Windows 8 not only bring a whole new interface, but a brand new logo as well. Windows will soon drop the flag that has been synonymous with the brand since Windows 3.1, replacing it with a more Metro-inspired design that actually looks like, well, a window. And brand aficionados have mixed feelings about the new design.
Microsoft announced the change on its blog, and said that they had these goals with the new redesign:
1. We wanted the new logo to be both modern and classic by echoing the International Typographic Style (or Swiss design) that has been a great influence on our Metro style design philosophy. Using bold flat colors and clean lines and shapes, the new logo has the characteristics of way-finding design systems seen in airports and subways.
2. It was important that the new logo carries our Metro principle of being “Authentically Digital”. By that, we mean it does not try to emulate faux-industrial design characteristics such as materiality (glass, wood, plastic, etc.). It has motion – aligning with the fast and fluid style you’ll find throughout Windows 8.
3. Our final goal was for the new logo to be humble, yet confident. Welcoming you in with a slight tilt in perspective and when you change your color, the logo changes to reflect you. It is a “Personal” Computer after all.
Brand New, the blog that deals with redesigns, noted that the use of Segoe doesn’t fit in for the branding. ” It’s a fine font, but pretty it is not. It’s a kind of middle-of-the-road sans serif without any memorable attributes and with a very peculiar “Default” aesthetic to it,” Armin Vit wrote.
“It works best as a user interface ingredient but as the typography on a logo, it’s extremely underwhelming — pair it with the worst rendition yet of the Windows window and you have a real loser,” he continues.
Then we read through the comments, and some like it and others don’t. Personally, I really like the Metro simplicity but it’s a bit awkward to see it when you are so used to the flags – especially the one in the orb from Vista, which paved the way from some Apple criticism (alongside the entire Vista OS in general for copying).
Well, what are your views on the logo?