Social media has become the new way  to keep in touch with others. Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter are the top three social media sites. Twitter alone has over 500 million users! The bright blue logo and well known bird was developed over ten years ago in 2006. To begin with, Twitter was originally named “Twtter;” Co-founder Noah Glass designed its first logo that had a splatted green bubbly font. As mentioned in the article “The evolution of Twitter’s logo”, “Glass said he did not want a boring, uninteresting logo.

First Logo

(original Twitter logo: Carter, Dom. “The Evolution of Twitter’s Logo.” Creative Bloq. Creative Bloq ART AND DESIGN INSPIRATION, 21 Mar. 2016. Web.)

Glass believed the logo “inspired youthfulness.” As if the logo wasn’t refreshing and energizing enough, the name and branding was modernized in 2006. Linda Gavin was the graphic designer who developed Twitter’s logo for it’s official launch which was on July 15, 2006. Gavin was inspired by her mother who was an upholsterer and her father who simply loved creating art. Her father’s artwork drove her to her creative success because she was always in competition with him and had always wanted to be better than him. Although Gavin is a successful designer today, things didn’t start off so marvelous for her. Back in Sweden people were not fond of her exhibition work and she hardly sold anything. Her style was considered to be “commercial” and looked out of place in art galleries. When she moved to Berlin in 2005, she was approached by Glass in Silicon Valley to create the Twitter logo. At this time, Gavin was creating “bubblegum style” logos. This was the beginning of Twitter’s famous lowercase “t” and sky blue logo. Gavin was given a day to create this design that used a bubble typeface and which Glass fell in love with.

Example of Linda Gavins bubblegum style work

(Linda Gavins Design: Carter, Dom. “The Evolution of Twitter’s Logo.” Creative Bloq. Creative Bloq ART AND DESIGN INSPIRATION, 21 Mar. 2016. Web.)

Second Logo

(Linda Gavins Design: Carter, Dom. “The Evolution of Twitter’s Logo.” Creative Bloq. Creative Bloq ART AND DESIGN INSPIRATION, 21 Mar. 2016. Web.)

Gavin’s design lasted for four years, but in September 2010, a new design was introduced. The famous Twitter bird was created and debuted. According to the New York Times article “ Who made that Twitter Bird?,” Twitter bought the bird design from a British graphic designer named Simon Oxley who sold his design on iStock for $15. According to the article “Meet Simon Oxley, The Accidental Designer of the Twitter Logo,” Oxley was very much interested in geometric shapes inspired by traditional crests which eventually inspired his bird design. Because of Twitter’s use of Oxley’s design, he has gained much recognition and demand for his work. He has since produced many mascots for online companies. Now since companies aren’t licensed to use iStock images, Twitter co-founder named Biz Stone came up with the first official bird logo, with the help of Philip Pascuzzo, a graphic designer. Pascuzzo graduated from the college of Saint Rose in the Graphic Design program. He interned at St. Martin’s press in NYC, 1999. He is a freelance Graphic Designer who has had large companies reaching out to him such as Twitter, Oxford University Press, Picador, Public Affairs Books, and FSG.

Simon Oxley’s original bird design

(/, Casie, and Casie. “I Partied at Twitter HQ in Canada…” CASIE STEWART, 7 May 2015)

Third Logo

(“The Twitter Logo.” Logo Design Blog | Logaster. N.p., 22 Aug. 2012. Web.)

Twitter’s third design which is still used today was announced on June 5, 2012. The word “Twitter” has been dropped and what seemed to be only standing was the bird icon. Douglas Bowman created the newly updated Twitter bird icon. According to Creative Bloq, it was later revealed that Bowman based his design on a mountain bluebird and the wings are made up of three overlapping circles.

Current Logo

(“The Twitter Logo.” Logo Design Blog | Logaster. N.p., 22 Aug. 2012. Web.)

Logo that shows up when Twitter app is opened

(screenshot taken from my phone)

Bibliography

Carter, Dom. “The Evolution of Twitter’s Logo.” Creative Bloq. Creative Bloq ART AND DESIGN INSPIRATION, 21 Mar. 2016. Web.

Chasney, Susan. “Five Questions: Philip E. Pascuzzo.” The Record, The Record, 22 Aug. 2010

Rehak, Melanie. “Who Made That Twitter Bird?” The New York Times. The New York Times, 08 Aug. 2014. Web.

Team, Jumpstart. “Meet Simon Oxley, The Accidental Designer of the Twitter Logo.” Jumpstart

Magazine, 18 Oct. 2015,

“The Twitter Logo.” Logo Design Blog | Logaster. N.p., 22 Aug. 2012. Web.

UpperEastRob. “How Twitter.” – Adweek. Adweek, 01 May 2017. Web.

“What Inspires Twitter Logo Designer Linda Gavin.” HEUREKA Magazine, 4 Feb. 2014,

zine, 4 Feb. 2014,