I really wish this incredible 'new' Crocs logo was real

Many of the best logos of all time feature ingenious hidden messages and double meanings. From the FedEx arrow to Toblerone's hidden bear, there are plenty of subtle yet delightful design touches out there. And another thing the best logos tend to have in common is that they're actually real.

But every now and again, along comes a fan-made design so good that everybody thinks it's real – and when they find out it isn't, they wish it was. Enter graphic designer Stephen Kelleher's concept logo for clog brand Crocs.

In one of the simplest and most effective visual puns we've seen for a while, Kelleher riffs on both the iconic Crocs shape, and the head of a crocodile itself – simply by adding a couple of white dots to represent eyes and nostrils. It might be a much cleaner and more minimal design than the actual logo – an illustration of a crocodile – but it's somehow even more fun.

And while it was originally shared in 2019, the logo is doing the rounds on social media again. "In what feels like a bleak era of brand refreshes (Kia, Jaguar, Cracker Barrel), credit where credit is due: the new Crocs logo is an instant classic," tweets Ben Springwater, seemingly thinking Kelleher's design is real. "Brilliant. If you had only shown me the new one, I would have sworn it was always their logo," one user comments, while another adds, "The most refreshing rebrand I've seen in ages."

"Historically perceived as an 'ugly' shoe, Crocs have in recent years become a favourite of working artists and the fashion vanguard by reinventing their famous silhouette to speak to a new audience," Kelleher explained on Instagram back in 2019. "This rebrand concept was inspired by the iconic silhouette as a basis for their mascot ‘Croc’, streamlining and unifying both into one simple mark."