An interesting article about the recycling symbol‘s history, and how some sloppy renditions of it ruin some of the subtle symbolism. Cool.
“The figure was designed as a Möbius strip to symbolize continuity within a finite entity,” Anderson recounted in an interview published in the May 1999 issue of the trade magazine Resource Recycling. “I used the [logo’s] arrows to give directionality to the symbol. I envisioned it with the small edge or the point of the triangle at the bottom. I wanted to suggest both the dynamic (things are changing) and the static (it’s a static equilibrium, a permanent kind of thing). The arrows, as broad as they are, draw back to the static side.”
Anderson’s original design was then refined by Bill Lloyd, CCA’s public relations department manager. He sharpened the lines and rotated the symbol so that the stylized outline of a tree can be seen in its center.
I can’t believe I never caught the mobius strip part of the design.
D’oh!
I didn’t, either. Indeed, I’d have been more likely to go for the “symmetric”/wrong version, if given a choice.