Everyone’s favourite photo sharing app Instagram just went under the knife! Last night, the Facebook-owned company launched an updated brand identity which boasts of a white camera juxtaposed against a rainbow-hued gradient. With the change, Instagram is firmly marching to the beat of the “brighter, flatter, more modern” design sensibility that’s been quite the rage with tech giants like Apple, Microsoft, and Google.
Ian Spalter, the head of design at Instagram, said the redesigned logo is a veritable reflection of the vibrant and diverse stories users share on the app, which stands at 80 million plus posts per day. As part of their internal R&D, employees were asked to draw the iconic logo from memory within 5 seconds. Spalter said that almost all of them drew the rainbow, lens and viewfinder — all the elements that made the cut in the new design.
Predictably, reactions range from absolute love to utter despair. Adweek has gone so far as to call it one of the biggest design fails of the year and is begging Instagram to bring back the old logo! However, the creator of the much beloved original logo, Cole Rise says, “Regardless of the colours behind it, the white shape — the actual bones of the new symbol itself — is beautiful. I think that can persist over time.”
Farewell, beloved hipster analog camera of yore. Hauterfly editors will surely miss seeing you on our phones.
What do you think of this new, minimalist design? Tell us in the comments below.