Uber "U" turn

Less than 3 years after the departure and controversial rebrand under CEO Travis Kalanick, Uber launched a completely new brand identity and design system under new CEO Dara Khosrowshahi. This time the internal design team partnered its' branding efforts with Wolff Olins, with a completely new fresh approach based on the strategy of  “Movement ignites opportunity”. By removing a lot of the excess complexity based visuals from the previous design, the branding is more of a back to basics of who really Uber is, why they exist and what kind of future direction they are going in.

            Let’s begin with the Uber logo and typography, a more friendly and approachable brandmark with the “U” being the only uppercase in the name. This subtle uppercase “U” is also part of the strategy and narrative they want their drivers and passengers to tell. It’s more about the people who Use Uber as a service and those who make a living driving Uber. Which is exactly the kind of attention and concern Dara expressed when he stepped into the role of CEO back in August 2017. He made sure both the customers concerns are being addressed as well as the drivers demands and struggles are being heard. 

This attitude seems to be carried over with the choice in having a customized and flexible typography that’s easy to read and use.  “Optical kerning, refined weight, and defined clear space, as well as well delineated placement in relation to other content, all help to make it as instantly recognizable as possible.” The late great Massimo Vignelli would be pleased with this thinking, since it resembles the minimalism and refinement for his work for the NYC Subway and wayfinding in the 70’s. Uber’s want people to not only see and recognize the word mark, but be able to appreciate the elegance and simplicity, then just move on to the overall user experience and interactions.

The same approach is used in their choice of colors and iconography style. As they mention on the Uber.design.com site, “Let in the light, embrace black”. Solid color system that does not complicate or get too much in the way of the communication assets or the UX/UI interactions. Which is exactly the purpose of branding and designing for a primarily technology based platform. The designs are also beautifully mirrored in their tone of voice, which marks a more human and straightforward narrative, rather than a technology driven and hardline language meant for the Silicon Valley investors. The change in focus towards clarity and an audience first communication is also reflected in their photo strategy direction. Offering a less stylized look and feel, placing more focused storyline and art direction as the key spotlight to show genuine human emotions.

            The over-all look and feel may seem stripped down to all the basic shapes and forms, but that is exactly the reboot the new CEO as well as the image and style Uber wants their customers to feel and explore. 

All of these points and details about the new branding for Uber, were launched simultaneously via their design teams website as well as Wolff Olins site, with detailed visual rationales and dynamic animations to demonstrate the potential for this new rebrand and demonstrate the thought process. This tactic helped in deterring the critiques from making their own assumptions, judgements and prevented the kind of on-line backlash the previous rebranding received.