Last weekend, Elon Musk announced Twitter would change its name to X.com. More changes will also concern the functionality and visual identity of the social network. So the famous blue bird will apparently leave for good, giving way to a new symbol – an “X” – which will be defining the whole branding.
“Not sure what subtle clues gave it way, but I like the letter X”, Musk posted on Twitter (or X.com?), while Twitter’s CEO Linda Yaccarino shared a photo with a big “X” projected on the company building. The letter is already displayed on the website, instead of the bird. Musk also said the logo is not final, and it can be “polished” in the near future.
Indeed, the presented X logo is quite generic, distinguished only by a double line in the left-to-right stroke. People on the web noticed that the “X” is identical to the X glyph from the Special Alphabets 4 typeface of a Monotype font family that can be bought only for $30.
According to Yaccarino, the company has chosen a completely new way, making X.com a large-scale application with “unlimited interactivity”, which will combine multiple functions. It will be oriented to messaging, video, and audio content, and include a payment system creating a global market of goods, ideas, and opportunities.
The rebranding doesn’t come from a professional design agency. It rather emerged as a result of a kind of brand unification of the companies and products owned by Musk. So it can be regarded just as a whim of the billionaire himself who has used the “X” for his projects for years.
The domain X.com was acquired by Musk several years ago and currently redirects to twitter.com. In this connection, we can also recall the businessman’s other enterprises: SpaceX involved in space missions, an artificial intelligence startup named xAI, and the Tesla Model X off-roadster.
While Twitter is a renowned and solid brand that has saved up a number of iconic things including the verb “to tweet”, the rebranding can result in a risk to lose all this identity and recognition, especially considering the difficult time the platform is going through.
