Twitter Updates X Logo, But The New Design Is Easy To Miss
The logo for X, the ongoing rebrand of Twitter, has been updated just two days after it was officially revealed. The new version of the controversial logo is now slightly bolder than the initial interim version, and it's easy to overlook the change. However, this version apparently won't be sticking around for long. Twitter owner Elon Musk initially revealed the updated logo on July 25 by reposting a video from user @DogeDesigner. The new bolder version is live on the Twitter website at the time of writing.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 25, 2023
However, several hours later, Musk tweeted a response to DogeDesign, stating that he doesn't like the bolder lines and therefore the logo will be switched back — though it's unclear when it will revert, as the bolder version remains live on the platform at this time. The newer version retains the same Unicode-like design as the original version, so it seems likely that Musk will stick with the same general style — for better or worse.
An already strange road to icon status
Soon after Musk's spontaneous unveiling of the rebrand, many people noticed that the X logo appears to be an open-source Unicode character represented by the hex code U+1D54F. According to Unicode's Terms of Use, the character can be used for "personal or internal business uses only" and not for products. Because of this, combined with the fact that the Unicode Consortium has not publicly commented on its usage, it is possible that the X logo was bolded to distinguish itself for commercial use.
Meanwhile, the logo's design may be only half the battle for Twitter. The letter X is in common use by many companies, and it is the subject of more than one trademark — including one that belongs to direct competitor Meta and another that belongs to Microsoft. The active trademark implies that Meta's X can be used in a variety of ways, including digital and social media, and that could be a problem for Musk, as his company provides the same sort of services.