The little blue bird has been synonymous with Twitter for over a decade and now it’s time to say goodbye. Elon Musk’s major rebranding of Twitter to X means it’s the end of the road for the iconic bird logo. The change has left the internet completely divided with many arguing in favor of the old logo. As Twitter evolves into X, let’s take a look at a history of the bird logo and its impact over the years.
Elon Musk replaces the Twitter bird with X
On Monday, the official @twitter account featured an all new profile picture with a strange ‘X’ logo. The imminent rebranding of Twitter immediately went viral on the platform after Elon Musk made it official.
Our headquarters tonight pic.twitter.com/GO6yY8R7fO
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 24, 2023
The billionaire announced this change as part of an interim rebranding strategy with a hint that refinements might follow in the future. He tweeted that they shall soon bid adieu to the twitter brand and, gradually, all the birds.
https://twitter.com/benparr/status/1683138514408591360?s=20
Elon Musk’s decision sparked debate on whether the change was actually necessary. It drew comparisons to failed rebranding moves like New Coke while others used #RIPTwitter to express their dissatisfaction over losing the blue bird.
Twitter’s logos before the blue bird
Before the iconic bird came into existence, Twitter experimented with a variety of logo designs. The company was originally just an internal messaging system for a media directory called Odeo. First named ‘Smssy’ and then ‘Twttr’, the platform had name-based logos.
Linda Gavin designed the first official Twitter logo which featured the name “Twitter” in light blue. Additionally, the company purchased a light blue bird graphic from Simon Oxley, who named it “Larry” after the basketball player Larry Bird.
This bird image eventually inspired Biz Stone to create a bird logo that Twitter could call its own. After further refinements by Philip Pascuzzo and Douglas Bowman, the iconic Twitter bird logo as we know it today was born.
The evolution of the iconic bird logo
Designer Martin Grasser reportedly drew more than a thousand birds to arrive at the perfect proportion and simplicity of the final logo. It was constructed using 15 overlaid circles which symbolized connecting people and ideas.
Today we say goodbye to this great blue bird
This logo was designed in 2012 by a team of three. @toddwaterbury, @angyche and myself,
The logo was designed to be simple, balanced, and legible at very small sizes, almost like a lowercase "e", a 🧵 pic.twitter.com/pogZnorRko
— martin grasser (@martingrasser) July 24, 2023
The bird’s upward gaze represented hope, freedom, and development. This aligned with Twitter’s mission to democratize information and give everyone a voice. Over the years, the bird became synonymous with the platform.
People called Twitter the ‘bird app’ and posts became ‘tweets’, referring to sounds made by birds. It’s safe to say that the Twitter bird logo gained Nike’s Swoosh level recognition until Elon Musk decided it was time for X.
Social media reactions
The recent decision to replace the bird with an X symbol has left people divided. Twitter users believe that the original logo was part of the platform’s charm and nostalgia. Moreover, it’s never a good idea to throw away such brand value.
Twitter got X'd. pic.twitter.com/fiDRSfQgwQ
— Ernest Ng Bro (@ernestngBRO) July 25, 2023
https://twitter.com/somulumos/status/1683644046185562118?s=20
bye blue bird
the wind of change blew too big pic.twitter.com/QGCxcRFfyx— zancan 🌿 (@zancan) July 24, 2023
Twitter could rebrand to a donkey and I’d still scroll for 6 hours a day
— Jonah Katz (@dinkin_flickaa) July 24, 2023
x’s
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 24, 2023
I'm still gonna call it Twitter
— Marques Brownlee (@MKBHD) July 23, 2023
However, some came in support of Elon Musk’s decision. While the new logo is supposedly ‘interim’, it’s still pretty generic. In fact, it looks exactly like the Unicode character Mathematical Double-Struck Capital X aka U+1D54F, aka “𝕏.”
You can share questions about Twitter’s rebranding to X and the blue bird logo’s history. For more content, stay with us here at Spiel Times. Make sure you subscribe to our push notifications and never miss an update. You can also follow us on Spiel Anime, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube. Until next time!
