Golden arches. Swoosh. Mouse ears. You know what they mean. Some logos are so powerful that they don’t need to spell out their names, or that they transcend cultural borders. How can these simple, trivial little artworks inspire global familiarity with so many of them having become iconic? Because they’re not trivial or simple.

Iconic logos are masters of subtleties and understatements. In the infographic below (created by our team of journalists), we learn that logos carry sublime color meanings. Do you ever wonder why some logos are bright yellow and some red? Why luxury brands are usually black, white, or brown, while corporate logos are blue?

We know it’s not set in stone, but colors can evoke a specific emotional response from us. Red means active, yellow is energetic, blue is reliable, green is nature, etc. In fact, it doesn’t stop at the obvious; researchers at the University of Rochester in New York believe red can actually “keep us from performing our best on tests.”

Moreover, logos may already be playing with your subconscious at a much earlier stage of your life. Researchers at the University of Amsterdam found that children 2-3 years old could already recall a logo and the product it represents in 67% of cases.

Logos also create value. Interbrand’s 14th Best Global Brand reported that there’s a new number one brand in the world last year: Apple. Coke was defeated for the first time after thirteen consecutive years of dominating the prestigious list.

Many companies will stop at nothing to create the perfect logo. Even to the tune of millions of dollars as part of their branding. The new Pepsi logo was so expensive to create that the agency thought it should justify the million-dollar cost with a lecture on Da Vinci diagrams, yin-yangs, and Mobius strips. On the other end, some popular logos like Twitter and Google cost almost next to nothing!

It’s an interesting world of logos we have here. Far from puny, arbitrary doodles, they are calculated, big business strategy with one thing in mind: that you remember them in your sleep.

CHECK OUT OUR INFOGRAPHIC AND LEARN MORE ABOUT THE HIDDEN POWER OF LOGOS: