accident, this part of the logo composition is highlighted in a lighter color.
The logo’s designers achieved a creative balance. This logo is also seen as a realization of a complex intellectual concept, which is valuable and appropriate for the high-tech industry in which the company operates.
The company was founded in 1999. Its headquarters are located in Atlanta. It is considered one of the low-cost providers in demand among customers.
Argos
Argos is a chain of stores that specializes in catalog sales. Before the company’s logo took its current form, it underwent 2 modifications. But despite this, the color scheme remained the same. The company unveiled its first logo in 1972. Then, it used a non-standard, complex font and combined the first and last letters of the word. This combination of letters at the bottom of the logo could have symbolized a veiled smile, but it wasn’t clear enough.
Over time, the complex logo became increasingly minimalist. The font became simpler, but that didn’t make the logo primitive. Instead, it became more expressive and recognizable. The same red-and-white color palette was retained, which looks both contrasting and confident. But the colors have changed places. The white brand-name font sits on a red background. The arc-shaped line below the text resembles a smile, which makes the logo even cuter.
Hasbro
This American company was founded in 1923. The company specializes in toy production. It is considered the world’s largest producer of children’s toys and board games. This manufacturing giant’s logo changed seven times before its current version was approved. Since 2009, the logo has remained unchanged.
By the way, both the company’s logo and name changed over time. Originally, the company was called Hassenfeld Brothers. Starting in 1968, the name changed several times until, in 1985, it was shortened to Hasbro.
The modern logo reflects both visual brilliance and semantic depth. This logo is hardly minimalist. First, note the smooth sans-serif font. It conveys the company’s loyalty and goodwill. Below the company name is an abstract smile. Thin white lines harmonize with the font color.
The whole composition is inside a blue-and-turquoise square with a diagonal gradient fill. It looks stylish, bright, playful, and interesting. The logo fully conveys that the company values tradition, produces high-quality products, and strives to bring joy to its young users.
Crayola
This American company produces art supplies. Customers appreciate its products, and for good reason: the company has been successfully operating in its industry for more than a hundred years. The company was founded in 1885. The logo has changed repeatedly, exactly ten times. The first version had an intricate design with many small elements. The company developed the modern version in 2006. It looks bright and stylish, so it remains relevant today.
The logo is positioned diagonally, which conveys dynamism and creative impulse. It is optimistic and friendly. Over time, the yellow color in the company logo has become increasingly saturated, and now it looks especially bright.
For the company name, we chose green because it harmonizes well with yellow. And, of course, the logo includes a smile. It is drawn as a rainbow, symbolic of this company. It can be interpreted as a boundless creative impulse. Thus, the logo, approved in 2006 and still in use today, reflects the company’s sphere of activity: producing goods that foster creativity as effectively as possible.
Playmobil
This German company specializes in toy production. Its logo has changed only twice. The current design dates back to 1976. The brand itself was founded in 1974. To date, the company’s specialization is quite broad. It is not only toys but also collectibles. As for toys, the main items are construction sets and small figures of people.
The brand’s visual style remains relevant, even though the logo is several decades old. Nevertheless, the logo is cute and interesting. It looks stylish and attractive.
The wordmark is located horizontally. It uses a bright blue color. Although the font is quite simple, it has one interesting feature: slightly flattened letter edges. We didn’t even need serifs to make the letters interesting and visually appealing. Another feature is the elongated, beveled point on the left, above the letter “I.”
Above the lettering is an image of a child’s smiling face. A darker blue shade creates visual contrast.
The logo looks so friendly that it immediately evokes trust. Different tones in the blue palette convey the company’s seriousness and professionalism. The good-natured smile also reminds viewers of the field it operates in.
Gear Best
This company is based in China and works in the e-commerce segment. The large online store specializes in selling gadgets, clothing, and accessories. Today, the company has grown so much that it has warehouses on all continents. Gear Best is known for fast, secure shipping.
The brand’s visual style is quite simple. Nevertheless, it is bright and recognizable. Next to the brand name, set in black type, is an emblem. It is a yellow square with beveled edges. Inside it, the lower part of the letter “G” is stylized to form a symbolic smile.
The black-and-yellow combination is common in the visual identity of large e-commerce platforms. This contrast looks modern and relevant. It helps convey to the target audience that the company is energetic and progressive. Analyzing the symbolism of the logo’s color palette, we can see an emphasis on purchase safety and the high quality of the goods offered. These values support the company’s positioning.
Licious
This Indian company was founded in 2015. It specializes in trading meat products. The company operates in the retail segment. The company’s founders are Vivek Gupta and Abhay Khanjura. The company has a website and a delivery service that operates across India. It delivers meat and seafood to customers within 2 hours of ordering. The company even has its own mobile app.
The Indian company’s visual style looks very progressive. Black combined with red creates a striking, bright, and interesting color solution. Above the letters “I,” you can see red dots, and below them, a red arc-shaped line reminiscent of a smile.
Although the inscription itself looks quite strict, the smile balances it and adds a more joyful emotion, making the logo feel balanced.
Thanks to a successful logo, the company conveys modernity, reliability, respectability, and a serious approach to its business. This matters in a responsible industry like food sales.
IHOP
The visual image of this American company has evolved significantly. Since 1958, the logo has changed four times. While many companies try to keep certain elements of their history in updated logos, IHOP’s has changed dramatically. The logo has changed beyond recognition, and nothing reminds me of the original, which looked elegant and vintage. At the same time, it would be unfounded to say that the logo has worsened. It just became different. The company chose a minimalist approach to transforming its logo.
The original IHOP logo resembled a wooden restaurant entrance with a lantern on top. It featured the words “International House of Pancakes.” By the way, this was the company’s original name.
The current logo features the company name in blue and an arcing red line at the bottom of the logo’s second half. This unambiguous line suggests a smile, which is quite appropriate for a restaurant chain. Despite its current simplicity, the logo seems to remind us, “You are always welcome here.”
Alibaba
This Chinese e-commerce company is a real giant. This is no exaggeration, as Alibaba operates in more than 200 countries. For comparison, its profits exceed the combined profits of all American companies in the same sphere.
The conglomerate was founded in 1999. It consists of 18 co-founders, including the world-famous Jack Ma. By the way, he also came up with the name.
In the company logo, alongside its name, you can see a happy, smiling human face inside the letter “A.” If we look at the logo’s semantic load, it is quite clear: the company aims to make its customers happy and to broadcast this to the world.
However, the logo has many critics. They agree that the literal metaphor of a happy face is very predictable. Some suggest this was the logo’s first version. Thus, they hint at the concept’s imperfection and lack of thoughtfulness.
Nevertheless, the logo does not prevent the company from being an industry leader and pleasing many customers. Therefore, its composition is quite appropriate.
This is a selection of logos from famous companies that use a smile in their visual identity. Somewhere, this smile is more explicit; somewhere, it’s hidden, but all of them are interesting objects to consider and analyze.
Wendy’s
Vegeta
Starbucks
KFC
Chef Boyardee
