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Are Microsoft’s new logos too simplistic?

May 30, 2013
What does Microsoft have to do to avoid criticism? The company introduced the Windows 8 operating system as a way to appeal to fans of both traditional keyboard-and-mouse-based computing and those that preferred touch-screen technology. So what happened? So far, the experiment has blown up in Microsoft’s face, with a lot of critics pointing to the failure of Windows 8 as one rationale why PC sales are so sluggish. Now critics are even going after Microsoft for its artistic failings, claiming that its new logos are aesthetically unpleasing.

 

A Quora Critic

A user on the Quora information-sharing site just recently criticized Microsoft’s newest logos, graphics that represent everything from Internet Explorer to Microsoft Publisher, for being too simple. The images – which are rather stark – look as though they took five minutes to create, this budding art critic wrote. The critic says that this pattern of lazy logos began with the release of Office 2013 and Windows 8.

 

Everyone Has an Opinion

Of course, not everybody agreed. Many Quora users – a lengthy series of them, actually – logged on to defend Microsoft’s logos. Many asserted they preferred the starker, more simplified look of the new logos, proclaiming that the “less is more” aesthetic comes into play with Microsoft’s new logos.

 

Simple is Better?

It’s hard to argue with this last point. Microsoft’s new logos do look sleek. You can instantly tell which logo goes with which Microsoft program which, obviously, is the job of a logo. You may criticize Microsoft for a number of things – especially for Windows 8 – but when it comes to logos, the company remains on the cutting edge.



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