Microsoft unveiled its current corporate logo on August 23, 2012, marking the first update to the company’s identity in 25 years. The logo consists of two components: a logotype and a symbol. The logotype uses the Segoe font, the same typeface Microsoft uses in its products and marketing communications. The symbol features four colored squares, which Microsoft stated are intended to express the company’s diverse portfolio of products.[1]
Design and History
Microsoft’s 2012 logo change was announced by Jeff Hansen, the company’s general manager of brand strategy, in advance of what Microsoft described as one of the most significant waves of product launches in its history, including Windows 8, Windows Phone 8, Xbox services and the next version of Office. Hansen wrote that the logo should evolve to visually accentuate this new beginning, and that the new design takes inspiration from Microsoft’s product design principles while drawing upon the heritage of its brand values, fonts and colors.[1]
The 2012 mark was the fifth logo in Microsoft’s history. The company’s first logo was used from 1975 to 1979, a second from 1980 to 1981, a third from 1982 to 1986, and the fourth from 1987 until the 2012 change.[2]
The previous logo, introduced in 1987, was designed by Scott Baker. According to Microsoft’s own history archive, the new identity used a Helvetica italic typeface with a slash between the “o” and “s” to emphasize the “soft” part of the name and convey motion and speed. The mark became known as the “Pacman Logo.” Baker said of the earlier “Blibbet” logo it replaced: “The former logo was more in keeping with how we saw our company five years ago.”[3]
The 2012 redesign replaced the italic Helvetica treatment with the straight Segoe typeface and added the four-square symbol beside the wordmark.[4] The symbol’s squares of color were described by Microsoft as expressing the company’s diverse portfolio of products.[1]
Meaning and Symbolism
Microsoft’s official announcement stated that the symbol’s squares of color are intended to express the company’s diverse portfolio of products.[1] Jeff Hansen told the Seattle Times that the new look was intended to “signal the heritage but also signal the future.”[5]
Observers noted that the four-square symbol evokes the Windows logo and the “Metro” interface design language Microsoft was introducing with Windows 8.[6] The Windows 8 identity itself was designed by Pentagram partner Paula Scher, who re-imagined the familiar Windows flag as a modern geometric shape guided by the principles of perspective.[7]
Typography and Design
The 2012 Microsoft logotype uses the Segoe font, which Microsoft stated is the same font used in its products and marketing communications.[1] This brought the corporate wordmark into line with the typeface already used across Microsoft products and with the Windows 8 identity developed by Pentagram.[8]
The previous logo had used Helvetica black italic since 1987.[9] The 2012 redesign replaced this with the lighter, straight Segoe typeface.[4]
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