Recognising, as I do, that the students of this faire establishment are seekers of truth, wisdom and knowledge, eager devourers of mankind’s greatest insights and worthy successors to the finest brains the PR and marketing worlds have ever known, it will come as little surprise to me to find that many of you study ancient Greek in your spare time.
Of course you do.
Like you, I also recently sought wisdom and guidance from ‘the elders’ — in this instance a dictionary of greek used in the ancient near east around the first and second centuries.
It may come as a surprise to some, seeing as how I represent the font of all wisdom and knowledge in the Antipodes, to learn that I too am always studying. If I’m not studying classic texts in marketing and DM (I have just re-read my very worn copy of Robert Collier’s Book of Letters, and goodness knows how many times I’ve re-read my collection of Ted Nicholas material), I’m studying ancient texts for a Masters in Christian Studies I’m completing part-time at a theological college here in Australia.
No, I’m not about to start waxing lyrical and quoting Scripture at you. But I am going to consider the derivations of a couple of words the marketing-oriented amongst you will no doubt learn to throw about in the next few years — icon and logo.
 Icon, according to wordquests and Merriam-Webster, is a Latin word derived from the ancient Greek eikOn, from eikenai, which means ‘image; likeness; sacred or holy image’.
So immediately we have a challenge before us: Group Brand Integrity Specialists (aka corporate-paid graphic designers and their soul-brothers, corporate lawyers) would have you believe that the company logo is indeed a ‘sacred and holy image’.
Now, I know of a few companies (I worked at one) where the IP lawyers would take a machete to anyone found guilty of using the company logo (which, where I worked, was the word ‘digital’, each letter set into a block) in a sentence or as part of any text element.
And here lieth my problem. Because logo is Greek for ‘talk, speech, speak; word’, according to lexfiles. It is not a static entity, but a living, dynamic, flowing, caressing, argumentative one. It is not set in concrete and only for the use of accredited specialists.
An icon is, perhaps, but how many people are called ‘icons’ of something or other? This would mean that they remain static, unchanging, inflexible. Unless, perhaps, they are icons of mercury or weather patterns.
But you, my gentle sisters and brethren, will proudly march into your first jobs and hear the terms bandied about with relentless abandon. And puzzled looks if you try to correct the offender.
Just bear in mind that when they say ‘icon’ they mean ‘logo’, and when they say ‘logo’ they mean ‘icon’.
Confusing, huh? Good luck.
