Qwant is a French search engine founded in 2013 and known for its privacy-first approach, promising not to track users or sell personal data. Its visual identity has undergone several distinct changes, most recently in 2024 when the Paris-based branding agency Bruno redesigned the logo and broader identity to reflect the company’s integration of AI and independent indexing. [1]
Design and History
Qwant’s earliest widely documented logo featured a colorful magnifying glass icon, which was replaced in 2018 when the company celebrated its fifth anniversary. That redesign introduced a logo built around red, green and blue light beams, colors that Qwant said symbolized the diversity and neutrality of its search results. [2]
In late 2022, Qwant dropped the magnifying glass motif entirely, moving to a simple typographic wordmark. The new logo’s first letter “Q” was drawn with a separated stroke, turning the tail into a horizontal line placed at the lower right of the circle. Qwant said the revised logo and visual design reflected a more accessible, modern and engaging brand. [3]
The current identity dates to 2024, when Qwant announced a new version of its search engine integrating AI. Bruno, a branding agency with offices in Paris and London, was brought in to rethink the identity. The agency designed a modern logo with a unique typeface paired with a small star, which Bruno described as symbolizing AI and the brand’s ethical values. [1] The visual direction was deliberately pared back, using a timeless black and white palette. [4]
Meaning and Symbolism
Bruno described the star in the 2024 wordmark as similar to an asterisk, calling it “the unofficial but culturally adopted symbol of artificial intelligence within the tech industry.” The star is attached to the name in the same way that AI supports the platform, symbolizing the clear direction taken by the brand. [4] The black and white palette was chosen to convey a quasi-institutional seriousness, evoking qualitative, reliable and relevant information. [5]
Typography and Design
For the 2024 identity, Bruno designed a custom typographic wordmark described as sitting somewhere between serif, sans and slab. The agency said this unique typeface expresses both a reassuring tradition and the freshness of innovation. [5] The broader identity includes a minimalist interface available in both white and black modes, with illustrations by Joanna Ławniczak contributing to a modern visual style across Qwant’s ecosystem. [1]
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