YouTube Gets A New Look And A New Logo!

The American video sharing website YouTube, created by three former PayPal employees Chad Hurley, Steve Chen and Jawed Karim, was first launched 12 years ago and their logo, since then, has been a pair of anachronisms wrapped inside each other. Since its launch, the social media platform has evolved over the years and for the first time in over a decade, the famous YouTube logo will be getting a makeover. 

YouTube started releasing updates over the past few months, extending the design and select new features to its mobile app as well. The updates were made available to everyone yesterday which included a cleaner look and new features like a “dark mode” for nighttime watching.  According to Christopher Bettig, the Head of YouTube’s art department, the word ‘tube’ in YouTube’s previous logo was inside a tube, which was slang for Television. Yesterday, the brand got its biggest aesthetic makeover shifting the emphasis away from the word “tube” and onto the familiar play button which has already become an iconic shorthand for the company.

The new logo, according to Google, was designed to be more flexible across devices of varying screen sizes. One of the other upgrades is the desktop redesign introduced in May which will now be the default design instead of an opt in beta. In a blog post, YouTube said, “When all is said and done, we’ll bring a new level of functionality and a more consistent look across our desktop and mobile experiences.” The platform will be getting a new typeface, color scheme and a bunch of other major changes to the look, feel and functionality of its desktop and mobile app.

The app redesign will include a white header instead of red and the navigation tab has also been moved to the bottom, making them easier to reach with your thumbs. The Library and Accounts tab will also get an upgrade for easy access. Playback controls and gestures were also introduced where users can double tap on the left or right side of a video to rewind or fast forward by 10 seconds. In the upcoming upgrades, a new feature will also allow the users to jump between videos by just swiping left to watch the previous video, or swiping right to watch the next. Noting a rise in vertical videos, the new update will better support videos shot in other formats and orientations, by dynamically adapting its player to whatever video is being watched.

“Who cares if they’re vertical or horizontal? Shot on a mobile phone or DSLR? Square, 4:3 or 16:9?”

The new desktop design applies Material Design to YouTube to deliver a fresh, simple and intuitive user experience. YouTube is also testing a version of their mini player available on the app that allows users to continue watching videos while also browsing for the next clips.

Despite the many changes YouTube, according to their blog, their mission remains the same, “We’re here to give people a voice and show them the world – no matter what device they use.”

Watch the success story of YouTube here –