Angus’ A-Z of logos: WWF

Pentagram partner and creative director Angus Hyland talks about the origin of the WWF logo and questions why it evokes deep emotion.

Whenever I’m asked to list my favourite logos, it’s very hard not to include this one.

Based on a sketch by environmentalist and artist Gerald Watterson and refined by one of the WWF’s founders, Sir Peter Scott, the panda was chosen because it represented ‘an animal that is beautiful, is endangered and one loved by many people in the world.’

The logo uses something known as amodal perception, where the blank space between the Panda’s ears makes us draw the circle ourselves, mentally joining the gaps and emphasising the curves of the logo. The most recent version (by Landor) went a step further, removing the panda’s eyes — a subtle change that gives it the facial proportions of a human baby. This adjustment taps into a deeply instinctive, emotional response — something many brands aim for, but few truly achieve.

Of course, the emotions we feel when we encounter a logo are rarely caused by the mark alone. A logo is the visual distillation of the brand as a whole, and how we respond to it is shaped by many factors: our personal experiences with the product or service, the brand’s tone of voice, its projected values, its reputation and, crucially, what our peers think. The first few can be carefully cultivated by the brand; the last two, not so much.

So, clever design features aside, what does WWF actually make us feel, and why? As well as appealing to our love of the natural world, it makes us want to protect these beautiful but elusive creatures. For me, there’s also a hefty dose of nostalgia. As a child, I visited Chi Chi, the giant panda at London Zoo who was an international sensation at the time, and whose 1958 arrival reportedly inspired the WWF logo.

The most enduring logos tend to be simple or abstract, qualities that can make emotional engagement more elusive. Figurative marks are harder to execute well, with a few notable exceptions like Penguin or the Playboy bunny. Some brands get around this by having a mascot, which gives them all the cuteness without any of the design difficulties. As well as Hello Kitty, think the Dulux sheepdog or the Andrex puppy, both of which became inseparable from their brands, and incidentally, made for irresistibly fluffy merchandise.

Received wisdom tells us never to work with children or animals. But in an age when brand associations are increasingly tangled up in the fickle and unpredictable world of influencers and celebrity, perhaps attaching your brand to an animal is the safer, and more enduring bet.

Next time: A logo that’s for the birds