Looks like you’re not the only one, Facebook. As part of its most recent update, Instagram has decided to include a typeface change for its main logo, along with a few other new features.
The redesign was created by Mackey Saturday, a brand strategist and designer from Denver, Colorado. In his post detailing the project on designer community Dribble, he explained how important it was to maintain everything users have grown to love about the photo-sharing app while at the same time streamlining its overall look for a cleaner and more refined appearance.
To the untrained eye, the changes are not that obvious – the logotype is generally still in the script we’ve all grown accustomed to. A second, harder look might reveal more: The capitalized “I” now looks more like an “I” and less like a “J”, and the small “s” abandons its straightforwardness for a more stylized script version that definitely fits the look better. The connectivity between letters – except for the leading “I”, which still retains its distinction from the rest for added “oomph” – looks more fluid and easier on the eyes. Compared to the older version, the new one comes across as less frilly but more elegant.
The original Instagram logotype used Billabong as its official font; with this change, the company lets go of using a commercial typeset and adopts a tailor-made design. It also recognizes truly amazing craftsmanship – something that falls in line with Instagram’s creative ideals:
Talk about attention to detail:
Mackey Saturday’s carefully created typeface shows beautiful symmetry only a dedicated designer can come up with. If you ever thought throwing together a logo or a brand on Photoshop comes that easy, this should be enough to convince you that hey, being a logo designer is a job designation of its own for good reason.
The latest upgrade also includes a new tagging and “photos of you” feature (which we’re not sure we like). Still, it’s nice to see the hand-drawn work that goes into creating something we associate entirely with the digital sphere; a nice blend of an artisan craft fitting into a virtual world. Clearly, this wasn’t just something you could slap a filter on.
Images via Mackey Saturday
