Usability as Recognition
http://bobulate.com/article_usability.html

Danzico, Liz
Bobulate
2001

Abstract:

I'd like to point out something that you may not have noticed yet. And though I'm quite sure many of you have seen it by now, its subtlety is worth mentioning here again. Go take another look at the FedEx logo — specifically, take another look at the white space surrounding the logo. There may have been years when you didn't notice this arrow in its negative space. Now you can't stop noticing how the figure and its ground produce an entirely new object. The brand may have even taken on new meaning. Josef Albers describes the arrow's visual effect as 1+1=3 or more, or the creation of an incidental new element from two intentionally placed elements. What has happened here is that you're stopped recognizing the logo, and started to perceive it as having another quality.