What is the meaning of div sign?

Where does the name Divsign come from?

One of my clients asked me recently why I named my company Divsign? There are a couple of reasons why, so I'll go into those, but while I'm at it I'll also explain the reasoning behind my logo and website design, since it's relevant.

Divsign is a portmanteau word, like chortle (chuckle/snort), brunch (breakfast/lunch) or spork (spoon/fork) - two words that are combined together to make one. In this instance, it is from Divs and Design - Divs being my family nickname growing up and Design being what I do - both website design and graphic design.

What is the meaning of div sign?

The second reason for choosing the name is that (according to Merriam-Webster) a "div sign" or "division sign" can be expressed as either:

1. : the symbol ÷ used to indicate division. 2. : the forward slash / used to indicate a fraction.

Being a website designer, a forward slash seemed appropriate, and although some of my original logo designs contained a "div sign" forward slash, I adapted the logo to be more colourful after around 18 months in business.

In addition to this, a "div", usually written as <div> is a Content Division element in HTML - the language of the web.

What is the meaning of "Div"?

There are several different explanations of the word "Div", the first being the reason my client asked!

Div: A person that is a bit stupid, a waster or unemployed. The word Div/Divvy comes from a shortening of the Unemployment Dividend of the 1950's. The term is popular in the North of England, where my family is from.

The other explanation, which I prefer:

Div: A Northern English word from the mining community's use of different types of lamp whilst underground. The dangerous "Davy" Lamp was not very safe and tended to explode, this was replaced with the Geordie Lamp which was a lot safer. Colliers that went underground using a Davy Lamp soon started being called Divvies.

Well as my surname is Collier, that's pretty fitting I think!

What does the Divsign logo express? 

Some people look at my logo (particularly "professional" graphic designers!) and see a mess... well, that it is, but intentionally.

I wanted to represent the different elements of what I do; website design, SEO, graphic design, branding, social media management, and startup assistance all in one. You may notice on the website homepage, each colour represents a different service, and the same colour is reflected on each individual service page.

The eagle-eyed amongst you may also notice that the seven colours within the logo represent the colours of the rainbow; this signifies my allyship with the LGBTQ+ community. For those who don't know I have played football (soccer for the Americans) for a variety of LGBT-friendly teams across the world, as an ally.

So there you have it, the reason for the name "Divsign", and an explanation of the Divsign 'splat' logo design.

If you're looking for help with Wix website design, or graphic design for a business or charity, get in touch via the Divsign Contact page.