The familiar Twitter blue bird symbol will be replaced by a white “X” on a black background, as unveiled by Elon Musk and Twitter chief executive officer Linda Yaccarino on Monday. This is a major rebranding of the social media platform Musk bought for $44 billion last year.
Earlier today, Musk replaced his Twitter icon with an X symbol and posted a picture of the design projected on Twitter’s San Francisco headquarters. On Sunday, he had hinted at the big change on Twitter and said, “And soon we shall bid adieu to the Twitter brand and, gradually, all the birds," Musk tweeted.
The X logo is currently appearing in the desktop version of Twitter, but the bird is still visible across the phone app, as reported by the Associated Press.
In a series of tweets, Yaccarino called X the future of “unlimited interactivity,” focused audio, video, messaging, and payments to create a global marketplace for ideas, goods, services, and opportunities. "Powered by AI, X will connect us all in ways we’re just beginning to imagine,” she added. Further commenting about the rebranding, Yaccarino said: “There’s absolutely no limit to this transformation. X will be the platform that can deliver, well….everything.”
Meanwhile, Martin Grasser, one of three people behind the previous Twitter logo, along with Todd Waterbury and Angy Che, which was unveiled in 2012, took to Twitter to bid goodbye to the “great blue bird.” The artist revealed that there was no brief other than wanting a new bird and that it should be as good as the Apple or Nike logo. “So, I just started drawing birds,” he said in a series of tweets on Monday. Sharing some of the early designs for the logo, Grasser said while constructing the logo, the team felt “the bird should have an underlying neutrality and simplicity about it.” The approved logo was finally launched in May 2012.
Earlier this month, a new competitor to Musk’s Twitter emerged, with Meta launching Threads. While Twitter users are not happing with the changes Musk has been implementing since he took over, Threads has emerged as a solid competition and possible alternative. However, it’s too soon to tell whether Threads will hold its ground.
(With inputs from agencies)
