4chan Logo PNG
The controversial online community 4chan has been incredibly consistent in its visual brand identity. The 4chan logo has looked pretty much the same over its almost two-decade history. And yet, we can’t say that the design is as unique as the community itself.
Meaning and history
The imageboard website was launched in the fall of 2003 by Christopher “moot” Poole.
What is 4chan?
The imageboard website has been nicknamed the Meme Factory. Since its launch in 2003, it has been a hub of Internet subculture, where various Internet memes and rage comics sprouted up, from lolcats to hacktivists. The website has come in for some stick for coordinating practical jokes and harassment against both individuals and online communities.
2003-present
To be able to fully understand the logo of 4chan, we need to keep in mind that Poole, the founder, was inspired by another project, the Japanese imageboard Futaba Channel nicknamed 2chan. On the 2chan logo, you can see a green sprout with two leaves on its top. Likewise, Pole came up with a logo featuring four leaves, which better represented the name of his project.
That said, there is more meaning behind the 4chan logo than behind that of 2chan. Firstly, the four leaves belong to the clover, so this is a symbol of luck. Apparently, it represents the way you can easily discover something interesting on the visual board. Also, each of the leaves looks pretty much like the heart, thus emphasizing the fact that the community gives one a chance to socialize.
On a more sinister note, though, we should mention that the leaves, due to their position, bear a vague resemblance to the swastika, the cornerstone of Nazi symbolism. This can be used as an argument by those who are against their proverbial imageboard /pol/ (“Politically Incorrect”), known for its racist discussion. The similarity to the swastika is a bit of a moot point as the logo is equally similar to a butterfly, for instance.
The clover leaves are positioned to the left of the wordmark, which, in its turn, is set in a rather plain lowercase sans.
Both the leaves and the wordmark have subtle motion. In the emblem, there is a circular movement. In the name of the brand, the initial “4” flows into the “c.”
Colors and font
The sans-serif font includes only lowercase glyphs. There is a subtle variation in the thickness of the strokes, which is essential for a classic elegant type. In this case, such a font appears quite old-fashioned. The only feature that makes it stand out is that the glyphs are virtually squeezed – there is little or no space between them. You can hardly count it as an advantage, though.
The palette of the leaves can be described as loosely true-to-life. There is a gradient including various shades of green. Also, there is a dark green outline. We should mention, though, an alternative 4chan logo, which is flat and only includes two shades of green. The wordmark is dark red, close to the color of dry blood.
