Saturday, October 18, 2008

The Apple of Our Eye.


The monochrome Apple logo, used from 1998 to present.






The rainbow Apple logo, used from late 1976 to early 1998.







The logo seen on the start-up of several of Apple's computer systems.

Apple bridged the gap between man and machine. Apple is all about right brain aesthetic. Steve Jobs’ choice to follow what attracted him emotionally led to the first aesthetic computer and opened up an entirely new world to designers. Today, the Apple logo is easily identified worldwide. Its symbol is based in myth and shape.

In the creation myth in the Book of Genesis, God instructs Adam and Eve not to eat from the apple tree in the garden. A serpent taunts Eve when she shies away from the fruit for fear of death. He says that the real reason God forbids the apple is because once she takes a bite of it, her eyes will be opened and she will be “as the Gods, knowing good and evil”.

From the roots of our civilization, the apple has been symbolic of knowledge. As we know, Adam and Eve eat the apple, are expelled from the garden, and life, as we know it, begins—a life of evolution through knowledge and the expanding consciousness. So the apple with the bite out of it, symbolizes the acquisition of awareness.

The Christian story implies that knowledge is corruptive in itself. But there is another side to the story. If Eve didn’t eat the apple, life as we know it would not exist. There would be no evolution of humanity. It might be argued that with the advent of user-friendly computers, knowledge was brought to the masses. The Apple brand suggests it is nothing short of the beginning of creation itself.

In shape terms, the apple is essentially round. The circle is the symbol of unity in every culture throughout time. We are separated out from the wholeness of the universe, literally at the cellular level as we transform into humanness, and then during birth. We strive in love and life to recreate that unity. Marriage is an example of the return to unity: two opposites reunited to create the archetypal whole. The Apple logo also connects with the concept of this return with the active participation of eating the apple or ingesting knowledge by taking a bite out of the all-knowing. The reinforcement of myth with shape symbols creates a very powerful logo indeed. The story and the visual match the intent of transforming the world through the evolution of knowledge, encapsulated in a momentary glance.
"Guest Contributor"

31 comments:

Think Tank said...

baap re ... my apple of the blogger ..apple ka endorsement kyun?

joie de vivre said...

@ think tank
ohh wat a coincidence
i was commentin on ur blog at d same time.
hehe
endorsement nai hai.
btw hws d write up??

Rajesh said...

Well....good analysis...i accpet...apple is really good...But Why endorsing????

lukkydivz said...

me is techinically flaccid :P

Priya Joyce said...

Hey juss thot to comment now..

ha apple ..I've heard tat ppl don't reely like it soon but once they like this OS then they juss can't liv without it..
btw accha write up hai...

Sarath said...

Did not know the apple logo had so many hidden meanings.. good find..

Lucifer said...

informative...

rainboy said...

thank you for adding to my knowledge base .

Anonymous said...

Hey Joie, an award for u on my blog...come check it!!

Hemanth Potluri said...

oye...apple fans president r ya...i am the member in that :P...heheh...nice post :)..

urs..hemu..

Shravan Vijayaprasad said...

I too wanted to ask, why endorsing??

Btw, I totally agree that apple is one of the best brands around!

Trinaa said...

oye apple queen...i agree with farah n mayz..ki hoya yaar?

Aneesh said...

wow! that was really informative.. 'Njoyed reading it. You write well :)

joie de vivre said...

@ buzz
thanx a lott

joie de vivre said...

@ aneesh
hmm
not written by me..

joie de vivre said...

@ tinni
hehe
nai kuch nai hua hai...m finee

Cяystal said...

Apple is CERTAINLY the Apple f my eye ;) :P

I like the doosra logo..but the third's the best! :)
I don't have mch stuff of apple..except a cuz's iPod..which I share at times :)
why so mucha love with Apple,btw?
Nice dp btw

Bhai with Chai said...

wohoo!
the last para... symbol of unity.. marriage etc.. i could never think like that!

Sach1 said...

:-) I was reading something related few days back...
Nice post! :)

Saim said...

n Apple gets a new brand promoter:D

humbl devil said...

btw, you didnt mention the name of the guest contributor...
well written!!!
:)

Keshi said...

o the apple of my eye! :)

Keshi.

Pranay said...

huh?? If this isn't an endorsement what is it?? ;)

Btw, Did Mr.Special write this just coz u forced him to write something in your blog?? *wink* *wink* :D

joie de vivre said...

@ pranay
to your second question, the ans is
"NO"
:)
guest contributor just wanted to share the tghts.

Anonymous said...

lmao.

guest contributer contributed? what, in copying and pasting it?

http://www.aiga.org/content.cfm/the-apple-core-vs-linear-logic

Aneesh said...

then who wrote it?

Anonymous said...

Greetings fellow country men..!!!

I am the person referred here as the "guest contributor"..and i see that this post has created quite a stir.

So lets take them one by one..

First of all..yes this is an excerpt from a bigger article written by Miss Maggie Macnab..an extraordinary person..and I am proud to have worked under her.

Yes..i should have put her name at the end of the post..before "guest contributor"..i regret..

Actually..this was/is a small step..to test the waters before an official design blog was to be introduced..we..(me and my team..{not Miss Macnab}) wanted to know wat sort of response we wud get from people.

This is in no way related to Joie..since she had no idea about this...and yes she was chosen because she has this quite nice blog running which is often visited.

next about endorsing...well..this is in no way endorsment of any kind. This is purely a design analysis of a comapany's brand symbol.

But yes..we do like Apple a lot..because what ever they do..they do it really well..and since i have used most of the stuff in their product line..i can testify to the fact that Apple products are really good..!!

yeah..thats almost it for now...
Thanks to all for ur valued comments..we really appreciate it..

and yes..so wat do u think..will a design blog..(related to indian brands) work..?

Thank you so much..

Regards,

Monai Papachan

Priyanshu Uniyal said...

Man.... I didnt know this before!!! :) Thnx for posting this... Nice one... :)

I'll try 2 be truthful said...

even the shape of yin - yan is like a circle . it's like life goes around a full circle :) i read about steve jobs recently & couldn't help but be inspired .
achha post tha :)

Solitaire said...

I like apples. But they keep the handsome doctors away. :(

Anonymous said...

I'm a sucker for everything Apple.