Why Did Instagram Change Its Logo Design?

• Instagram officially changed its logo on May 11th in 2016 on both IOS and Android devices.
• The icon change came with major criticism from users
• Instagram has over 1 billion users

Instagram is one of the largest and most loved social media platforms of all time.  

It has over one billion monthly active users worldwide, and it has somehow become a part of our daily lives.  

Instagram allows its users to share all kinds of photos and short videos, from mundane shots to clips of significant events up to curated images. It’s become an avenue for people to express themselves and share bits and pieces of their lives.  

But more than that, Instagram became a platform for people to connect with those they share similar interests with and stay updated with what’s happening in the world.

Instagram was launched in 2010. It was first known as a photo and video-sharing social media application with a polaroid camera as its logo.  

The main focus of the app was to allow people to easily share and edit photos that are taken from mobile devices. But as years went by, Instagram became so much more.

Why Did Instagram Change its Logo?

Instagram evolved into a place where people with diverse interests were sharing more photos and videos than ever before.  

It became an accessible platform where people showcased diverse beauty standards, new places to explore, best restaurants to try, and so much more.  

Instagram even helped bring awareness to worthy causes. It also gave birth to a new breed of influencers. And of course, it became a tool for selling, networking, and serious content creation for individuals and brands.  

Because of this Instagram felt like its logo then didn’t represent its community well.  

When Did Instagram Change its Logo?

Instagram officially changed its logo on May 11th in 2016 on both IOS and Android devices.  

As an app that people use every day, the new logo is now very familiar and almost everyone has become accustomed to it.  

To be honest, we thought the design changed for the better. However, a lot of people didn’t like it at first.  

There have been huge changes in design, color scheme, and its look overall. But Instagram did keep the camera as its icon, which is the symbol that people associate with the brand.  

The new logo only took about 45 minutes to complete and they commissioned Cole Rise to design it.  

However, the management team took around 6 months before they were able to perfect the design and other details.  

After the new logo launched, Instagram felt like it best represented the kind of social media platform it transformed into.  

A lot of people criticized this major change, saying that it was tacky and that they didn’t like it. It did create huge publicity though.  

From individual users to major news sources up to celebrities and big names in the industry, everybody talked about it and gave their two cents on how no one wanted this change to happen.  

But despite the negative feedback, Instagram stood by its decision.  

The huge company they have become today just proves that changing their logo’s design was one of the best decisions they ever made.  

What Does the New Logo Look Like?

From a detailed polaroid camera floating on a white background, Instagram’s new logo is now flat, minimalistic, and following the latest graphic design trends.  

It also features a three-color gradient using the colors pink, purple, and yellow, which is nothing like the previous logo where the colors were separated differently.  

However, the original position of the lens and the viewfinder remained the same.  

What Other Changes

Aside from its logo, Instagram also changed the color scheme of its three navigational icons. Doing this helped create a unified visual identity for the brand.  

Previously, the icons for layout, hyper-lapse, and boomerang featured different colors that didn’t match with the logo.  

So, if you didn’t know about these icons in advance, you wouldn’t guess they were a part of the same company.  

Instagram’s new design is also brighter, which gives the app a fresher and younger look.  

The notification icon also changed from orange to red. It also changed its search, camera activity, profile, and home buttons to match its new visual identity.  

Its texts also feature a black-and-white contrast for a cleaner in-app experience. Altogether, these changes shifted the focus more on the videos and images posted by the users rather than the app’s theme.  

Graphic Design Trends for 2021

Graphic design trends drastically changed in the past few years. Gone are the days when everyone was obsessed with cursive fonts, 3D designs, and maxing out all the white spaces. Today, graphic design trends are all about minimalism, elements of nature, simple fonts, abstract psychedelia, retro-futurism and more.  

In the era of artificial intelligence where multiple brands are using AI logo maker to update their logo many big brands are also relying on technology for rebranding.

Looking back, we believe that Instagram set the trend for other brands to follow!  After all these years, Instagram's new logo has become very familiar to all of us, integrating well into our daily lives.  

What Do You Think of Instagram’s New Logo?

Did you also despise Instagram’s new logo at first?  

A lot of people did, but Instagram proved to all of us that that change was for the better.  

They’re now one of the biggest and most popular social media platforms of all time, and we believe that the branding is a part of their big success.  

Your branding is so much more than your logo though.  

You need to create a unified identity that will reflect in every customer touchpoint, from your logo to web design up to your ads, content, and other digital marketing activities.  

If you need help with creating a website that best reflects your brand, content that your audience will love, and ads that generate results, we can help you! At Digital Resource, our award-winning web designers and developers can make your vision to reality! Contact us for inquiries!

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