Instagram redesign divides opinion, but gets people talking

Instagram (or should that be 'Instagzam'?) has had a major face lift, and its dividing opinion.

Instagram's first wordmark redesign in a decade has produced the reaction designers dread and marketers low-key embrace: divided opinions.

The redesign replaces Instagram's familiar cursive wordmark with a bolder, more compact hybrid script.

Instagram head Adam Mosseri said: "The wordmark at the top of the app hasn't changed in 10 years, so it was time for a refresh [it’s] cleaner and more modern, with references to the original and the simplicity and craft that's always made it Instagram."

But, almost immediately, social media decided the platform had accidentally renamed itself "Instagzam", in reference to the ambiguous lettering.

While spelling the name right might be one mandatory creative tickbox, others questioned accessibility and readability.

Others were more glowing. Carlos Castillo, senior graphic designer, said: “If you look closely at the new Instagram logo, there’s a familiarity that could go unnoticed. The S and the R act as flourish, and as connection. The lettering as a whole has gone more geometric, better built for a screen than a page, and that is intentional, sure, but so is the script feel. At first it feels like two typefaces, clumsily put together, but this was very deliberate, in my opinion."

Meanwhile, branding commentator Vicki Strull argued that the ‘z’ backlash misses the point: "People already know what Instagram looks like."

She compares the ambiguity issue with Kia, noting that people genuinely struggled to read Kia's old logo, but nobody is actually confused about Instagram's identity.

Our take

On balance, Instagram might be my favourite social platform, alongside Reddit.

I’m always amazed by how the site’s reels and memes are uncannily tuned to a sender’s humour, personality, and even what they’ve been through that very day. Although disconcerting, this algorithmic pinpointing admittedly makes for a bespoke experience, to the point where you can genuinely know someone better through their reel sharing.

(On a side note: given that I’ve never knowingly met anyone who’s made a meme - or certainly not on an industrial scale - I do wonder how so much oddly specific content can be offered up.)

The ads and marketing on the site are similarly well-targeted and, for the most part, fairly unobtrusive.

Anyway, back to the new branding.

I can see Mosseri’s thinking behind the new font. The brand - as demonstrated through the gradual homogenisation of its logo - has been stepping back from its overly ‘retro’ look for a while now.

The original, Polaroid camera-style, logo indulgence now reads as a little ‘on the nose’ and too knowingly ‘hip’.

The font being pared back and sanitised slightly isn’t exactly to my taste, but given that retro sepia tones and vintage filters aren’t such a mainstay on the site now, I can see why a more generic look is called for.