Yahoo! Nostalgia
A Logo that Hints to the Past
Yahoo! you either loved it, love it, or wonder what happened to them since their early 2000s total monopoly of the email space. If you're anything like me, creating a Yahoo! account was a thing of dreams. A display of maturity and a leap towards independence. I mean who didn't want to chat with their friends online rather than waiting for the household phone line to free up?
Well, after a few months of pleading the day finally arrived in 2007. I received the go-ahead to fill out my personal 'deets' for a Yahoo! account, and I never looked back.
That is until Yahoo! was sadly forgotten. The push towards consistency, novelty, and innovation made competitors like Gmail soar, while Yahoo! continued to sink.
Alas, I am not here to reminisce. I come bearing news. Yahoo! has had a major, and I mean major facelift! Partnered with the design experts at Pentagram, Yahoo! has just released its whole new look and feel with a logo redesign.
I know what you're probably thinking to yourself. Not another logo. But I promise you there is more to the story than meets the eye. Maintaining a similar hue of violet, the design overhaul has been concentrated on emphasizing Yahoo!’s strategy for the future as their new mail app is set to launch this year. Graphic Design USA’s article, "Yahoo! Logo Angles for Change," explains that the greatest alterations to the logo include the increased angle of the exclamation point, suggesting implied action, and the repeating circular motif within the letterforms which echo the sound of one hollering “Yahooooo!!” Although I agree that both of these statements are weighty, I find that their overall revival of the original-1996-edition's quirkiness to be the most noteworthy facet of this logo redesign.
Why the change, Yahoo!?
Here we are over a decade later since the day I signed up for my first email account. A lot has changed. I have become a designer. I am a first-time dog mum. And, with the utmost honesty, I must hereby report that my Yahoo! account has laid dormant for the past five years. My inability to recall my 8-digit passcode (which, trust me, I have tried everything from the name of my cat, to my favorite snacks) have all been met without an ounce of luck. This hasn’t been particularly bothersome, except occasionally when trying to access other accounts, like my Facebook, that were set up with it. As technology has evolved, my preferences for search engines and free email services have changed (sorry Yahoo! I am a Googler through and through). I can't even recall the last time I opened a window on my browser and typed in “Yahoo.com.”
I know that I am not alone. Hearing about Yahoo!’s rebranding, I reached out to my family, friends, and fellow Generation Z’ers to get an idea of their use of the digital platform. Of my sample size of 8, only 1 said they still use Yahoo! — and that happened to be my grandma. I am not going to argue the legitimacy of my methodology, I am just going to leave you with that figure. Now, let's talk about the redesign.
Logos can Yodel
Typefaces like people have distinct personalities. There are some font families that are goofy, others sleek, and some mean business. Graphic designers carefully select a typeface for a logo to visually communicate the essence of a brand. For example, Helvetica, a leading typeface of today has come to represent to us designers ‘corporate America’. Not only for its widespread use in corporate logos which have (including: Jeep, American Airlines, Microsoft, Panasonic, Nestlé, Dole…) shaped its personality, it’s the forms of the letters that have made it so versatile. The different personalities of typefaces are derived from the many characteristics of a font, such as:
- X- height is the height of small case letters.
- Serifs are the tails on letters present in some fonts.
- Stroke is the thickness of parts of letters. Letters can be uniform in thickness or vary dramatically.
These typeface traits are key determiners of the type's voice. The combination of all these typographic characteristics elicit an emotional response when a viewer glances at a street sign, or at the text on a can of pop.
Typography surrounds us all the time, whether we are aware of it or not. Yahoo!’s 1996 hand-drawn logo with the red type had a strong (albeit now off-putting) visual contrast between tall and short x-heights and thick and thin strokes. Putting together what we know about type, contrast creates visual impact, which could not be any more overt than when also painted red. The designers of the original Yahoo! logo intentionally chose to misalign the letterforms making the letters look as though they are floating upwards.
This logo felt childlike, bubbly, and definitely not afraid to call out and tell you to “Yahooooo!”.
Over the years, Yahoo!, has redesigned its logo six times. With each and every redesign the logos became increasingly static, dare I say…boring? It was beginning to feel as though all of their unique charm that we had grown up with in the '90s had evaporated right into thin air.
Change is in the Air: 2019 Logo Redesign
Taking a look at the newest redesign I have to say this one feels different. Removing the all-caps was a bold choice, yet the new logo radiates warmth and emits a 'cooler friendlier' aesthetic. As you stare into the heavy block letters the white space stands out.
The two O's almost look like a pair of twinkling eyes staring right back at you! This logo is anything but generic. The tight kerning and exaggerated slant of the exclamation point stop me straight in my tracks. Much like their first red logo, something appears so off, yet oh so right.
Yahoo!’s new design is quirky and unique. It is a much-needed breath of fresh air from their older, generic logos. I am curious to see their upcoming e-mail app, and who knows maybe I’ll even remember my 8-digit passcode. If you're still feeling nostalgic I recommend taking a look and skimming the Web Design Museums site. Their Yahoo! archive is equal parts cringy and lovely. Enjoy!
