Is Apple’s Logo A Tribute To A Genius That Died Tragically?
The apple in the picture has a bite taken out of it for a reason, although many dispute why
The logo on the left is truly iconic in our culture. You don’t identify it as “an apple,” but Apple the technology company that produces the iPhones many of us tote around. So, the picture goes beyond words.
It’s the instant recognition any marketer would dream of.
But with speed you can lose depth. For instance, when you see “Nike,” you think shoes. But Nike is derived from the Greek winged-goddess of victory, and its iconic “swoosh” is a representation of her wings.
There’s also the tale of a Greek soldier running twenty-six miles to announce his countrymen won the battle of Marathon, shouting “Nenikékamen,” or we’re victorious. This bleeds into the running ethos of Nike as well.
However, we only see “shoe” in our mind, not the deep Greek-inspired mythology behind it. Now, what about the Apple logo?
What’s its purpose and why is there a bite out of it? Well, there’s a story to that. It involves the man to the right side of the Apple logo, Alan Turing.
In fact, there’s a darkness to it which is at odds with the happy and colorful design of the traditional Apple product. Or…maybe there isn’t. Either way, it’s an interesting story which might be the greatest coincidence of all time if not true.
The story starts with a genius.
A Name That’s Forever Attached To Intelligence
Alan Turing’s name is recognizable. Even if you’re not into science, you may have watched the movie the Imitation Game, documenting his work in WWII to break the Nazi codes within the Enigma Machines. Then, there’s also the test that bears his name.
The Turing Test for artificial intelligence is mentioned quite a bit nowadays, especially with all the newsworthy chatbots. In it, human interrogators ask questions to an unknown character. A responder can prove sentience by their answers, which Turing called an “imitation game.”
Although that’s only a part of Turing
Perhaps his greatest discovery involved one of the biggest puzzles of all: how cells develop. It’s called morphogenesis. Simply put, all cells within an early embryo are all the same. Yet in development, suddenly some cells become skin, others eyes, and the rest something else.
Oddly, it happens spontaneously with no direction. But how? Well, Turing had a truly unique idea to figure it out. He used equations generally used in physics to describe biological processes in his 1952 paper The Chemical Basis of Morphogenesis.
In essence, he used math to explain natural patterns like stripes, spirals, or even the “dapples” on a cow’s skin. Later this idea was built on. Benoit Mandelbrot used computers at IBM to find patterns throughout the universe and nature, possibly making an equation to explain creation.
Obviously, Turing was brilliant, and it achieved him a degree of fame, but he also had an issue. Alan Turing was weird. The weirdness helped him see the world differently to make discoveries, although it wasn’t welcome in the stiff culture of the time.
Alan’s Bite Of An Apple
Alan wore a gas mask while he rode his bike, chained his mug to a radiator so no one stole it, and watched daisies grow instead of playing sports with the other kids.
Rebecca Jacobson at PBS also reports he was a hippie way before it became cool. Turing was also gay in an age when this wasn’t accepted in England. He was charged with indecency in 1952 and the court sentenced him to chemical castration.
Turing happened to be fascinated with Disney’s Snow White too. When the mental torment of his condition due to the forced hormone injections got too hard to handle, he thought of the apple in the movie. He laced an apple with cyanide, bit into it, and went to sleep forever.
His unfortunate end connected him eternally with a bitten apple. It also takes us back to the logo.
The Evolution Of Apple Computer’s Logo
“One of the deep mysteries to me is our logo, the symbol of lust and knowledge, bitten into, all crossed with the colors of the rainbow in the wrong order. You couldn’t dream of a more appropriate logo: lust, knowledge, hope, and anarchy.”
— Jean Louis Gassée (executive at Apple Computer from 1981 to 1990)
According to Steve Jobs, Apple’s name came to him during one of his fruit and vegetable diets while visiting an apple orchard. It was fun and non-threatening. But their first logo didn’t do Apple justice.
It showed Isaac Newton sitting under a tree with an apple precariously perched over his head. Although it lacked the spark they wanted.
So, Jobs and his team went to an ad agency, and Rob Janoff got the job of redesigning the logo. In Creative Bits’ interview with Janoff, he explains Jobs’ only guide was that he didn’t want anything “cute.” Obviously, it needed to be an apple too.
His ultimate creation was a multi-colored apple with a bite taken out of it. You’re not stretching far if you connect the rainbow color to a movement Alan Turing would have been a part of, and there’s also the bitten apple.
However, Janoff says the colors represent Apple being the first home computer that could produce colored images. It was also a nod to the hippie movement.
As for the bite, without it, the apple looked like a cherry. In the interview Janoff says he’s heard the story about Turing — and while a good story — it had no influence on the design of the Apple logo in its current form.
Also, biting into an apple is something that goes across cultures; it’s very recognizable, which makes the image an excellent logo.
Kind of an anticlimactic ending with all the buildup, huh? Or is it?
Logos And Images Take On Meanings Over Time
I’ve spent years in martial arts. With time and skills learned, you’re awarded colored belts. While visiting another school, backed by a large federation, their instructors commented on our belt levels.
My friend was awarded a brown belt by our instructor — who was esteemed by every federation — but a member of none by choice. They called my friend an “Alan” brown belt, referencing our teacher.
It was a slight. They thought since no large federation backed it, the belt was meaningless.
When our instructor eventually awarded us black belts, that same student had Alan’s name embroidered on the belts as a defiant show of pride. It became more than a sign of rank. The logo changed into an homage to our instructor and everything he taught us: skill and behavior.
I couldn’t help but hear the same in Gassée’s words about Apple’s logo:
“One of the deep mysteries to me is our logo…You couldn’t dream of a more appropriate logo: lust, knowledge, hope, and anarchy.”
Jobs might tell you it was inspired by something as underwhelming as his diet of the moment. According to Janoff, the design made it less cherry-like. But the Apple employee above saw something much bigger.
Logos and symbols take on meaning over time.
Do you see a goddess’ wings as a Nike Swoosh jogs past you? Or Michael Jordan smashing a basketball through a hoop? Maybe just motion itself?
As for me, every time I see Apple’s logo, their motto “think different” echoes in my mind. Is there any better description of Alan Turing?
Dapples on cows brought mathematical equations into his mind
A gas mask accompanied him on bike rides and a chain defended his coffee cup
Enigma Machines were puzzles to be solved and intelligence wasn’t something only limited to living creatures
Apple’s logo isn’t a nod to Turing. Although you can call this one of those incredible coincidences that’s so perfectly aligned it’s hard not to see. So, I’ll always connect the two.
-Originally posted on Medium 1/15/23