The new Microsoft Edge browser logo is here and it’s causing quite a stir. Like a lot of design output from Redmond’s favorite tech company, this new logo for a a browser previously known as project Spartan is splitting opinion and dividing the design community.
Firstly, a tiny bit of history. Microsoft’s Internet explorer was once the new kid on the block and arrived on PCs in 1995, a few months or so after Netscape’s Navigator was released. Netscape’s Navigator browser had the whole (internet)world in the palm of its hand initially and was the go to browser and, even by the standards of the day, it had a pretty cool logo. In fact Netscape browser had the whole package and early on it became the defacto standard for web browsers. A great product with cool branding that worked.
Obviously things changed and over time Netscape was soundly beaten and replaced by Microsoft’s Internet Explorer and that little lower case ‘e’ with it’s ‘Saturn ring’ swoosh became the only logo going when you wanted to get online.
Fast forward an aeon in web time and things are different again. Competition in the web browser market is fierce. Google wants their Chrome browser to be the only browser going, Apple’s Safari continues to push adoption of their WebKit standards and Microsoft is promising to keep up with the crowd and once again lead from the front with the launch of their all new Microsoft Edge browser. And with this new browser, one which finally turns its back on the legacy of Internet Explorer, comes a ‘new’ logo. Kind of.
The last version of the Internet Explorer logo adopted the flat style which is prevalent all around on and offline at the moment. And to be fair it’s probably the nicest version in the browsers history. It’s just plain old good looking.
Its simplicity, balance and proportions look great and above all are highly recognisable. This is a logo done right, that has grown and matured and, in the eyes of Microsoft and their brand mandarins, got too long in the tooth. Time for a reboot.
And the reboot is this. The new Microsoft Edge browser logo.
Damn. It’s not pretty. And it has an overbite only its mother could love. An ugly child, and then some!
It doesn’t have the geometric simplicity and cosiness of the Internet Explorer logo and for something that’s there to give a new identity to their cutting edge browser it looks oddly lumpy and heavy. It feels too narrow, like it’s been squashed a little. An already horrible type face that has been used for the lower case e in the Microsoft Edge browser logo has been given the a make-over with one eye on recreating something akin to the Internet Explorer logo and another eye on bringing it in line with Microsoft’s current branding language. It just doesn’t work. It’s all a bit too Fankenstien’s monster’s head with its ear cut off.
As with all bad logos we’re always tempted to spend a few minutes to see if we could improve matters. In this case we thought we’d see what could be done with the new logo to make it feel a little more dynamic, more cutting edge, more about movement and speed and more attractive to the eye whilst keeping the basic redesign in site. Here’s what we came up with.
It’s a little more beautiful, a little less severe. The colour is a little more positive and joyous, the italicised take on the letter makes it feel it’s got a date with the future.
Have you got a logo that needs a bit of TLC? Get in touch with us here at studiorokit.