New icons at Microsoft - symbols become more colorful and three-dimensional

They appear everywhere and have become indispensable in the digital transformation. We are talking about icons. Almost everyone knows that the small square camera lens stands for the online photo service Instagram or that the blue bird symbolizes the social platform Twitter. Over the years, a very unique visual language has developed, which is of course also spoken by Microsoft. The technology giant has now reworked its familiar symbols and breathed new life into them.

Courage to use color and more depth: customer feedback is important

According to a report by t3n, the company has listened to its customers, according to Jon Friedman, chief designer of Microsoft Office. The feedback showed that both weak colors and a flat, non-spatial design were not well received by the public. "Fluent Design" is the name of the solution, which makes the symbols appear much more agile and lively. The three-dimensional presentation gives the pictograms more essence and depth. The additional color intensity underlines the dynamic design without the symbols breaking out of their usual color scheme. Memorable icons not only establish a uniform, visual language, but also make it easier to find your way around. Icons also give companies an individual signature. The virtual casino SCasino, for example, has implemented a pictogram of a red-framed, three-leaf clover in its name. The shamrock stands for the color cross in the French gambling hand and also refers to the gambling industry. Players receive a Scasino Bonus Code as well as two different welcome offers. The environmental protection organization WWF symbolizes its vision with a panda bear. The giant panda of the WWF Logo is the heraldic animal of the organization and was even saved from extinction. This already shows that you can often deduce the industry from the company icon. In the case of the retail company Tchibo, the golden coffee bean logo also indicates that the German group specializes primarily in the sale of coffee. In recent years Tchibo its product range however, has been expanded.

Fresh design unveiled with Windows 10X

Microsoft's new icon designs should therefore be more colorful, lively and spatial. It was already time for a change of scenery for the Office icons over a year ago. The Word icon, for example, has not changed much in terms of color in order to maintain its recognition value. Instead, the block stripes in different shades of blue make the icon more modern. The smaller, offset box with the letter W casts a shadow, giving it more depth.

Microsoft has now also given its other icons a cosmetic makeover. For example, the icons for the camera, photos, calculator, Paint program and games have been refreshed. There will be over 100 new characters. According to t-online, users will probably only see these with Windows 10X. This was designed for Microsoft's upcoming Surface Neo foldable phone. The operating system is therefore designed for two displays. Nevertheless, some of the new icon designs have already been released to the public - and they provide a promising first glimpse of the future world of icons. The calculator icon now shines in three bright colors. The display shimmers in a bright turquoise and fades into a slightly darker shade. The camera icon has a similar effect. The pink and light blue lens really brings out the 3D effect.