Are you trying to find the perfect style for your logo that will get your brand message across?
Well, we’ll let you in on a little secret.
It’s not just your logo’s color palette and typography that set the tone and character of your brand; it’s your logo’s shape, too.
You shouldn’t choose a shape for your logo based on its aesthetic appeal (i.e. because it looks good), but instead, for the associations it makes in our brains, which can help communicate your message to your target audience.
You may have noticed that compared to circles and squares, you’re far less likely to see a triangle-shaped logo design—which is good news if you want to have a logo that stands out from the crowd!
It’s not by chance that big brands LOVE to use triangles in their logos, as they combine the benefits of both circle and square shapes.
A triangle’s symmetry is pleasing to the eye, especially when all 3 sides are the same size. It represents not only unity (like a circle) but also a sturdy construction and foundation (like a square).
Plus, triangles in design have fantastic flexibility. You can change the meaning of your logo just by changing the triangle’s orientation.
When sitting on its base, a triangle represents incredible stability and upwards momentum. (The Ancient Egyptian Pyramids have stood the test of time for thousands of years, thanks to their triangular design.) Now turn it on its side, and you’ve created a PLAY button; although less stable, it signifies movement and action—perfect if you want to give your logo a sense of urgency or action.
You can even substitute a triangle for other letters of the alphabet, such as ‘A’ and ‘V.’
That’s a lot of flexibility from one shape! So, before you decide what’s right for your brand and head on to the logo maker to design it, let’s take a look at 17 famous triangle logos and what makes them such head-jerkers.
When looking through all the examples below, take note of which elements you can use for your own logo. This is a super varied list, and we’ve put logos here from across as many industries as possible so that you’ll (hopefully) have something to relate to.
Ready to get inspired?
Google Drive’s logo manages to pack a lot of meaning in one icon, even though it looks simple.
Each side of the triangle is a different color and represents one of Google Drive’s features: Blue (DOCS), green (SHEETS), and yellow (SLIDES).
And, by using a triangle instead of a circle, Google has emphasized the trinity of services it provides, while also showing how your data is protected inside of a safe, enclosed structure.
The Google Play logo has gone through many changes, but it’s always kept its signature style of a triangle on its side, representing the PLAY button often found on DVD remotes and Netflix.
And, Google helped to push its branding by adding their company’s colors. Now, whenever we see icons or logos with similar colors, we subconsciously link them to Google.
FILA is an Italian clothing company that was founded in 1911. They originally manufactured clothing for people residing in the Alps, only later turning to other types of clothing.
By turning the letter A into a rounded triangle, they’re able to represent their mountainous origins (durability and stability), as well as showing a softer side of their brand due to the curved corners.
Both are excellent brand characteristics to convey to your audience, and it’s all thanks to a triangle.
HGTV (Home and Garden Television) are famous for their home improvement and gardening content—not just on TV, but also on their blog and on YouTube.
By including a triangle above their logo, they’ve transformed it into a house and created an instantly recognizable brand. Blue is a warm color that’s inviting, as well as an intelligent and robust color.
Airbnb’s logo is simple, yet extraordinarily memorable and contains more than one message for its audience.
The company’s core message is a feeling of “belonging.” As a traveler, you can feel at home no matter where you are.
Flip the logo upside down, and you have a heart icon to represent love. The middle contains a head and arms raised in greeting that represents people, as well as a location icon similar to Google Maps to represent their global reach.
And finally, the triangle shape also stands for A, as in Airbnb. By sticking with a pure white logo on a red background, the icon is visible and easy to remember, thanks to its simplicity.
The Guess logo is eye-catching, with red borders and a red question mark that ends in a triangle instead of a dot. The inverted triangle looks similar to a warning sign, which fits well with Guess’s free-spirited brand aimed at younger audiences looking to make a statement with their clothing.
Reebok used to target only professional athletes, but in 2014 they redesigned their logo. Instead of harsh lines, they switched to a segmented triangle with a softer feel to it.
The new logo shows how the brand is approachable to everyone, not just professional athletes, and a triangle is an excellent shape to signify inclusivity.
Heavy metal music? Harsh yet melodic vocals? It must be Metallica. Even though they’re famous for their rough image, they have a softer side that comes out in some of their music.
This band logo is their name (a watermark), but the M and A have exaggerated lines and sharp serifs, creating a feeling of intensity and action. When placed next to the regular typography, it stands out even more.
If your font is a watermark, can you substitute one of the letters for a triangle? What happens if you change the font on one or more letters?
One of Switzerland’s most famous chocolate brands, Toblerone is famous not just for its chocolate, but also for having a logo with a hidden meaning.
The triangular mountain logo represents Switzerland’s most famous peak, Matterhorn, and if you look closely, you can even see a bear cunningly hidden inside. The bear represents the coat of arms of the city where Toblerone originated from. Toblerone’s mountainous logo certainly makes a visual impact.
Caterpillar Inc. is famous worldwide for its construction and mining machinery. With such big and powerful engines, it’s only fitting that their logo actively represents reliable structural integrity with a wide-based triangle, holding up the company’s shortened name – CAT.
The yellow of the triangle matches the safety color of hardhats and other clothing used on construction sites, and the black font shows its audience the power and excellence of the brand.
Even if your brand name isn’t an English word, you can still show its meaning with icons and shapes. The brand name Mitsubishi is a combination of the words Mitsu, which means three, and Hishi, a Japanese term used to describe a diamond shape.
Each diamond in the logo represents something relevant to the brand: success, reliability, and integrity. And, they all fit together to form the renowned triangle logo that’s instantly recognizable.
Qantas brilliantly replicates the feeling of joy and happiness when boarding your flight to a magical destination, by replicating the look of an airplane’s tail fin with a simple triangle and their iconic kangaroo.
The kangaroo is beautifully silhouetted by the red shading, which is also an eye-catching color.
Another famous airline company, Delta has been through over 20 logo designs since 1928. But, there was one element of their design that they nearly always kept: The triangle.
Their name also stands for the letter Delta in Greek, represented by a triangle, and the Delta sign mimics a jet flying overhead. Combined with the stark red color, it’s a potent symbol that shows power, leadership, and trustfulness.
Adidas’s iconic logo wasn’t created by chance. Its sloped triangle looks like a mountain, representing the challenges every athlete needs to overcome in pursuit of their goals.
The steep slopes also create a suggestion of speed and power, traits consumers look for in sporting goods. By keeping the entire color scheme white, including the name, it’s easy to print on the many different kinds of sportswear and equipment they sell.
Kenwood’s name combines two popular words: The name ‘Ken’, which is often used as a boy’s name in Japan and the US, plus the word ‘wood,’ signifying the durability and long life of its products (kitchen appliances).
The simple sans-serif font is modern and clean-looking, and easy to read even when scaled at a smaller size. The little triangle helps to make the brand name clearly recognizable.
Note how such a small icon can have a significant impact on your logo.
The HSBC logo uses not one, not two, but six triangles in its logo to make a unique, red hourglass icon.
It’s one of the most recognizable banking brands ever created, and the logo helped HSBC gain popularity and brand recognition.
Two of the triangles are created by using negative space in the logo, a design concept that uses blank space to create elements and is more noticeable by audiences.
Another brand that substitutes a triangle for a letter is Alcatel. Instead of switching both A’s in their name, they went with the middle one only. This, in turn, creates symmetry; the triangle is now surrounded on both sides by an equal amount of letters.
Similar to Kenwood, the use of a triangle helps create a unique logo that’s hard to accomplish with just a simple typeface, especially sans-serif fonts, which are currently trending.
What should be clear to you by now is just how versatile a triangle shape can be—more so than circles and squares.
As you saw above, sometimes the smallest triangle has the most significant impact, and other times it’s the clever use of negative space that will be the main element of your logo.
You now have plenty of inspiration and design tips to create your own triangle logo. How will you make yours stand out from the crowd?
The information provided on this page is for information, educational, and/or editorial purposes only. It is not intended to indicate any affiliation between Tailor Brands and any other brand or logo identified on this page.
Carly Miller is a freelance content writer specializing in all things branding related. When she’s not writing, you’ll find her traveling, playing with her dog, or reading a good book.
