Skip to main content

Uber has decided to leave its broadly derided current logo ‘behind’


Uber is preparing to release a new logo (shown above), in order to cure two problems with the ridesharing company’s current logo. The new mark uses the company name in a custom typeface, so no one will be confused when they see the logo on a ridesharing car or in marketing materials. People will also likely stop referring to the company’s logo as an “asshole” symbol, according to Dezeen.

Uber worked on the new wordmark with international branding firm Wolff Olins, based in London, New York, and San Francisco.

Recommended Videos

When Uber introduced the previous logo in 2016, the circular design’s resemblance to a human anatomical orifice, especially when rotated 90 degrees counter-clockwise, drew instant derision from Gizmodo and other publications.

gyddik/123RF

The other complaint about the square-hole-in-a-circle logo was its lack of continuity. The first two Uber logos each had a recognizable U.

Image used with permission by copyright holder

The first icon looked like a red magnet.

360b / Shutterstock

The company’s black and gray second graphic was more stylized than the original logo, but at least it still resembled a capital U.

Please enable Javascript to view this content

Dezeen quoted an Uber statement that the 2016 design had “people wondering where the U went.”

Following market research with Uber’s target market, Wolff Olins worked in conjunction with the rideshare company to determine three guidelines for the new logo. With the new graphic, it would be important to “let in the light, embrace black; invest in a wordmark, not a symbol; bring back the U,” Dezeen noted.

The new wordmark uses high contrast black and white, with a custom typeface, Uber Move, commissioned from MCKL, a Los Angeles type foundry. A wordmark, also called a logotype, is a text-only treatment of a company name with two purposes: identification and branding. Because it has an original graphical representation of a word a wordmark can be registered and protected as intellectual property in the U.S. The wordmark becomes a visual symbol recognizable even by people who do not know the meaning of the word or words.


Uber’s new image will be launched internationally with all Uber services.

Uber has undergone many changes in the past two years. In June 2017 co-founder and former CEO Travis Kalanick resigned his position. Uber invested in self-driving trucks and then shelved that idea to focus on self-driving cars. Earlier in 2018, Uber bought electric bicycle company Jump Bikes and made a significant investment in Lime, an electric scooter company. And now Uber has a new logo.

Bruce Brown
Bruce Brown Contributing Editor   As a Contributing Editor to the Auto teams at Digital Trends and TheManual.com, Bruce…
Digital Trends’ Top Tech of CES 2025 Awards
Top Tech of CES

Las Vegas is overrun. Every billboard in town is shouting about AI, hotel bar tops now sport a sea of laptops, and after hours The Strip is elbow to elbow with engineers toting yard-long beers.

That means CES, the year’s biggest tech bacchanalia, has come to town, and Digital Trends editors have spent the last four days frolicking among next year’s crop of incredible TVs, computers, tablets, and EVs. We’re in heaven.

Read more
Sony and Honda’s Afeela 1 EV makes more sense at CES than in the real world
Afeela 1 front quarter view.

The Sony car is almost here. After its creation via a joint venture with Honda in 2022 and two years’ worth of prototypes, the electronics giant’s Afeela brand is finally taking reservations for its first electric vehicle, with deliveries scheduled to start in 2026.

But will it be worth the wait? Coinciding with the opening of reservations, Sony Honda Mobility brought updated prototypes of the Afeela 1 (as it’s now officially known) to CES 2025, representing what California customers (Afeela is only taking reservations in that state) who put down a $200 refundable deposit can expect when they take delivery.

Read more
Bose wants to dominate car audio, and I heard its next-gen 3D automotive speakers
Bose logo on a speaker grille

Bose’s automotive audio business is huge, and it’s set to get even bigger. The company has been making big plays in car audio for some time now. The audio company works with premium brands like Porsche, building high-end speakers that allow drivers to experience high-quality audio on the road, whether they’re carting the family around in an Escalade or weaving around the highway (don’t do that) in a Porsche Macan.

But while it has a solid selection of audio brands under its belt, the world of personal audio is also evolving. Mercedes-Benz showed off its Dolby Atmos system at CES last year, and now, a year later, plenty of other brands are joining the trend. At CES 2025, Bose walked me through its current lineup of automotive audio products, as well as a sneak peek of what’s to come.
Immersive audio
The big trend in all areas of personal audio right now essentially boils down to supporting 3D audio formats like Dolby Atmos. Consumer home theater products are increasingly offering up-firing and side-firing speakers that can bounce audio around the room to simulate height and surround effects, while headphone brands are increasingly developing spatialized audio tech that can convert stereo audio into simulated spatial audio.

Read more