Uber changed its logo to something pretty weird
You know that feeling you get when you walk into an art museum and scratch your head trying to understand the abstract paintings?
Now you can have that every single time you look at your phone screen, courtesy of Uber.
The ride-hailing startup ditched its plain U-logo on Tuesday in favor of a curious design for its current apps, which looks like an ink blot for corporate ambitions.
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The logo change comes at a time when Uber's valuation continues to skyrocket -- most recently to $62 billion -- and its ambitions drive it into countries and product categories. Uber recently expanded its courier delivery service to new retail partners like Nordstrom and is planning to release a standalone food delivery app this spring.
"Have you ever looked at someone’s hairstyle and thought 'oh my, you peaked in the 1990s?'" Travis Kalanick, Uber's CEO and cofounder, wrote in a kind of Mean Girls-y start to his blog post announcing the new branding. "Well that’s a bit how I feel about Uber’s look today."
Got it. Uber's old look: not fetch.
Is it a confused and bloated U? A drunk Pacman? A copy of a mouse pad on sale at the newly rebooted Circuit City?
No, it's... even more confusing than that.
So in the app that customers see (below, left), there is a single line representing the passenger's journey in the Uber car.
In the version of the app for drivers (below, right), there are two lines, representing the process of picking up and dropping off passengers at multiple points.
The background colors will eventually be customized for every country Uber operates in as well. As of Tuesday, there is a turquoise version for India and a red version (how original) for China.
Many on Twitter, not surprisingly, scratched their heads over the new design.
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Uber's tagline has also changed, from "Everyone's private driver" to "Get there."
"Uber started out as everyone’s private driver. Today we aspire to make transportation as reliable as running water, everywhere and for everyone," Kalanick wrote in the blog post. "Our new brand reflects that reality by working to celebrate the cities that Uber serves."
You can certainly poke fun at the logo, but whatever you do, don't try putting it on a condom.
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Topics Uber
Seth Fiegerman was a Senior Business Reporter at Mashable, where he covered startups, marketing and the latest consumer tech trends. He joined Mashable in August 2012 and is based in New York.Before joining Mashable, Seth covered all things Apple as a reporter at Silicon Alley Insider, the tech section of Business Insider. He has also worked as a staff writer at TheStreet.com and as an editor at Playboy Magazine. His work has appeared in Newsweek, NPR, Kiplinger, Portfolio and The Huffington Post.Seth received his Bachelor of Arts from New York University, where he majored in journalism and philosophy.In his spare time, Seth enjoys bike riding around Brooklyn and writing really bad folk songs.
