There's always been a slight 'temporary' feeling to Threads. Perhaps it was the opportunistic way in which Meta's Twitter rival launched in 2023, during the shit show that was the latter's rebrand to X under Elon Musk. Or perhaps it's the way it has always felt like a little sibling to Instagram, a side project that might one day get swallowed into the Insta ecosystem.
But it seems Threads is ready to step out of Instagram's shadow. The platform has revealed a subtly tweaked logo and wordmark, both of which do away with subtle design cues that were initially taken from Instagram.
"A few of you noticed this earlier, and now it's official: today we're introducing a refreshed logo and wordmark for Threads," the platform's head of design, Christopher Clare, announced on, yes, Threads. "It's been almost 3 years since Threads launched — essentially as a side project of Instagram — so we were due for an update that better reflects the brand and where it's headed: a new, standalone era."
Clare explains how the previous branding carried DNA from Instagram’s typeface, Instagram Sans, with "similar weight and geometry". But Clare admits this felt "inherited rather than distinct" and felt "static".
The new identity is all about two simple typographic additions: bold and italics. "We landed on italics because it leans forward, a match for the forward-thinking energy of conversations on Threads," Clare explains. Meanwhile, the increased weight "sets it apart from Instagram and helps it hold its own next to other app icons."
Time will tell if a slightly bolder and more slanted logo will help Threads forge its own path. But one thing's for sure – right now, from an identity point of view, Threads is looking a lot more sure-footed than X.
