Old logo: YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, Google, Apple, Microsoft

Major companies are known to keep changing logos from time to time. Each logo has a meaning, and the changes have a reason. In this article, we will take a look at some of the older logos of YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, Google, Apple, and Microsoft.

Old logo of YouTube

I still recognize YouTube by its older logo in which the word You was in black, and Tube was in white with a red sleeve. The logic behind the initial logo was to keep the shape of the red sleeve similar to that of a TV. YouTube was launched in 2005, and back then a TV set was a big and bulky box. Even computer screens were mostly RT monitors. Thus, the logo made sense. With time, little was changed other than the shade of the red color on the sleeve.

The new logo uses a video symbol for countless reasons. Firstly, the concept of screens has changed and will keep changing. Second, the Play symbol for videos will remain constant for a long time to come. Thus, the logo is appreciated.

Old logo of Instagram

Instagram’s older logo was the image of a primitive analog camera with a slight tinge of rainbow design in it. The rainbow is representative of the colors involved in photography and the primitive camera design has a reason. When Instagram was launched in 2010, people were recovering from the intense economic impact of the recession. Thus, Instagram’s design team wanted to remind people of older and better times. However, this logo was too cumbersome to connect with. In 2016, the logo was changed to a simple set of rectangles depicting the parts of a camera and later the design was made more vibrant.

Old logo of Facebook

Facebook’s logo has not changed much over time except for the tint of the blue color which was made lighter and more vibrant in shade. Facebook’s older logo was the most basic design the creators could think of. An F in lowercase was used since the name is Facebook and the letter was surrounded by dark blue. The reason for choosing blue color is that the color represents technology and creativity.

Later, the shade was made lighter and more vibrant because the majority of users use Facebook on their phones. The vibrant color was important to make the icon attractive on smartphones.

Old logo of Google

Google’s logo is one logo that hasn’t changed much despite being in the market for much longer than others. The only major change is that it is 2-dimensional now and it was 3-dimensional earlier. The level of the 3-D effects has also changed with time. However, the color combination has remained the same.

Another change in the Google logo over time is the font. Now the font is bold and straight. This signifies that Google has become a serious business lately. The four colors used in the Google logo are yellow, blue, red, and green. These 4 colors signify everything since one can make any color out of these 4 colors.

Old logo of Apple

Apple’s logo has a long history, and it has witnessed a lot of changes. The basic design is of a half-eaten apple. As if a bite has been bitten off the apple and it has been clicked to make a 2-dimensional figure. The first prominent design was in rainbow colors, and it was very popular back in its time. However, Apple was a very different company in that era. Apple made household computers (just like Microsoft does these days) and Steve Jobs was not a member of its board.

When Steve Jobs joined, he wanted to change Apple to a luxury brand. Thus, he removed the rainbow color and made it completely black. Later grey and white shades were allowed to be added for different products, however, the monochromatic context remained the same.

Old logo of Microsoft

Microsoft is the oldest company on our list, and obviously, it will have the widest history of logos. However, we can limit our study to 2 major logo designs, which are the monochromatic one and the colored logo.

When Microsoft was founded, computers were very different from what we use these days. When Pac-man was launched, Microsoft wanted to sell its “intention of flexibility in computing.” This, it kept the logo in a simple black font but changed the design to Italics. This was representative of flexibility.

The new Microsoft logo has 4 squares in green, blue, red, and green colors. Red is for Microsoft Office, Blue for Windows, Green for Xbox, and Yellow for Bing.

Why is Microsoft logo a window?

One might wonder that the window design in Microsoft’s logo represents its ace product Windows, however, the reason is different. The 4 squares represent different products by Microsoft and this was the best method to present the same. Rather, the design of the Windows logo is different from the design of the Microsoft logo and is slanted.

Why is Apple’s symbol a bitten apple?

Imagine if you didn’t notice the bite in the Apple’s symbol, what would make it look different from a cherry? The designers noticed this before anyone else and added the bite to ensure that the symbol looked like an apple and nothing else. The bite mark has been retained throughout the design changes in the Apple logo.

I hope this was helpful! Please let us know in the comment section.