Adobe Flash is a software, developed in 1996 by FutureWave Macromedia. The player enables us to run graphics in SWF format, as well as video and audio files. The program can be a part of the web browser or installed on its own.
Adobe Flash Player is a program that plays Flash elements on websites. Flash is a technology for creating web applications or multimedia presentations. It is also the basis for many animated series and characters.
Previously, Flash was widely used to create advertising banners, animations, and games, as well as play video and audio recordings on web pages. Flash Player is needed to play Flash content on the user’s device – in its absence, for example, a video in this format will not work.
Adobe is not the creator of Flash. Behind this technology is the company Futurewave, and originally it was called Futuresplash Animator. In 1996, Futurewave was taken over by Macromedia and the technology changed its name to Flash. Adobe bought Macromedia in Q2 2005 and with it all of its assets.
Adobe announced its plans to completely stop supporting Flash back in July 2017 and immediately specified the terms – no later than December 31, 2020. However, the gradual abandonment of this technology occurred throughout the completed decade. According to statistics, Adobe Flash Player is installed on 90% of computers in the world.
Adobe completely stopped supporting Flash on December 31, 2020. The main reason for the complete abandonment of Flash by both third-party developers and Adobe itself was precisely the insecurity of this technology. Over the decades of its existence in it were identified dozens of small and large vulnerabilities that threatened users with loss of personal data and other no less unpleasant consequences of hacker attacks.
What is Adobe Flash?
Adobe Flash is the name of a program that allows you to view flash content on websites: video, audio, menu items, games, commercials, and so on. The software was developed in 1996 by Macromedia, which was later bought by Adobe.
The very first Adobe Flash logo was created in 1996 and was used only for the teal version of the software. It was a bright blue badge with lots of lettering in different styles and colors on it. The orange image of a crab was set in the upper left corner of the image and evoked a funny and friendly feeling. The bottom line of the blue rectangular was taken by a white “FutureWave” logotype with a stylish abstract emblem of a wave above it, also in white.
The first official logo saw the light in 1996 and stayed with Adobe Flash for six years. It was a colorful abstract image of two overlapping compact discs in gradient blue, green-yellow, and orange, with a circular white “loading” sign composed of several smooth bars. The sign was slightly inclined, which added some dynamics to the whole image.
The redesign of 2002 introduced a modern and strict badge in the red and gray color palette. It was set in four levels with the stylized red letter “F” on top, gray lowercase “Macromedia” in a lightweight sans-serif under it, uppercase red “Flash” in a bolder font on the third level, and stylized bold and extended “MX” in light gray as the bottom line.
In 2005 the logo was refined again, and now the red “F” was placed on the left from the “Macromedia Flash” executed in the same style as on the previous version and set in two levels and was accompanied by an enlarged “Professional” in thin lines of a sans-serif typeface, written in light gray and complemented by a bold red digit “8”, standing for the new version of the software.
The new era of the Adobe Flash visual identity started in 2007 with the introduction of a solid minimalist badge. The gradient burgundy square had a white “Fl” lettering on it. The abbreviation was executed in a smooth and bold custom sans-serif typeface with the upper horizontal bar of the “F” cut slightly diagonally.
In 2008 the logo was redesigned again, keeping the concept from 2007, but switching colors and strengthening the contours of all elements. This time the square background was colored in gradient red, which became darker to the bottom, and the white lettering was replaced by the black one, with wider contours.
In 2010 the square gained some volume and started looking like a book with the “FL” inscription on its cover. The color palette now looked the following way: the gradient red square with orange elements and the gradient orange tone of the letters, which were still written in the custom sans-serif with smooth modern lines.
The redesign of 2012 simplified the shape of the Adobe Flash logo, making it flat again. This time the main color of the square background was black, but it gained a thick red framing, which balanced the lettering, executed in the same color with the same thickness of the lines. The shape of the letters didn’t change, and the slight diagonal cut of the upper “F” bar remained in its place.
The frame became thinner and the letters — taller in 2013. The color palette was also changed and the intense red from the previous version got replaced by a dark orange, which looked dynamic and powerful a the thin orange square frame made it possible for the logo to be placed on any background, staying visible and recognizable.
In 2015 the contours of the Adobe Flash logo elements were emboldened and cleaned and the shade of orange became a bit more intense and dark. Not the big difference from the previous version, though the emblem started looking more confident and professional.
In 2016 the “FL” lettering was replaced by “An” and the typeface was changed to a bolder and smoother one. As for the color palette, it remained the same, as well as the thin square frame.
The redesign of 2020 completely changed the style of the Adobe Flash logo. Now it is a dark blue square icon with rounded angles and no framing. The “An” lettering on the icon is drawn in a light purple shade and features a new custom font with thick lines and interesting elongated tops of the vertical bars.
The lettering from the Adobe Animate logo is set in a bold custom typeface, which was designed by the company to be used in all the software emblems. It has bold clean lines and small sharp accents in the corners of the bars.
As for the color palette of the Adobe Animate visual identity, it uses two shades of purple — the dark, blueish one, for the background, and the light lilac tone for the lettering. Purple is known to be the color of creativity, with brilliantly transmits the purpose of the Adobe’s software.