GitHub's streamlined new logo

GitHub, the popular social network for web developers and programmers, has released a new version of its visual identity, including an updated logo design (shown above) and an official mark based on its mascot, the Octocat.

The new logo design streamlines and standardises the previous typography-based design. Most notably, the title has been changed from all-lowercase to camel case (where a middle letter creates a 'hump' in the middle of a word), and the 'social coding' tag of the old logo design (below) has been removed.

The mark (shown below) - a pared-down, negative silhouette of the Octocat's upper body - also offers a more formal approach to branding GitHub.

The Octocat itself - shown below - appears unchanged, though (and still, confusingly, only has four legs).

"We've worked hard to preserve the things that both we and the community love about the GitHub identity while improving the things we felt didn't fit," says a statement on the GitHub blog. "We have big dreams and now an identity that will suit them well.

Github has made all these assets free to download here to use on your sites and apps, as long as you do not imply that they represent your own products. Approved uses of the assets include the following

• Use the Octocat or GitHub logo to link to GitHub
• Use the Mark in social buttons to link to your GitHub profile or project
• Use the Octocat or GitHub logo to advertise that your product has built-in GitHub integration
• Use the Octocat or GitHub logo in a blog post or news article about GitHub

What do you think of GitHub's new logo? Share your views in the comments below!