The image above is the purported new Windows 8 logo circling around the internets. While Microsoft haven’t issued an official statement regarding this “re-imagined” version, I’ll just go ahead and share my opinion on this radical development brand-wise for Microsoft.
“We reimagined Windows,” said Steven Sinofsky, president of the Windows and Windows Live Division at Microsoft, in his keynote address to the thousands of developers in attendance. “From the chipset to the user experience, Windows 8 brings a new range of capabilities without compromise.”
I have to admit that the Metro ‘squares’ meeting the 4-pane windows was really a clever take on the old Windows flag logo. However, the choice to go on a single-color for the logo does not make any sense for me. Why would Microsoft ditch their four-color logo over this single-tone? It would be like giving the Google the go-signal to take reign on their color scheme (as seen on Chrome and other Google products). Besides, the tiles themselves are multi-colored so why the change?
Sticking to a single color logo would also make the Windows brand too monotonous and not consumer-friendly. Windows 8, as we all know by now, would run on tablets, PC’s, enterprise desktops, servers and even phones. You wouldn’t want to confine the brand into a single scheme like that. They could even categorized the colors to go into specific markets. Blue for Enterprise and Desktop PC’s, Green for Windows XBox?, Red for Phones and Tablets, Yellow for Windows Live services.
I know that it’s fairly early to rant on unconfirmed logos. I also actually like this Windows reimagining thing going on. I just hope that Microsoft doesn’t change Windows too much to cause confusion among long-time users and millions of people around the world.
I just honestly feel that moving away from the existing logo and colors would be a big risk for Microsoft. But what do I know right? If this is needed to change Windows for the better maybe we have to accept these changes.