Arduino is an open-source electronics platform known for its microcontroller boards and development software. The Arduino logo, a registered trademark, combines a distinctive infinity symbol with plus and minus signs, paired with the wordmark “ARDUINO” in stylized lettering.[1]
Design and History
The Arduino project began in 2005 at the Interaction Design Institute in Ivrea, Italy, where a group of teachers and students created a simple tool for working with microcontrollers. The team decided to protect the Arduino brand and logo even as the hardware and software were released under open-source licenses.[2]
In September 2010, Arduino announced it had partnered with ToDo, a design studio based in Turin, Italy, to create a new visual identity for the project. This included new packaging, new graphic design for the boards themselves, stickers, and a new website template. ToDo is run by Giorgio Olivero, who graduated from the Interaction Design Institute Ivrea and was part of the group of students that followed Arduino’s early experiments with microcontrollers.[3]
In July 2015, Arduino announced a brand refresh for both Arduino and its sister brand Genuino, which was introduced for products sold outside the US. ToDo, described as the design agency that developed the Arduino branding language since its early beginnings, created the new look and feel. Giorgio Olivero explained that the new design was an evolution rather than a revolution, keeping strong continuity with the previous identity. The refresh introduced colorful squares that could be seen as different components, circuits, and modules of an electronics system, or as the interlocking building blocks of the maker movement.[4]
Meaning and Symbolism
The core Arduino logo consists of an infinity symbol with a minus symbol within the left circle and a plus symbol within the right circle.[1] The infinity symbol with embedded plus and minus signs references the electrical polarity central to electronics, while the infinity form suggests limitless possibilities.
Giorgio Olivero described the original Arduino visual language as aiming to feature an “accessible, pop, and clear communication language” for the growing community around DIY electronics. The goal was to avoid the “technical-macho look” of engineer-oriented platforms and instead speak to everyone, not only experts and hard-core enthusiasts. The identity was meant to be “basic, technical and playful,” communicating that Arduino is a modular system open to anybody and in constant evolution.[4]
Arduino’s trademark page notes that third parties are prohibited from seeking to register a trademark anywhere in the world that contains Arduino or its infinity design.[5]
Typography and Design
The Arduino wordmark appears in stylized lettering above which sits the infinity symbol.[1] The official Arduino logo is a registered trademark of Arduino SA and cannot be used by third parties without authorization. The logo comes in different colors and is sometimes accompanied by the wordmark “Arduino,” other times on its own.[6]
Arduino also maintains a separate Community Logo, developed to give users a chance to identify non-commercial pages, groups, events, and initiatives connected to Arduino. The Community Logo is shared under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 license and is designed to allow personalization in the lower-right part for adding the name of a group or organization.[6]
Logo Index is an independent educational archive covering logos, visual identities and graphic design history. All trademarks and brand assets remain the property of their respective owners.
