Instagram users woke up to a new look that started with its app icon and continued on the inside. In thousands of comments on its own Instagram post, the popular photo- and video-sharing app heard it from users who weren’t too happy with the changes.
Gone is the ubiquitous little retro-looking brown and cream camera with the rainbow stripe, black lens and black viewfinder. In its place is a simpler icon with a gradient rainbow.
In a blog post Wednesday, Instagram said its community has evolved and the updated look reflects how vibrant and diverse the storytelling has become. Separate videos showcased supposed iterations of the new logo as well as user content that inspired making the changes.
Instagram said the simpler design on the inside of the app puts more focus on photos and videos without changing navigation.
The Instagram community has evolved over the past five years from a place to share filtered photos to so much more — a global community of interests sharing more than 80 million photos and videos every day. Our updated look reflects how vibrant and diverse your storytelling has become.
Thank you for giving this community its life and color. You make Instagram a place to discover the wonder in the world. Every photo and video — from the littlest things to the most epic — opens a window for people to broaden their experiences and connect in new ways.
The blog post was shared on the official Instagram feed and as of this writing the video had been viewed more than a million times. Comments were coming fast and furious as the app’s users mostly appeared to express displeasure with the new look.
It’s a common reaction when smartphone users who have become accustomed to locating an app icon with a quick scan are suddenly faced with getting used to finding a new logo. The same thing happened to Uber, for instance, when backseat designers lit into the ride-sharing service for its changes.
Many comments on Instagram simply said “No!” or “I’m not changing” or “Go Back!” Others just said “Ew.” And lots of them featured sad face emojis. Here are a few more:
- “Why does Instagram keep ‘upgrading’ when literally everyone hates it when they do??” — @trina_has_landed
- “The app is colorless now and the icon is very colorful. They should make it the other way around : ( ” — @rogdozz
- “It took longer to make this video than it did to design the icon.” — @estwanick.exe
- “I can’t even find Instagram in my apps cause it looks completely different and terrible” — @fra53
In a post on Medium, Instagram head of design Ian Spalter explained the backstory.
“Last year, a group of us started digging into how we could support this evolution while staying true to Instagram’s heritage and spirit,” Spalter wrote. “Brands, logos and products develop deep connections and associations with people, so you don’t just want to change them for the sake of novelty. But the Instagram icon and design was beginning to feel, well … not reflective of the community, and we thought we could make it better.”
