In the words of the almighty James Brown, well, kind of anyway, Twitter’s got a brand new bird; at least for its logo. That’s right, according to the Twitter blog, the day of the #Twitterbird is upon us. The idea was to simplify the logo and it looks like Twitter succeeded in doing so.
They’ve even created a short video to introduce the new, simplified logo, which leads this post. But why a bird, you ask? Aside from the association with birds tweeting, of course. What is Twitter’s fascination with blue birds? The blog post explains:
Our new bird grows out of love for ornithology, design within creative constraints, and simple geometry. This bird is crafted purely from three sets of overlapping circles — similar to how your networks, interests and ideas connect and intersect with peers and friends. Whether soaring high above the earth to take in a broad view, or flocking with other birds to achieve a common purpose, a bird in flight is the ultimate representation of freedom, hope and limitless possibility.
Does this mean those in command at Twitter view members as part of the flock? It certainly seems that way, and judging by some of the social change Twitter has spearheaded–the Iran and Egyptian protests come to mind–perhaps they aren’t wrong in their assessment.
To help with the changeover, Twitter does not want people using older logos, there’s a logo page where users can download the version of the logo they’d like to use on their sites. However, these images come with the following disclaimer:
Do not modify or alter the marks or use them in a confusing way, including suggesting sponsorship or endorsement by Twitter, or in a way that confuses Twitter with another brand.
Otherwise, a cease and desist will be dropped in your lap. If you’d like to keep track of the reaction concerning the new Twitter logo, just follow the chatter surrounding the #Twitterbird hashtag. An example:
Follow @RevezNexus 
Verified Cyborg
@RevezNexus Twitter kills bubble letter logotype, replaces it with new ‘Twitter bird’ logo http://t.co/szv5EUxf
Follow @BronxZoosCobra 
Bronx Zoo’s Cobra
@BronxZoosCobra Twitter changed its little blue bird logo! He still looks delicious…nice, I mean nice. http://t.co/UxrnKNmu #Twitterbird
Follow @StacyCowley 
Stacy Cowley
@StacyCowley New #twitterbird rules: Don’t “animate the bird,” “duplicate the bird,” “rotate” the bird. DO NOT TAUNT HAPPY FUN BIRD http://t.co/7swrKhOQ
Pretty much that. Any thoughts on the new Twitter logo or is this much ado about nothing? In other news, for some reason, every time I read about Twitter’s new logo, the following song pops up in my head:
“Twitter’s got a brand new bird.”