Martin Designers on Instagram's New Look
We asked our designers what they think of Instagram's new look.
Here's what they had to say:
"They spent so much time and money on a redesign that never needed to happen in the first place. The original was iconic; it utilized the space of the “app” shape in a brilliant way, and had a wonderful nostalgic vibe that stood out amongst it’s competitors.
In regards to the new logo, the icon is poorly designed, something that you could easily just download off The Noun Project. The gradient takes it way too far. The concept behind this decision could have been solved so much smarter.
Really like their process video but it cements my initial thoughts that they should have spent less time on the theatrics of their process video and more time on the logo itself.
A friend of mine sent me this and I think it just about summarized my thoughts."
- Katie Whiteman, Designer
"Overall it’s pretty user-friendly. Actual wire framing hasn’t changed so it’s really more of a rebrand and reskin. The new logo is a cleaner retouch of their existing one. More own-ability with cleaner lines. Easier to remember and recreate.
The colors for the new logo are more fun and friendly, however slightly arbitrary (even though they’re saying its a nod from the small color bars in the previous logo. It’s not. They lost green and introduced purple). Also the loss of the blue throughout the app is as a major loss of their brand language. Seems a bit odd that they would get rid of that.
The blend of the colors within their logo is pleasurable but the gradient is a bit dated. Their overall language harkens to what Apple is doing with a lot of white space and the bright color pop. It seems that they’re leaning on an Apple aesthetic which is cool, but they’re not Apple. They’re Instagram.
Iconography is updated with thinner lines and made cleaner which makes it more premium. Nice touch.
Unclear if typography has been updated by just taking a glance but due to the added white space and breathing room, attention is raised to it in a positive way. Seems like a strength for advertising so that brands can pop more.
Simpler is always better especially for an app where the focus is your content. However at the cost of losing their own brand voice and leaning on Apple’s. Either way it’s a step forward aesthetically. Just wish they didn’t loose their distinct blue."
- Gabriel Gonzalez, Designer
"Its too basic, too far of a stretch from where they were. They had an iconic mark before that was unique and they embraced it. Now its just a simple icon that looks like it was pulled off https://thenounproject.com/ And the rounded edges don’t even match the shape of the icon (designer pickiness). At one point during their “process video” there is an icon that is a more simple graphic version of what they had. We wish they had stopped there and hadn’t taken it so far."
- Martin Senior Designer
