Onward and UpwardKeith Ward, Editor in Chief, Visual Studio Magazine
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The Microsoft Logo Makeover
Microsoft has unveiled its first new logo in a quarter-century. It looks like this:
Are you excited by it? To me, it doesn't look much different than the old logo. Sure, there are differences, but you know immediately it's still Microsoft. That's a good thing, I guess. Maybe our art folks will weigh in with a different opinion, but it doesn't cause a thrill up my leg, Chris Matthews-style.
As for the squares, Microsoft had this to say about their meaning: "The symbol's squares of color are intended to express the company's diverse portfolio of products." That's certainly true -- Microsoft is nothing if not diverse. Do four colored squares == diversity? Again, I guess so, but I'm no design guru. (I should add that the old logo didn't have the squares, which had their start as a Windows-specific logo. The old logo was just the word "Microsoft." So in that sense, it is significantly new. But to me, it really just ties together two long-time elements).
So there you have it. Microsoft's new look and feel. To end on a slightly cynical note: at least we know that Microsoft won't have any trademark or copyright problems this time, unlike a certain UI that's part of a new operating system being released toward the end of October...
Posted by Keith Ward on 08/23/2012