Coinciding with its 20th birthday, YouTube has revealed a brand new global marketing identity, combining its Shorts, Music, TV, Premium and Kids brands under one unified design ecosystem. With a cohesive framework that encapsulates the playful spirit of YouTube, the rebrand is both flexible and dynamic, showcasing a vibrant identity primed for the future.
While we might think the best rebrands are about complete metamorphosis, YouTube showcases how refinements, rather than reinvention, can be just as effective. With a fresh typeface, custom illustrations and immersive motion design, YouTube's new look is a beacon of creativity.
Developed in-house by YouTube Creative Studio, the rebrand centres around a single adjective: alive. With content at its core, the brand's new identity takes cues from this fluid motif, creating a brand that "feels as reactive, dynamic and human as the platform itself."
The creative team were keen not to scrap YouTube's existing identity, instead strengthening its iconic elements. “Our task wasn’t to reinvent YouTube, but to design a system that connects its many sides – unified but never uniform,” says Kieran Mistry, project lead during his tenure at YouTube’s in-house Creative Studio EMEA. "It’s already a cornerstone of the internet. Our job was to evolve what people know and love, and make it feel expressive and connected for what's next.”
Beloved assets like the iconic red, white and black palette, the play bar, and UI cues are reenergised to maintain YouTube's iconic branding. New typeface, YouTube Display, developed in collaboration with Sharp Type, brings a fresh consistency across the brand, while illustrations developed in collaboration with Gesture Systems, bring a flexible playfulness that reflects the pillars of the brand.
In a first for the brand, new motion assets like the ‘Camera Shake’ bring an organic feel to the brand, reflecting the rhythm of content to create flexibility across the brand ecosystem. “The brand isn’t static anymore," explains Matt Saint, who led design alongside Mistry. "It reacts to real content and culture. Evolving alongside new products, technologies and audiences as YouTube continues to grow."
For more creative inspiration, check out the YouTube logo history or take a look at why everyone was roasting YouTube's web design.
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