Following the trend of redesigning and launching new logos by multinationals, Uber is the latest entrant in this club.

The new logo reflects Uber’s philosophy of moving Bits and Atoms (The digital as well as the physical). The “Bit” sits at the center, and the “Atom” moves rapidly in the background, demonstrating local patterns discovered in places like India, China, Mexico and others where Uber runs:

“One of the big changes over the years is that Uber no longer moves just people; we’re now moving food, goods, and soon maybe much more. With the potential for many apps with many app icons, we needed one approach that connected them all. So we came back to our story of bits and atoms. You’ll see that both rider and driver icons have the bit at the center, and then the local colors and patterns in the background. This is a framework that will also make it easy to develop different icons for new products over time.Uber started out as everyone’s private driver. Today we aspire to make transportation as reliable as running water, everywhere and for everyone. Our new brand reflects that reality by working to celebrate the cities that Uber serves. We’re excited to share it with you. And oh yes… hopefully this haircut lasts a bit longer than the last :)”- Travis Kalanick, Uber’s CEO Co-Founder

Probably the biggest reason is Uber’s rapid evolution from being a luxury “Black Car” service in a few cities, to being a system that connects bits to atoms in 350+ cities around the world. Today, Uber is a technology platform that manages how people, food, and things get around, and the new branding scheme expresses and accommodates this. Over the next few years, as Uber becomes even more prevalent, and new product offerings are more widely made available, the branding will continue to work.Also, there was an issue with internationalization. For example, a “black” car in the US means a luxury car, but in some countries it means a funeral car. The new branding will be localized for each area it serves.

Rider Icon

01. The Bit At the center of our app icons is the Bit—the symbol of our technology.

02. Product shape Surrounding the Bit is a shape that denotes the product and represents the atoms moved by our technology. For the rider app, this shape is a circle.

03. Grid line To convey the rider story of a trip in progress or the arrival at a destination, a single line connects the Bit with the shape around it.

04. Patterns and colors Behind the other components is a canvas of color and pattern, another representation of the physical world that symbolizes the cities and people we serve.

Do you think Uber’s new positioning will change the way we Indian’s look at the evolution of sharing economy ?