Silicon Zoo: Tiny Art Hidden on Silicon Chips
From the 1970s to the 1990s, Silicon Valley microchip designers secretly etched microscopic drawings of animals and cartoon characters into the unused spaces of integrated circuits.
Chapter 1
The kitchen cabinet companions
Chapter 2
Silicon Valley and the digital zoo
Chapter 3
Japan's cute mascot explosion
Chapter 4
Stars of the stadium and screen
Ch 2 · Silicon Valley and the digital zoo
schopenhauer A minimalist white cartoon character stands with a single antenna and red eyes
schopenhauer The faceless white ghost mascot floats in the center of a yellow square
schopenhauer The Silicon Zoo
Tiny little zoo, tiny little zoo / Running on a silicon chip!
schopenhauer The Linux operating system's penguin mascot, Tux, has a name that serves as a clever double acronym.
Fun Fact
Linux's penguin name: Tux is short for 'Tuxedo', but it is also a clever acronym for 'Torvalds UniX', honoring its creator Linus Torvalds.
schopenhauer Before Twitter rebranded, its iconic blue bird mascot was named Larry, inspired by a basketball legend.
Glossary
mascot (noun)
A person, animal, or object adopted by a group as a symbolic representative. In 1996, Linus Torvalds chose a cartoon penguin named Tux to serve as the official Linux mascot.
A person, animal, or object adopted by a group as a symbolic representative. In 1996, Linus Torvalds chose a cartoon penguin named Tux to serve as the official Linux mascot.
BETA
schopenhauer Match famous brand mascots to discover the surprising real animals behind their names.