While researching symbol cliche and archetype I came up with three interesting articles. The first two show examples of logo cliches, what they are, and the fallback of overusing them while the other article offers insight of design metaphors both visually and in text.
Design Cliches: http://www.underconsideration.com/speakup/archives/002342.html
8 Mistakes in Logo Design: http://www.idiologie.com/2008/09/8-mistakes-in-logo-design/
Master The Metaphor: http://www.howdesign.com/article/Metaphor/