品牌标识是公司与品牌产品的一项重要视觉资产，也是伴随企业不断发展与壮大的重要战略资产。品牌标识的视觉元素常常是消费心理学研究所关注的变量，洞察它所带来的视知觉感受特性，也是洞察消费者态度、情感与行为的关键基础，更是辅助公司将这一项视觉资产的经济效益不断扩大的重要前提。而品牌标识的视觉表现是由设计所带来的，设计正被誉为除了技术与市场之外的第三种创新驱动力，因此讨论设计的基础元素——不同形状的线条（直线与曲线），是品牌标识研究不可或缺的研究板块。

研究一先从内隐的心理现实性层面做验证。在经典的stroop实验范式——词汇判断任务中，当快速词以直线呈现、缓慢词以曲线呈现时被试的反应速度显著更快（576ms < 591ms，p = 0.011；602ms < 617ms，p = 0.048）；当情感负面词以直线呈现时被试的反应速度显著更快（549ms < 558ms，p = 0.020），而情感正面词不管是以直线还是曲线呈现，被试的反应时虽在均值上体现了差异但仍不够显著。直线与效率正向概念（如快速）、情感负向概念（如奸恶）的隐喻联结较强，曲线与效率负向概念（如怠缓）的隐喻联结较强，但与情感正向概念（如亲和）的隐喻联结稍弱，考虑是样本数量、实验环境以及被试对正面情感的强烈偏好所导致。研究一总体验证了实验假设并能较好地为后续两项研究提供认知基础。

研究二从品牌标识的接收者角度证实了效率概念的直线隐喻表征与情感概念的曲线隐喻表征。在6点计分测验问卷中，无论是单独呈现还是成对呈现品牌标识，若是强调效率快速的公司或品牌，被试对其由直线构成的虚拟品牌标识评分更高（独立呈现：3.83 > 3.41，p < 0.001；成对呈现：4.25 > 3.32，p < 0.001）；若是强调高情感价值的公司或品牌，被试对其由曲线构成的虚拟品牌标识评分更高（独立呈现：3.90 > 3.12，p < 0.001；成对呈现：4.28 > 3.27，p < 0.001）。研究二为被试提供了一个更明确的视觉情景，把直曲线的视觉线索进一步放大，因此相较于研究一，被试对曲线型虚拟品牌标识的情感感知体现了更强的正面情感隐喻联结。

研究三从品牌标识的生产者角度再一次验证效率概念的直线隐喻表征与情感概念的曲线隐喻表征。在微软应用商城中，强调高效与高情感价值的两类APP在品牌标识的直曲线构成上有着显著差异（c² = 11.10，p < 0.001），强调高效的APP设计者倾向于使用直线元素，而强调高情感价值的APP设计者则倾向于使用曲线元素。若是APP的开发者并未做任何强调，则会随机使用直曲线作为设计元素，无明显倾向。微软应用商城的真实APP品牌标识线条设计与运用基本遵循研究一 、二所发现的直曲线视知觉法则，与研究二所得结论相呼应。

总体而言，研究一先行验证了直线与效率概念、曲线与情感概念之间的隐喻联结，其中，线条的直与曲作为隐秘的视觉线索内嵌在了词汇笔画中。研究二于品牌标识上进一步放大了直曲线的视觉刺激，采用线上问卷测验法将实验室的内部效度递推到品牌标识的外部效度，验证了消费者视角下的直曲线隐喻表征。研究三采用大数据挖掘、清洗与编码的方法与研究二作对照验证，发现微软应用商城的品牌标识设计已然符合研究一、二所发现的直曲线隐喻视知觉法则。本研究创新了品牌标识的研究变量，着眼于更细分与更基础的视觉元素分类——直线与曲线，为创立初期或需要对品牌做更新设计的公司提供直曲线隐喻的新型设计法则，让品牌标识的生产者与接收者可以通过线条形状进行效率与情感概念的沟通传达。

The brand logo is an important visual asset of a company and a strategic asset that increases as the company grows. The visual characteristics of a brand logo are often variables studied by consumer psychology researchers. Insight into the visual perception characteristics of a logo is not only a key foundation for understanding customer attitude, emotion and behavior, but also an essential prerequisite for companies to continuously expand the economic benefits of their visual asset. The visual representation of a brand logo comes from design, which is recognized as the third driver of innovation, in addition to technology and the market. Therefore, discussing the basic elements of design - different kinds of lines (straight and curved), is an indispensable research area for brand identity studies.

Study 1 verifies the implicit psychological reality. In the lexical decision task (LDT), a stroop paradigm, when words signifying fastness are presented in a straight line, and words signifying slowness are presented in a curved line, participants respond faster to the words（574ms < 591ms，p = 0.011；602ms < 617ms，p = 0.048）. When negative emotional words are presented in a straight line, participants respond significantly faster（549ms < 558ms，p = 0.020）. When positive emotional words are presented in either a straight or curved line, the participants’ reaction time shows differences in the mean value but is still not statistically significant enough to support a strong conclusion. Research has shown that the metaphorical connections between straight lines and the positive concepts of efficiency (e.g., fast speed) and the negative concepts of emotion (e.g., evil) are stronger. Besides, the metaphorical connections between curves and the negative concepts of efficiency (e.g., slowness) are stronger, but those between curves and the positive concepts of emotion (e.g., affinity) are slightly weaker, which is considered to be influenced by factors such as the number of participants, the experimental environment, and the strength of participants’ preferences for positive emotions. In general, Study 1 verifies the experimental hypothesis and provides a better cognitive basis for the subsequent two studies.

Study 2 confirms the linear metaphor representation of the efficiency concept and the curvilinear metaphor representation of the emotional concept from the perspective of the brand logo recipients. In the 6-point scale test questionnaire, whether the brand logo is presented alone or in pairs, for the company or brand emphasizing high efficiency, participants will score higher for a virtual logo with straight lines（presented alone：3.83 > 3.41，p < 0.001；presented in pairs：4.25 > 3.32，p < 0.001）; for the company or brand emphasizing high emotional value, participants will score higher for a virtual logo with curves（presented alone：3.90 > 3.12，p < 0.001；presented in pairs：4.28 > 3.27，p < 0.001）. In Study 2, the participants are presented with a clearer visual image that emphasizes the straight and curved lines. Therefore, compared with that in Study 1, the participant’s emotional perception of the curved virtual logo in Study 2 reflects a stronger positive emotional metaphorical connection.

Study 3 reconfirms the linear metaphor representation of the efficiency concept and the curvilinear metaphor representation of the emotional concept from the perspective of brand logo producers. Two types of apps in the Microsoft App Store, emphasizing efficiency and emotional value respectively, are found to have significant differences in their use of straight and curved lines in brand logo design（c² = 11.10，p < 0.001）. App designers who emphasize high efficiency tend to use straight lines, while designers who emphasize high emotional value tend to use curved lines. If the app developer does not emphasize either value, the designer will randomly use straight or curved lines as design elements without any obvious preference. The line design and application of the real apps brand logo in the Microsoft App Store basically follow the visual perception rules of straight and curved lines discovered in Study 1 and 2, which is consistent with the conclusions of Study 2.

In general, Study 1 verifies the metaphorical connections between straight lines and efficiency concepts and between curves and emotional concepts, with the straightness and curvature of lines embedded as subtle visual cues within strokes of characters. In Study 2, the visual stimulation of the straight curve is further amplified on the brand logo. It applies the online questionnaire to deduct the internal validity of laboratory to the external validity of brand logo, validating the metaphorical representation of the straight and curved lines from the perspective of consumers. In Study 3, the methods of big data mining, cleaning and coding are used for comparison verification with Study 2. It is found that the brand logo design in the Microsoft App Store follows the visual perception rules of straight and curved lines discovered in Study 1 and 2. This research innovatively focused on the more subdivided and basic visual element classification straight and curved lines. It provides a new design principle of linear and curvilinear metaphor for newly-established companies or those in need of redesigning their brands, so that producers and recipients of a brand logo can be connected in efficiency and emotional concepts through line shapes.