TCL DIC Logo Story

TCL DESIGN

TCL DIC Logo Story

The TCL Design Innovation Center (DIC) Logo is inspired by the principle of pinhole imaging. Pinhole imaging or Camera obscura is a naturally occurring optical phenomenon described as early as 500 BCE in Chinese Mozi writings and Aristotelian Problems of 300 BCE - 600 CE. Camera obscura with a lens in the opening has been used since the second half of the 16th century and became popular aid for drawing and painting. Leonardo Da Vinci commented, “Who would believe that so small a space could contain the image of all the universe?" The concept was then further developed into the photographic camera in the first half of the 19th century when camera obscura boxes were used to expose light-sensitive materials into a projected image.

TCL DIC Logo Story

A pinhole or the lens can be interpreted as the insight that truly captures the essence of everything and transforms it into imagery by design. The interpretation of the image formed on the screen is like empathy in design thinking. It is the process of opening our minds using empathy and imagination to interpret the captured essence through Insight.

The second inspiration comes from a philosophical story of an aging Eagle re-inventing itself through a difficult metamorphosis where it sheds its beak and plucks out its aging toenails and feathers to achieve a fresh, renewed form. This Eagle Spirit is a metaphor for expressing TCL’s corporate cultural value, unique competitiveness, and myriad transformations over the decades. TCL DIC's logo takes the shape of an eagle spreading its wings, ready to face any challenges or winds of change, and soaring to great heights in the sky.

So, the TCL DIC logo has been created taking inspiration both from technical and philosophical perspectives as well as successfully incorporating the TCL brand value of integrating technology with humanity.

Big Dipper & Polaris Inspiration for Visualization

The Big Dipper is the most recognizable group of stars in the night sky that is useful in celestial navigation. During the four seasons of spring, summer, autumn, and winter, the Big Dipper bucket handle points to the South, East, North, and West respectively. Hence, many ancient cultures attached great importance to it, as it could be used to identify not just directions but also determine seasons. It never falls below the HORIZON and is visible throughout the year in the Earth’s northern hemisphere. As a result of Earth’s rotation, it appears to slowly rotate counterclockwise around the north celestial pole pointing to the North Pole Star.

Big Dipper & Polaris Inspiration for Visualization

Similarly, DIC finds insights to craft the best product design direction for TCL by defining the design style and guiding the business unit’s product design language.

Also, in ancient Chinese astronomy, the Big Dipper symbolizes the Imperial Palace in the sky and each of the seven stars has a symbolic meaning. In the same vein, the 7 departments of DIC can be mapped to this interpretation.

Similarly, DIC finds insights to craft the best product design direction for TCL by defining the design style and guiding the business unit’s product design language.

When observed from Earth, the seven Big Dipper stars are in motion relative to each other forming different three-dimensional patterns. This has been visually interpreted to form the animation of the TCL DIC logo.

Logo Usage Guidelines

1) Clear space: The space around the logo should always be protected from other elements. Whenever the logo is used, it should be surrounded by clear space to ensure visibility and impact. No graphic elements of any kind should invade this zone. To estimate this clear space, take half the height of the uppercase “T” from the logo text and measure from the base.

Logo Usage Guidelines

2) Logo colors: There are two versions of the logo (horizontal and circular) with two colors (black and white). The CMYK (print color) and the RGB and Hex codes (digital color) are given below.