You might not have noticed if someone hadn’t told you, but Facebook has very subtly changed its famous ‘f’ icon.
Staff at the Meta-owned platform have praised its redesign as “bolder, electric and timeless,” words that suggest a major and dramatic rebrand worthy of Elon Musk.
However, Facebook’s new logo is strikingly similar to the previous version.
The biggest change is the background, which is a different shade of blue, described as “a safer expression of Facebook’s core blue color.”
There are other even more subtle alterations, so can you detect them?
Can you tell the difference? The most notable change is a deeper blue for the background, but there are other alterations.
Facebook logo: design changes
The new logo, but would you have noticed?
- bluer background
- No halo effect
- fatter ‘f’
- More angled right edge
Meta, Mark Zuckerberg’s company that owns Facebook, said it is “redefining Facebook’s brand identity” with the changes.
It describes them as “the first phase of a revamped identity,” suggesting that more tweaks to the platform’s look and feel are on the way.
It’s unclear how much it cost Meta to redesign the logo; MailOnline has contacted the company for more information.
“Our intention was to create a refreshed Facebook logo design that was bolder, more electric, and more timeless,” it said in a statement. blog post.
‘Each of the new distinctive refinements creates greater harmony across the design as a key element of the app’s identity.
“We’ve done this by incorporating a safer expression of Facebook’s core blue color that is designed to be more visually accessible in our app and provides a stronger contrast so the ‘f’ stands out.”
Anyone who didn’t know that Facebook changed its logo probably wouldn’t have noticed if Meta hadn’t pointed it out, because the changes are very slight.
The vertical line of the ‘f’ is slightly thicker, while the left side of the letter’s horizontal line is shorter and the right side has a more angular edge.
But the biggest difference is the background surrounding the letter, a deeper, bolder shade of blue.
The color is also more uniform and no longer has the upward white glow that indicated light from above as a ‘halo’.
Some Facebook users don’t seem impressed, with one taking to Twitter to say: “As far as I’m concerned, blue is blue.”
However, a more attentive user described the new color as “quite a noticeable change.”
Meta describes the changes as “the first phase of a revamped identity,” suggesting that more tweaks to the platform’s look and feel are on the way.
Social media consultant Rhea Freeman said the new logo is “more eye-catching,” but overall the changes are “pretty minor.”
“I don’t think it’s a bad thing to keep updating a logo and I think subtle changes promote trust,” he told MailOnline.
“When you have a brand that is as successful as Facebook (and as recognizable) it makes a lot of sense to have subtle changes rather than big ones, as they align with growth and evolution rather than change, as this can be very disconcerting for the users. ‘
The full version of the Facebook logo (the ‘wordmark’) has also been changed with similar adjustments: more angular edges and less space between letters.
The full version of the Facebook logo (the ‘wordmark’) has also been changed.
The wordmark uses a custom font that you won’t find in Microsoft Word, called Facebook Sans.
“Similar to the changes to the logo symbol, these refinements allowed us to build on the heritage of our identity, while creating a stronger relationship between the way the wordmark blends with the rest of the typeface. “said the firm.
For a trip down memory lane, Meta also posted a short animation of the various icons used over Facebook’s nearly 20-year history.
The first, dating back to 2005, is now very rough looking, although the designers must have thought it was the epitome of the style in its day.
For those who don’t remember, the Facebook logo used to be square before changing to a circle in 2019.
The wordmark uses a custom font that you won’t find in Microsoft Word, called Facebook Sans.
‘Facebook’ used to be the name of the company that owns the social network Facebook until October 2021, when it was changed to Meta.
Prior to this, staff had experimented with different designs in an attempt to distinguish the company from the product.
In 2019, it got an updated all-caps corporate logo, FACEBOOK, but users mocked it as “garrier.”
Meta also owns WhatsApp and Instagram, but recently added another platform to its empire this summer: a Twitter rival called ‘Threads’.
