Comments on: What does this symbol mean?

Question: What does this symbol mean?

hummercash — Fri, 13 Apr 2007 12:12:09 -0800

Picture this: three squares arranged in a triangular formation... one on top, two on the bottom. Does it have any symbolic meaning? Is it a company logo? I ask this because I'm getting a tattoo saturday that means something to me but before I do, I want to make sure it doesn't also have some negative meaning to other people... like some symbol for being a nazi, or even the corporate logo for some strange company... because that would suck.

By: googly

googly — Fri, 13 Apr 2007 12:23:30 -0800

Depending on the orientatino of the squares, it might resemble the Mitsubishi logo.

By: nathancaswell

nathancaswell — Fri, 13 Apr 2007 12:29:57 -0800

Motion Graphics studio Shilo has a pretty similar logo.
Full disclaimer, I freelance for them.

By: hummercash

hummercash — Fri, 13 Apr 2007 12:31:06 -0800

something like this is what i had in mind... im gonna play around with the design a but this is the general layout...

By: hummercash

hummercash — Fri, 13 Apr 2007 12:32:34 -0800

doh, Here is the pic

By: mr_roboto

mr_roboto — Fri, 13 Apr 2007 12:55:06 -0800

It's a word in Japanese (and probably Chinese).

By: quadog

quadog — Fri, 13 Apr 2007 13:15:30 -0800

Yes, this is the logo for a company. I went cross country skiing this winter and I recall seeing it on the skis. I can't find the name.

However, don't be discouraged because this is such a malleable symbol that you're basically appropriating it for personal meaning. It's like getting a tattoo of a circle or a square.

By: iamkimiam

iamkimiam — Fri, 13 Apr 2007 13:27:05 -0800

I wouldn't get discouraged by stuff that is already in use for something else. Nobody has your tattoo with your meaning. You are making it your own. Happy inking!

(but always a good idea to do your "market research")

By: Flashman

Flashman — Fri, 13 Apr 2007 13:38:02 -0800

I think Quadog is thinking of Fischer skis - it was my first thought too... then I googled it

By: hummercash

hummercash — Fri, 13 Apr 2007 13:38:56 -0800

thanks everyone... im not too worried about some company having something like to for their logo... i was more worried about it being associated with some awful organization or hate group.

By: Flashman

Flashman — Fri, 13 Apr 2007 13:44:49 -0800

It's a nice symbol btw. I'm not a huge fan of tattoos but I like odd, enigmatic things like that. But I think the risk of it appearing so 'symbolic' (almost like a brand) is that people might mistake it for a mark of membership in some sort of clan or organization...

By: monkeymadness

monkeymadness — Fri, 13 Apr 2007 14:24:45 -0800

It's also the set of contraction mappings that make up the IFS leading to the Sierpinski Gasket. I just taught that in my college geometry class and now I get to tell my class someone is getting it in tattoo form. Awesome.

By: Sangermaine

Sangermaine — Fri, 13 Apr 2007 14:31:16 -0800

It's probably this character:
http://www.unicode.org/cgi-bin/GetUnihanData.pl?codepoint=54C1

By: Abiezer

Abiezer — Fri, 13 Apr 2007 14:46:07 -0800

The character in Chinese is p-n �which has positive associations; in the human context it appears in words related to taste, morality and character. I'd say no worries on that score.
To me it also sounds reminiscent of some of the eternity knots you see in Tibetan iconography, and that's no bad thing either.

By: flabdablet

flabdablet — Fri, 13 Apr 2007 21:46:14 -0800

To me, it says "org chart".