The phoenix, the brands and the rebirth in logo design

One of the events that marked the end of 2014 for the internet community was the Sweden official’s involvement in putting offline the popular torrent tracker thepiratebay. However only 2 months later the mother ship of the online pirates came back with the proverbial symbol of resurrection – the phoenix. Probably the phoenix will stay on the homepage temporary as a symbol of the website’s rising from the ashes. But it’s not excluded to stay permanent as the Bay‘s new logo.

The piratebay phoenix logo
The piratebay phoenix logo

The circumstances around thepiratebay‘s comeback raise attention towards the phoenix as a symbol of rebirth and this is why we decided to show you some remarkable logos that use the same symbol as part of their visual identity.

University of Chicago

The mythical significance of the phoenix is connected with the rebirth and eternal life. This is what makes the symbol perfect for university logo – what’s more eternal than knowledge in the real life? The symbol fits perfectly for the purpose of the university’s logo.

University of Chicago logo
University of Chicago logo

Phoenix Initiare

PI’s logo highlights the connection between the business and the phoenix bird, which is the new beginning. Even the name of the company “Initiare” comes from Latin and means “to begin“.  In this case Phoenix Initiare is company that helps start-ups to reach their growth faster. The name and the logo of the company hint about the beginning of something expendable, which is beyond the possibilities.

Phoenix Initiare
Phoenix Initiare

Mozilla/Phoenix

Mozilla Firefox’s original name was Phoenix. That’s why the company’s first logo was phoenix with outspread wings. However the company didn’t keep the logo and the name due to legal reasons. The logo with the fox around the globe is unique anyway and the big change obviously was worthy.

Mozilla/Phoenix
Mozilla/Phoenix
Phoenix
Phoenix

The rebirth is very conceptual idea and is commonly used by disparate kind of brands through the symbol of the phoenix. The trend exists long before thepiratebay‘s comeback but the recent events confirmed that it’s so not retro. Which on the other hand means that the life cycle of the phoenix in the world of brands is so not over. In case you need to design a logo with a bird, it wouldn’t cause harm to use something more mythical like phoenix or griffin for example.