Microsoft is changing its corporate logo for the first time in 25 years. Microsoft is making many changes to incorporate the new Windows 9 Style in all of its product logos.
For the first time in its history, Microsoft has a graphical symbol as part of its logo. Four colored squares sit to the left of the company name written in its Segoe typeface. Segoe is the font family of choice for Metro applications.
The new logo is extremely simple. The old logo had some nuance, with the way the 's' takes a notch out of the 'o'. This is now gone, though the connection between the 'f' and 't' is retained.
The design of the newest logo, or specifically its symbol part, is more than a little surprising. Earlier in the year, Microsoft revealed a new Windows logo. Office 2013 also has a new logo. Both of these logos share some design cues, in particular, the use of a perspective effect on their symbols.
The difference in styles between the Windows 8 and Office logos and the new Corporate logos jumps right out at me. Though both are rather simplistic the Corporate logo has more color and doesn’t position the graphic in same show of depth that the other two logos do. Also strange is the use of colors. The company says that the squares are intended to express the company's diverse portfolio of products. The new logo is already being used on the microsoft.com site and three of the company's stores. It will be rolled out more widely over the coming months.