Facebook Makes Subtle Logo Change, for a Reason

Facebook has tweaked its logo for the first time in a decade, but you'll be forgiven if you didn't notice. To the layman, the change is slight: The "a" is different, now rounded off, and all the letters are thinner. But to experts, it's a big deal. “This is actually a huge change and it’s much more than the ‘a,’" the chief creative officer of branding firm Siegel+Gale tells the Wall Street Journal. "It's driven by mobile." The idea is that the thinner letters, and the resulting increase in white space, will make them more readable on smartphones.

Facebook's creative director, Josh Higgins, says the company "set out to modernize the logo to make it feel more friendly and approachable" and decided on a tweak rather than an overhaul. A review at Brand New digs deeper into the changes—"the 'b' has a more traditional stem"—and is mostly perplexed that Facebook wanted to change such a recognizable logo. But give it time, suggests the reviewer: "The more I look at the new logo the more I don’t-not-dislike-it but, for now, even though it says 'Facebook' it’s still not Facebook." (More Facebook stories.)