Instagram’s New Wordmark Is A Lesson In Knowing What to Keep
The gradient camera icon on your phone that we’ve grown accustomed to is staying put. What’s dramatically changed is the handwritten wordmark that appears within the app, which just received its first major refresh in 10 years.
Written by
Designer and Social Media Manager at Cold. A relentless researcher who won't stop until it's nailed.
Read bio ↓Instagram is getting a new look.
With a brand as well known as Instagram, any change can be hard. For those early adopters who remember the original identity, the skeuomorphic camera with a rainbow strip and the omnipresent white photo borders - it’s not the first time we’ve woken up one morning and been greeted by a different Instagram.
The last redesign back in 2016, purely reflected the platform's seismic shift from a simple photo sharing app into a global social media titan. This one reinforces how much broader the brand has become and how the Instagram community has become increasingly diversified over the last 10 years.
Straight From The Design Team At Meta
Meta published its own account of the rebrand on the Design at Meta blog, the same day the new wordmark started rolling out. Interestingly, the reasoning goes much further than the logo itself which isn't something you can say about most global rebrand announcements. Here it is in their words, untouched:
"An evolution, rooted in heritage"
"Today, we are introducing a new brand identity: a forward-looking evolution that honors our roots. You'll see a refreshed wordmark and new brand system, all built to celebrate the creativity of our community while staying true to the heritage of Instagram."
"Elevating simplicity, creativity, connection"
"Instagram is a place where billions of people worldwide share, get inspired and explore their interests. It's been over 10 years since we refreshed our brand identity. As the ways people use Instagram have evolved, our values around creativity and connection have remained. Our new wordmark elevates simplicity, creativity and connection. It was important to craft a mark that still makes Instagram feel like Instagram, while introducing something to carry us into the future.
The team explored hundreds of directions: from all-caps, to camera concepts, to literal handwriting. We kept coming back to what's always been special about Instagram: the magic of crafted script. It modernizes the brand while keeping that warmth; our hope is that it feels personal, confident and unique."
How It’s Landing Amongst The Industry
Reactions split within hours of Meta showcasing the new wordmark. Those who like it are looking at the decision behind the mark. Those who don't are looking at the letters.
"The new mark is still a script, but it feels more modern. The loops are tightened, and the letters are still holding hands."
Katy Cowan, Creative Boom
"In an era when rebrands routinely overcorrect and get walked back, that restraint may be the most instructive design decision of all."
Gabriel Alin Zainescu, Forbes
Not everyone is convinced though, and the doubts all point the same way.
"Bye, old wordmark. At least we could read you."
Kim Lyons, Yahoo Tech
"Have they achieved the seemingly impossible and created a design that's simultaneously blander and less legible?"
Joe Foley, Creative Bloq
The split in opinion says something good though. A wordmark nobody argued about would be a wordmark nobody noticed. And after ten years of other brands sanding themselves into the same shape, Instagram has kept the one thing nobody else could claim.
Everything That Changed, and Everything That Stayed
Meta rolled out the refreshed Instagram wordmark on 13th August, 2026. It’s a text-only mark, the one that sits across the top of the app, and it hasn’t changed for over 10 years.
The scriptural DNA flowing in Instagram's branding has largely stayed. But this new wordmark strips out most of the flourish. The strokes are heavier and the connections looser. Underneath, the skeleton is much tighter and more geometric.
For the most part, the new wordmark is the only thing you notice. Behind it, Meta has fully crafted a whole new system. There's an updated Instagram Sans, a new handwriting typeface called Instagram Pen and a new Instagram Mono.
The sunset gradient has survived but appears more sparingly and a viewfinder device lifted from the camera glyph now frames the imagery across the entire brand. The app icon itself however, hasn't been touched.
The most interesting part about the new wordmark is the decision that Instagram almost didn't make. Apparently the team explored hundreds of different options before arriving at the one we're looking at today. But, every route they took in the process led back to the script. If you set that against 10 years of other brands flattening themselves with the same geometric sans-serif then it starts looking like a deliberate refusal from Instagram themselves.
Keeping the script wasn't a sentiment. It was purely a judgement about which part of the brand people would miss if it went..
Written by
Samantha Coltart
Designer and Social Media Manager at Cold. A relentless researcher who won't stop until it's nailed.
