Great post over at Deadprogrammer’s Cafe about the transformation of the Starbucks ID. Fascinating how the end result was derived from a fairly erotic and suggestive piece of 15th century artwork. So, those two mystery objects next to the “siren” in the current-day logo are the remnants of her well, how do I put this….awaiting fins?

Doesn’t make sense to me that such a striking visual image with a strong brand behind it has little or no meaning to it. It should at least evoke a semblance of something other than just a mermaid-ish figure that symbolizes what? A fish and chips chain? A canning company? Where’s the connection to coffee? Must be the merchant vessels that carry it up from South America. Yeah, that’s it. And I guess this siren won’t be seducing and killing sailors like the original, either.