Instagram Unleashes Visual Refresh: Energised Logo, Fonts, & Design | Find The Purpose Behind This ‘Refresh’

Instagram announced that it will go through a “Visual Refresh” consisting of changes to its colors, typeface, logo and other brand elements.

It explained that the revisions have been made to help create “more immersive and inclusive experiences for [its] community”.

Logo Gradient

For starters, the gradient has been imbued with vibrant colors to make it appear “illuminated and alive, and to signal moments of discovery”.

They achieved this by using a new and innovative 3D modelling process.

The company said that this would bring life to the user experience through “the energy of our reimagined gradient.”

New Typeface

The app has got a new typeface, Instagram Sans which is designed keeping its “heritage” in mind and includes multiple global scripts.

The intention is to make the typeface globally accessible and to that end it has partnered with multiple language experts and added scripts including Arabic, Thai and Japanese.

It will work as a new way for users to express themselves on Instagram in places like Stories and Reels.

Full-screen Marketing Layout

Another visual change is a new layout and design system which “celebrates creativity, simplicity and self-expression”.

This is a full-screen marketing layout akin to the TikTok home feed.

The new style permeates how photos are displayed on a device, the appearance of posts, as well as how Instagram posts disappear from the home feed.

The navigation tab still remains at the bottom of the panel and the top bar with the notifications and DMs too will remain the same.

Competing With TikTok?

The last feature in particular is an interesting one. 

Tiktok’s dominance in the online content space has companies scrambling to get a piece of the pie. 

Not to be left behind, Instagram decided to test the redesign which would start users in full-screen, TikTok-style video mode when they open the app.

In a bid to attract content creators, Instagram began a bonus incentive program which would reward creators of viral Reels, a short form video platform. 

However, the needle mover at the moment is still Tiktok which is the most downloaded app in the world. 

Instagram  might have to do more and do better if it wants to retain any meaningful presence in the social media sphere today..