Branding

A Shot at a Yahoo Logo Revamp

Dear Yahoo, The ’90s called. They want their logo back... Yahoo just admitted publicly what people under 35 have known for years: they are the mascot of “Old People Internet.” Well, Yahoo, the time is ripe for you to build a cocoon, spend some time reorganizing your entire being, and then emerge relevant again. But, just one thing: it better be with a new logo, like, say, this one.

Rachel Simrell Scott

May 17, 2013

“Old People Internet” vs. The Modern Web

Though I may have aged out of the prized 18-to-24 marketing audience, at 29, I’m not far off. So, no joke, let me clue you in on a little secret: people my age are judging you by your email domain. If it ends in @yahoo.com, we know you hail from the world of “old people internet.” You are not adaptable, or even aware that you should be. We assume you say things like, “the Twitter,” and that you might not know how to open an attachment. The only worse choice, of course, is still using an AOL email address. (Unless, perhaps, if you are using it ironically.) We sound like terrible young people, I know, but you have to adapt. There is no better secret to staying young, than staying adaptive. And, staying young is staying current. So, Yahoo, being just a step above AOL is not good, and I'm glad you're finally going to make an effort. The time is ripe for you to build a cocoon, spend some time reorganizing your entire being, and then emerge relevant again. You know this – you delicately refer to your “aging demographic” – I'm sure you've got teams all over the place trying to figure out how to reach the younger types. So, let me clue you in on another little secret: that Yahoo logo? Oh, Honey, it's got to go. You can do whatever else you want, but none of us will take you seriously until your public image doesn't look so unironically dated. Come on, now. Join the modern web.

A Letter to Yahoo!

Dear Yahoo, The ’90s called. They want their logo back. What’s this I hear? Your own CFO explicitly stated that you need to become “cool again”? He's right about that. The youngest person I know that uses Yahoo is about to turn 40. 40! (Now there’s a good use of your exclamation point.) You can't survive with just a few aging users. You need the sprightly young types behind you. You need that guy’s kids. But, believe me, you are going to get nothing but adolescent eye rolls if your logo looks like it hasn’t been updated since before some of them were even born.

That cartoon-character-that-got-hit-on-the-head font? Nope. That app icon with more than one variant of your logo all squished together? Also, nope. Have you looked at your phone lately? Really looked? One, clean letter is all you need. Why are you using three recognizable logos all in one place, and on such a small canvas? If people don’t get who you are with just one, you’re doing it wrong. Now, I understand that the exclamation point is your thing. I can get on board with that. But be subtle about it. There's no need to yell.

Yahoo, it’s time to get back in the game. Take a look at my first shot at a new logo: one letter and one exclamation point, combined into one, clean icon. First try. Imagine where we could go from here. Give it a go, and those 18 to 24-year-olds might actually want to see what you have to offer.

Yours Truly,

Rachel

Update

September 5th, 2013

Yahoo revealed its new logo tonight, after a month of changing it daily. It doesn't go quite as far as many designers had hoped, but at least it's a start. There is even chatter that their intern, Max Ma, designed a better one, which has people all aflutter: a poll on the Huffington Post shows that readers overwhelmingly prefer it. Oh, well. Maybe next time they won't wait nearly 20 years to update their image.