Microsoft Corp unveiled its first new logo in 25 years on Thursday as it looks to unify its branding ahead of a clutch of new product releases this year.
Microsoft rolls out first new logo in 25 years.
The world's largest software company is introducing a dash of color in its first logo redesign since 1987, using a new multi-colored square next to a plain
rendering of its name, replacing its well-worn italic style logo.
Microsoft is rolling out its new
Windows 8 operating system along with new Office and phone software this autumn, and is hoping the new logo unifies customers' experience of the company, much like rival Apple Inc's distinctive logo has for its consumers.
"It's been 25 years since we've updated the Microsoft logo and now is the perfect time for a change," said Jeff Hansen, general manager of Microsoft's brand strategy, in a blog on Microsoft's website. "This wave of new releases is not only a reimagining of our most popular products, but also represents a new era for
Microsoft, so our logo should evolve to visually accentuate this new beginning."
The new design, which resembles the existing logo for Windows, its most important product, is already in use on Microsoft's website and is being unveiled at its latest store opening in Boston on Thursday.
The logo uses the so-called Segoe font, which is used in Microsoft products and marketing materials, and four colored squares that are “intended to express the company’s diverse portfolio of products,” the Redmond, Washington-based company said on its blog.
Microsoft, the world’s largest software maker, has revamped products including Windows,
phone software and the Xbox game machine to adopt a sleeker, more modern-looking design to compete with
Apple Inc. (AAPL) for style-conscious consumers. The colored squares in the new logo resemble the tiles found on touch-screen phones and tablets.
The new logo is meant “to show that this isn’t your father’s Microsoft, and there is something fresh, but also familiar,” said Michael Gartenberg, an analyst at market research firm Gartner Inc. It also helps to show Windows and Microsoft’s overall new design language, formerly known as Metro, are “relevant and aspirational to the market.”
The redesign comes as consumers are increasingly choosing the tablets over laptops, weakening personal-computer sales and curbing
Windows revenue. The company has said it plans to release Windows 8 on Oct. 26 and the Surface with an ARM Holdings Plc-based chip at the same time.
“This wave of new releases is not only a reimagining of our most popular products, but also represents a new era for Microsoft, so our logo should evolve to visually accentuate this new beginning,” Microsoft said on the blog.
For the past several years, Microsoft has been trying to forge a more unified look and feel for the company’s products using a colorful, tile-based design first unveiled as part of
Windows Phone under the name Metro. Earlier this month, Microsoft retired Metro, stating that it was used merely as a code name.
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