Design decisions are hard, and they're even harder when a lot is at stake. When it came to designing the new logos of Zoho Finance products (Zoho Books, Zoho Invoice, Zoho Subscriptions, Zoho Expense, Zoho Payroll, Zoho Inventory and Zoho Checkout), we looked at innumerable variations and sat through dozens of review meetings waiting for that final perfect version to emerge. However, there was something keeping that goal just out of our reach.
Like any other team, we have a few unwritten design rules that we've always followed. One such rule was that a product logo should convey the nature of its product as blatantly as possible. This habit of ours was probably a result of our general design sprint methods, where the most important goal was to be super obvious to our users.
However, this wasn't working with our logos. The more we tried to convey the entire product inside the logo, the more it looked like a strangled set of random lines. For comparison, here is our existing set of logos.
As much as we liked these logos, they had some limitations. The first obvious problem was that we were denied entry to the Line-Styled Logo Club, to which almost the entire Zoho ecosystem now belongs.
The next problem was that since the launch of our first product, Zoho Invoice, the fin-tech market has opened up to accommodate modern innovations in both design and technology. While the products have certainly been evolving to match the market, their logos got left behind and needed a design refresh to reflect their products' bold, open values.
The team came up with dozens of new logo variations for each of our products, but we hit a snag when it came to choosing one as all of us had mixed thoughts on them.
While we were delighted to know that we had numerous options to choose from, the fact that we couldn't choose any one of them cautioned us to rethink those unwritten design rules. If change is inevitable in design, then so is the fall of age-old design lore.
After this realization, it was time to get started on the specifics. As for the color, we concluded that all of the logos should be within the color palette of the colored blocks in the Zoho logo. We made a trade-off with respect to the details, to give each logo a reduced weight and allow it to stand out with well-defined white spaces in and around it.
With some new ground rules in hand, the team now had the goal of keeping the logos as subtle as possible while retaining the remnants of our old logos. After a few more constructive iterations, the team ended with the new logos below, which not only looked as graceful as the old ones but also expressed the product's themes clearly and boldly.
We believe the new logos represent a renascence of our design lore, which we'll carry forward to the entirety of the product from now on. Wish us luck and we hope you love these as much as we do.
They look terrific. And love the post explaining your process.
Change is always good. The new logos are minimalistic and simple. But I personally feel that it lacks the intuitiveness when compared to the old ones. Great work though. Kudos.
Seems New Icons are based on Line Art instead of Images/photos (previous ones).. Impressive!!
Fantastic branding update. This is a great improvement to your UI as well. They are fresh and intuitive!
ugh.. subscription logo is very bad.
sorry, but it is hard to distinguish your logo when I have multiple tabs open. The lack of color is regretable
Being a designer, this was something that annoyed me every time I logged in. Finally the icons match the quality services you provide. Great job on the looks and progress!
I'm so glad all kinds of time was spent on new logos, yet I still cant create a PO from an estimate and/or invoice!
Yes the new logos look brilliant. Change is nature.. We have keep changing and evolving. Good work n keep it up..
Old icons where much more user friendly , maybe I am old fashion guy!
We are missing logs for Sprints I People I Recruit I Service Desk
A much improved and long overdue refresh. Also: great usage of the word "Renascence" :)
very nice!
This is excellent redesign logos are easy to work like experience on top (Thumbs Up)
Hi Karthikeyan, nice job. My only suggestion is that if the goal is for the user to see one of the icons and instantly associate it with the program, a few fall a little short, with Subscriptions being the one that IMO gives the least clue what it represents.
I think its meant to look like the letter, "S".
Nice change
ugh, so ugh i'd rather u go back to the old ones ... & that is in spite of the old ones. books is by far the worst of the new. inventory the best. you are on the right track: simpler, more modern, etc. these just arent doing it. of course it is a minor point, considering how great the apps are!
What's the whole point of changing these logos all of a sudden? and why they are not coloured as before?
Great work
Thanks, Rohn.
Great job, looks very impressive
Thank you, Shaun.
Much cleaner and more modern. I like then!
Thanks, Antonio. That's great to hear.
New logos looks better and simple. I very much liked it.
Thank you, Hasan.
WOW!!!!
This will take getting used to :-/ I know the old ones may have begun to look dated when compared to these ultra-sleek minimal ones. But I kinda like their colorful side. These new ones I find confusing. Subscriptions, Expense and Payroll are so similar! Anyway - the decision was made and we will all get used to them. Note: the new logos are not visible yet from our Zoho ONE pannel. one.zoho.com
Hi Fabrice, Thank you for your valuable comments. The Zoho ONE Panel will be updated very soon.
Changes always good !
I LOVE NEW LOGO.
These are great in design and look
honestly couldnt get used to it.. all looks fine except zoho books....
These are great in design and look!
Thank you Muhammad.
I like the simplicity in design. Congrats!
Thank You Stephen, We are glad you like it.