Netflix Introduces New Bold Icon
And people are freaking out.
In 2014, Netflix updated its DVD-era logo to the one you've spent more than your fair share of nights starting blankly at until 3am. Well, today they updated their icon (yes, icon – not their logo) and it’s going to make you feel the feels one way or another.
So is it the new Netflix logo? As in, will it engulf the old Netflix logo we know so well? A company spokesperson has opted to "pass" on commenting, meaning that we can only speculate on why Netflix is introducing a new logo now.The company says it's not replacing the familiar red-on-white banner logo it first introduces two years ago, but the new icon will be used on "product integrations in the near future."
The new design retains the original logo’s silhouette, but it has been muted considerably without the extrusion. Instead you have a light drop shadow (see it in the trailer for Orange Is The New Black). The typography still appears in white, but it also shyly incorporates some of the bold red that now makes up the Netflix logo's blinding backdrop—a red that burns so intensely on screens, it could flood your whole living room (how's that for branding?).
The new Netflix icon’s only real crime is that it has no excuse to exist. Though, sure, graphics are trending flat, so thick extrusions are out of fashion. And Netflix’s business is less and less about the boisterous red envelope that slayed Blockbuster than it is about easy digital streaming.
Who knows why Netflix refuses to talk about the new icon. Maybe it leaked in a few promotions before Netflix was ready to shape a nuanced corporate narrative around the update. Maybe Netflix is afraid that loyal customers will be disgusted by the new design, like what happened with the Gap a few years back, so they'd like to pass the baton from one logo to another slowly and quietly. Or maybe Netflix just isn't all that organized and hasn't made a decision as to what it's doing yet.
But the existing logo is fantastic. And I hope it's not going anywhere. With a wordmark that pops out at the audience from an overwhelming sea of red, it embodies Netflix. There's no mistaking it for YouTube, Hulu, Vine, or any other digital entertainment service that’s arrived since.
Social media has seemed a bit divided on the aesthetic quality of the new design, but considering the loud negative response to many corporate logo changes in the past year (oh, Instagram), Netflix may chalk that up as a win.
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