Microsoft redesigns logo to match Windows 8 branding

Software behemoth Microsoft has launched a new logo, which is based around the same Segoe typeface as its Windows 8 logo (which debuted with its preview release in May and was part of an identity created by Pentagram).

Unusually, it appears that the logo was designed in-house at Microsoft. The type uses a variation on the Segoe typeface licensed from Monotype, with a ligature between the 'f' and 't' that harks back to its previous iteration.

The symbol is apparently to "express the company's diverse portfolio of products", according to Jeff Hansen, general manager for brand strategy at Microsoft, in a blog post – though it's clearly a nod to the tiles used in the 'Metro' interfaces of Windows Phone and Windows 8.

The branding has also been applied to Microsoft's other product lines: Windows Phone and Xbox.

Microsoft has also released an animation showing how the logo will be used in motion. Watch it below.

Reaction to the logo on Twitter has, inevitably, been harsh. Type designer Eric Spiekermann described it as "Not a big step for mankind", while our colleague Matt Egan, editor of our sister title PC Advisor argued "People criticising the Microsoft logo for being bland: it's a logo for Microsoft. MICROSOFT. Really it should be grey on a grey background."

Personally, I prefer the company's logo from 1980-81 (below), but that may be the teenage metal fan in me reemerging.