Fedex and the magic of Inattentional Blindness

As a former columnist for The Magic Circular, the house organ of the prestigious Magic Circle in London, England, I wrote a bi-monthly column for five years titled "Escape Velocity." This column talked about my adventures as a full time professional escape artist and related some of the unusual experiences and challenges I have faced over the years. In some articles, I imparted knowledge about picking locks and crafting an escape act, others were strictly about my tales in the performing arena. If you're interested you can download some of these articles by going to: thomassolomon.com/fans and clicking on the Escape Velocity link.

In one of these articles, I talked about the phenomenon of "Inattentional Blindness", the notion that often times, though we may be looking at something, we do not see it. I related an experience in Chicago in which one night, performing my handcuff escape act, I inadvertently and unknowingly tapped into the Inattentional Blindness of the audience, which brought my act to a successful conclusion. This was not planned. I had no idea this even existed. Later, I reflected on what happened. I had convinced the audience I escaped all of the restraints. In reality, I escaped all but one. Again, to read further details about this escape please locate the article through the URL above.

Now . . . you might be wondering. What does any of this have to do with FEDEX? Years ago, I discovered a real-world example of Inattentional Blindness within the logo design of FEDEX. I was reminded of this the other day as I walked up Lexington Avenue in New York City. Among the lunchtime crowds and traffic gridlock were several parked FEDEX trucks. Look carefully at the logo in the photo above. Do you see the white arrow?

OK. Now look at the close-up photo to the right. Do you see it now? If you still don't see it, here's a hint. Between the red capital "E" and the small "x" is a geometrically correct right pointing arrow. It is formed by the precision joining of both the "E" and the "X". The beauty of this is that once you see it, you'll always see it. Now, go back to the photo at the top of this posting with the FEDEX truck in the distance. Easy to see now isn't it? Cool . . . right?

This is "Inattentional Blindness in the real world. Sobering to think of the many other things that are there, under our noses, just waiting to be "seen."