Subliminal Messages in the Renault Logo
Created | Updated Jan 28, 2002
Subliminal messages in the Renault company logo
Renault are a French car manufacturer.
The Renault logo takes the form of a diamond, truncated at top and bottom. The badge is chromed. There are two "creases" in the diamond running from the internal upper and lower corners to the top right and bottom left external corners. The apparent simplicity of this logo disguises a maelstrom of potent, subliminal imagery.
The shallowest layer of meaning can be found in the diamond shape of the badge. Diamonds are used to symbolise purity, luxury, durability and noteworthiness. Renault invite us to associate their vehicles with a mixture of practicality and pleasure inherent in these symbols, and to associate their owners with the understated, classical superiority that true, enduring worth brings. Renault are saying, "this object is desirable yet practical; simple yet decorative; enduring yet current."
The overtly sexual nature of the badge is undeniable. The vaginal form of the logo is immediately apparent. This powerful, feminine sexual sign sets the brand apart from the more common male symbolism of, for instance, the Citroen, Ferrari, Maserati, Peugeot, Rover and Vauxhall marques. This is not a simple pandering to the female car buyer. This binding together of the male and female gives a subtle sexual message of competence and quiet self-assuarance as opposed to the macho posturing of other brands. At the same time the sexual association is working on a deeper, more primitive level to re-inforce the car's desirability.
Despite the fact that extensive chrome-plating fell from favour decades ago, the chrome finish of the Renault badge still succeeds in symbolising modernity. The "Space-age" appeal of chrome is widely used amongst car manufacturers as a shorthand for advanced technology and Renault are not shy of employing this near universal symbol to their advantage.
The truncated upper and lower points of the diamond give the whole shape an enhanced stability that speaks of reliability and sure-footedness. To prevent this stability turning into stagnation and sluggardliness, Renault have included the two diametrically opposed "creases" in the badge. The excitement of the vortex thereby produced is apparent but also held in check by the regular nature of the badge's form. The rigorous matrix of the outline moderating the instability of the diagonals.
This same truncated diamond form also gives rise to another association. The logo's perimeter can be seen as an extended hexagon. Whilst geometrically neat and ordered, the hexagon is actually irregular. Renault are telling their potential customers that although they can relate to the ordered, honeycomb world of
Homo Worker
and
Homo Drone
they see themselves as individuals. Again this message of rebellion is tempered. The hexagon is still easily recognisable and the only change to its shape is a vertical, aspiring, upwards stretch.
As well as the other, rather obvious, physical characteristics the logo inspires (simple elegance; the risk and homely fun of playing cards; the double tick; the representation of mutual, oral intercourse) Renault have one more trick left to play.
The very heart of the logo is an empty space; an inner void that recalls the womb and foretells of the grave. This is the gap between birth and death. An empty space in which we form the image of our life. Renault tell us that they understand the start and finish of our existence and that they accept our need to be individuals between those points. Renault reassure us that they give us this space for ourselves. We can drive through that void without fear.
