Twitter unveils 'complex and imperfect' new brand design

CMO Leslie Berland debuts marketing upgrade, including a new 'Chirp' font and fun with the bird logo

Published On
Jan 27, 2021

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Twitter’s marketing team, led by Chief Marketing Officer Leslie Berland, unveiled a new look for the company, including “playing around” with the famous bird logo.

On Wednesday, Berland revealed the new design elements that will appear in Twitter’s marketing going forward. There’s also a new font called “Chirp,” which is a custom typeface created by Grilli Type in Switzerland. The Chirp typeface replaces Twitter’s use of Helvetica.

 

Berland announced the elements of its new marketing designs in a Twitter thread on Wednesday.

“We felt the brand expression we launched 5 years ago didn't fully reflect the complexity, fluidity and power of the conversations today,” Berland tweeted on Wednesday. “So the team embarked on a unique challenge: to build a creative system for an iconic brand that’s complex and imperfect, by design.”

 

Twitter declined to comment on the corporate brand refresh beyond Berland’s public statement.

The new look won’t affect the design of the app or website, and the bird logo is basically staying the same, only with some more design flare. “Our iconic logo isn’t changing, but we’ll be pushing the boundaries on how it shows up,” Berland said.

Twitter’s promotes the brand on its own site in the form of tweets, where it has a playful approach with GIFs and memes. In recent years, Twitter has also plastered tweets on billboards, drawing praise for its innovative use of outdoor advertising. Last year, Twitter posted tweets related to mask wearing in prominent public spaces around the country.

The new marketing designs will be put to use in these types of campaigns and more, as Twitter looks to generate interest in its products. The messaging service is evolving with new features, and the purchase of smaller companies. This year, Twitter bought San Francisco creative agency Ueno, and also acquired podcasting app Breaker. Last year, it purchased a social video startup called Squad.

“You’ll start seeing this new work in videos and posters, presentations, GIFs and banners,” Berland said. “You’ll see some pops and winks in the product too.”