These are Japanese town logos – “official symbols designed to communicate the identity of each municipality” – nicked from a post on Pink Tentacle – a great site with loads of information on Japanese visual culture.
Each logo cleverly incorporates typography and visual elements of the towns they represent. I love that you get a full explanation of the concept behind them.
I’ve posted a couple of my favourites here.
The red, yellow and blue logo represents Kanoya. “The blue shape represents the Osumi peninsula, and the red circle with the gold katakana カノヤ (Kanoya) represents the city.”
The red and green logo is Rishiri. “Rishiri’s symbol is said to incorporate the hiragana り (ri), which representing ocean waves, along with the hiragana し (shi), which represents Mt. Rishiri.”
Filed under: Graphic Design, Logo design, Hiragana, Japan, Kanoya, Katakana, logos, Pink Tentacle, Rishiri, town