A careful look at the Coca Cola logo will reveal a hidden Danish flag. So is the arrow in FedEx which symbolizes forward moving. And the shaving stick hidden somewhere between the first two letters of Gillette. What do you see in the Ethereum logo?
Metaphysical element
According to CrystalWind, the Octahedron represents the element of Air and is linked to the Heart Chakra, which is the center for love and compassion. Also, it represents a mirror, a perfect reflection of itself, which is a lovely reminder of the mirrors/reflections that we are to each other. This center includes the healing and nurturing aspects within, which allow that sacred, safe space in which to find acceptance and forgiveness.
It also linked the Octahedron to touch as a Platonic Solid that is best for healing, manifestation, and energy work. Energy, it says, will flow in equal portions from the two tips (top and bottom) with an additional, softer energy flow from each of the 8 side edges.
Individual views embedded
As far as the External Relations, Ethereum, George Hallam, knows, there is no hidden meaning behind the logo - just that it is an Octahedron in apparently a platonic solid, he says via email.
The logo was designed by Richard Stott, the Creative Designer for Ethereum. There isn’t any recorded inspiration or motivation ascribed to him particularly for the design. There is a general quote to his name though: “We don’t need to explain what we do, we just need to explain why we do it.” When Stott was asked what challenges he faced with the ethereum project, he said:
“Like with many large organisations, branding can be a challenge. There are many layers of sign off the more people involved. However, the difference with ethereum was how open and honest everyone is. It made creating some of the visual communication a breeze.”
In a 2014 interview, Ethereum co-founder, Vitalik Buterin, said after working with several protocols, he had wanted to design a platform that would generalize protocols with their features and allow much freedom without being complicated.
Optimism related to the brand
Something may attract and retain an enthusiast’s association with the platform (or as it applies for those who fall on the other end). This may be linked to the buzz that welcomed Ethereum’s market entry; the platform’s potentials to deliver set objectives based on its present achievements (Ether presently worths $16.50) and/or its perceived promising future outlook. This optimism would be connected to the brand and - particularly - its logo.
Based on individual preferences, this piece seeks to play on what could possibly be the representation that Ethereum’s enthusiasts would give to the brand every time they come across its octahedron logo - what they identify with as related to the present and future expectations of the platform. Could it be any of the following? Or something else? Or nothing at all?
Universally-known shape
In three-dimensional space, a Platonic solid is a regular, convex polyhedron that is constructed by congruent regular polygonal faces with the same number of faces meeting at each vertex. Five solids meet those criteria, and each is named after its number of faces.
In geometry, an octahedron is a polyhedron with eight faces. An octahedron is the three-dimensional case of the more general concept of a cross polytope.
Rare crystal
The octahedron is unique among the Platonic solids as the only member of that group to possess mirror planes that do not pass through any of the faces. Natural crystals of diamond, alum or fluorite are commonly octahedral.
Lasting supporting frame
Buckminster Fuller invented a framework known as a space frame commonly regarded as the strongest structure for resisting cantilever stresses in the 1950s. It is usually anchored at only one end to a (usually vertical) support from which it is protruding.
Linked to a scientific discovery
In 2004, a group of scientists at The Scripps Research Institute designed, constructed, and imaged a single strand of DNA that spontaneously folds into a highly rigid, nanoscale octahedron that is several million times smaller than the length of a standard ruler and about the size of several other common biological structures, such as a small virus or a cellular ribosome.
They claimed this to be a breakthrough because the structure could be amplified with the standard tools of molecular biology and can easily be cloned, replicated, amplified, evolved, and adapted for various applications.
It also has the potential to be scaled up for large amounts of uniform DNA nanomaterials can be produced to build blocks for future projects from, according to the scientists, new tools for basic biomedical science to the tiny computers of tomorrow.