Recently, during the Design Day 2013 event in Norway, the topic of Microsoft’s brand image came up in discussion. We’ve already seen Microsoft re-brand its Windows operating system, as well as Office and even the company logo, could Microsoft be working on rebranding other services too in the near future?
Microsoft’s Windows Phone design studio general manager Albert Shum and Wolff Olins creative director Todd Simmons spoke about Microsoft’s ‘re-imagining’ at the Design Day 2013 event and explained how Microsoft is focused on the idea to allow consumers to ‘do more with less.’ As you can see from the image above, Microsoft was considering rebranding Bing with what appears to be a boomerang as its logo.
As for Windows Phone, Microsoft wanted to “take away what you don’t need and focus on the user experience” and even took a jab at Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android operating system when it comes to the icons. Microsoft didn’t want to make icons prettier “when they are really just buttons.”
Microsoft has also apparently taken design inspiration from Nike, the popular shoe brand. Simmons mentioned during the event that with Nika, one can experience the Nike brand even without the logo. Microsoft wanted this type of persona for its products and services. “Microsoft has been a company of many different companies, including Windows, Office, Xbox, Skype, Yammer, Windows Phone,” Shum adds. Microsoft wanted to bring together these products and services so they can work as one with the services consumers love to use.
Simmons and Shum also revealed a concept video that was created a few years ago about how Microsoft wanted to re-brand its most important product line. In the video, we catch a glimpse at the Windows and Office logo, and a concept of the new Bing logo. Simmons and Shum even made mention of upcoming rebranding for Bing, Skype, Yammer, and Xbox. “Other brands are coming along too,” they added. “..everything is under development as well.” You can watch that video of the event below: