Can you believe the logo for a company worth astonishing $20bn could have been created in just one evening by someone who is even not a professional designer? The Snapchat logo is a perfect example!
Why is there a ghost on the Snapchat logo?
The iconic Ghostface Chillah, depicted in the Snapchat logo, represents the essence of the application, and the fact that the photos in it are being deleted after the time set by a user. The ghost is a graphical reflection of the brand’s “phantom” policy.
Snapchat made its debut in summer 2011. The application was known as Picaboo back then and only later did it acquire its current name.
The project was the result of collaboration of three people. Reggie Brown had an idea to create an application for pictures that would be deleted automatically. He did not have any experience in business, so he decided to turn to Evan Spiegel. To make the idea come true, the two needed someone who was good in coding. They found Bobby Murphy and all the three were busy working at the project for several months.
In spite of the fact that Brown was the one whom the idea belonged to, he was soon tossed out of the company. The story that reminded the origins of another popular social network, Facebook, ended in the same way. Having filed a lawsuit against Spiegel and Murphy, Brown eventually settled with them for $157.5 million.
The first logotype appeared around the time the company was created. Evan Spiegel, Snapchat co-founder, claimed to have drawn it in his bedroom, on his computer. It took him as little as one evening to create the now-famous ghost-shaped figure. Trying to find the most suitable color scheme, he analyzed logos of quite a few popular applications. None of them used yellow, so Spiegel decided to stick to this color.
The original Snapchat logo featured a ghost smiling and sticking out its tongue. It was nicknamed Ghostface Chillah (along the lines of Ghostface Killah of the Wu-Tang Clan).
In 2013, the company rolled out an update where the ghost had no facial expression at all. According to the company, that was not an accident: the ghost was supposed to reflect the diversity of emotions the members of the community had.
The company slightly tweaked the logo without changing its core. The ghost now has a bolder border making the design easier to grasp even from larger distances. There is also an alternative version, where the yellow box contains multiple black dots and has a black border.
In spite of the fact that Brown was the one whom the idea belonged to, he was soon tossed out of the company. The story that reminded the origins of another popular social network, Facebook, ended in the same way. Having filed a lawsuit against Spiegel and Murphy, Brown eventually settled with them for $157.5 million.
The emblem is yet another example of the modern tendency to exclude company names from commercial logotypes. It is supposed that most users do not need a wordmark to realize what app the logo belongs to.
Ever since the first version of the Snapchat logo was introduced, the emblem has always been based on the combination of yellow and white, with black as an accent color. The current version, however, uses a slightly different shade of yellow than the previous one: it is a brighter, almost acid shade. Also, in the previous version there was a small red patch (the ghost stuck out its tongue).
The app was originally called Pictaboo, but the young people later replaced it with Snapchat. The app’s yellow, white, and black logo, a cheerful ghost sticking out its tongue, was drawn by Spiegel himself.
Throughout the years all extra details were removed from the icon and now it’s a modern and minimalist image, which has keys to its original yellow, black and white color palette.
There are several versions of the Snapchat icon — but the difference is only in shapes and color usage. It can be a ghost in yellow, black, or white, placed on a white or yellow circle, with black outlines, or the same ghost on a solid square with rounded angles. But whatever the shape of the icon is, it is instantly recognizable by millions of users all over the globe.
What is the Snapchat logo supposed to be?
The Snapchat logo depicts a minimalistic white ghost, outlined in thick black and placed against a yellow background. Ghost has been a part of Snapchat’s visual identity since the very first days of the application, in 2011. Although throughout the years the app grew and changed, and so did the logo. The current version looks eye-catching, bold, and very confident.
Why did Snapchat change its logo?
Snapchat changed its logo just once, in 2013, and refined it in 2019. The company decided to use a more minimalistic style in its badge to show its progressiveness and to be closer to the users of the Snapchat app. The new badge looks more stylish and modern, which reflects the mood and character of the application, and points to its target audience.