Bye, Bye Birdie –Twitter Announces New Logo

This week, Twitter announced a new, sleeker version of their iconic blue bird logo.  Why the sudden re-branding? According to Twitter’s official blog, the new bird is a representation of the social network itself. Twitter’s Creative Director, Doug Bowman, explains, “This bird is crafted purely from three sets of overlapping circles — similar to how your networks, interests and ideas connect and intersect with peers and friends. Whether soaring high above the earth to take in a broad view, or flocking with other birds to achieve a common purpose, a bird in flight is the ultimate representation of freedom, hope and limitless possibility.”

The video below shows just how those circles come together for the new, geometrically superior, Twitter logo.

http://www.youtube.com/embed/Fh20pdCrCAU

Putting aside the excitement and whimsy, Twitter’s logo update is also serious business. Along with the new look and feel comes a bevy of usage guidelines and restrictions. Moving forward, anyone wishing to align themselves, or their business, with the social network is to use the new logo and only the new logo.  Bowman’s somewhat bizarre statement that “Twitter is the bird and the bird is Twitter” is further reflected in the usage guidelines.  In addition to replacing the small “t” and any previous versions of the Twitter bird, Twitter outlines a few other potential “No –No’s” on their Trademark and Policy page. The most humorous of which is not adding a speech bubble to the logo.  Usage limitations also include alteration of color, animation or direction in which the bird faces.

So what does this mean for your business? It is time to update your Twitter logo on all marketing materials. Fortunately, Twitter makes this very easy by providing downloadable images, html coding for social buttons and much more. Simply visit
https://twitter.com/about/logos, retrieve your favorite logo variation and make the switch.