Day 2 of the smartphone and smart TV maker Xiaomi’s Mega Launch event brought us the brand’s first foldable smartphone, there was yet another announcement on stage.
Chinese smartphone giant Xiaomi announced a new logo on Tuesday, 30 March at its Mi Mix Fold presentation as part of a long-awaited brand identity overhaul.
About the Logo
Xiaomi, during a handout, has explained how the designer managed to make this logo from scratch. The big change within the new logo is its rounded edges. There’s this new MI typography which adds a more aesthetic look to the company’s name next to the brand.
Xiaomi later specified that they wanted a more agile look to its brand identity which will symbolize its agile nature into the next decade.
The new logo is a squircle (a shape in between a circle and a square) rather than a square, although the company’s CEO Lei Jun says that it wasn’t simply a matter of “[changing] the shape from square to round”.
Nope, instead, it took the brand some considerable time to select the proper shape, even using mathematical equations, the culmination of an extended process begun when the corporate started its rebranding in 2017.
Basically, it now has rounded corners. That's the only change.
They are not alone – the posh world has also seen its share of logo changes over the years, starting from subtle to, well, not so subtle.
The Concept of ‘Alive’
The new corporate identity, with the planning concept of “Alive”, will help in strengthening the company's foothold within the market, stated the handout. Alive interprets the brand's philosophy giving it a visible image filled with life: people are alive.
Since people have created technology, thus, technology is additionally alive. The concept of Alive is Xiaomi’s thinking and response to the turning point within the era of intelligent interconnectivity.
As a technology company, Xiaomi is committed to bringing more innovations around the world and it's essential for the brand to grow alongside its users," states the press release.
This is the primary time the brand has introduced a dynamic logo that adapts to content and is placed within the best-suited positions complying with its philosophical ideation, “Alive”. Unveiled at an occasion in China, Xiaomi hopes the brand will inaugurate the age of intelligent interconnectivity.
Xiaomi’s Take
In fairness to Xiaomi, the corporate isn't blind to the very fact its new logo is pretty similar in appearance to the old one. “Are you disappointed at this logo, that we just made our original logo rounder?” asked Xiaomi’s CEO Lei Jun, somewhat rhetorically.
No worry, Lei explained, because the company “didn’t just change the form from square to round” but also changed “the internal spirit also because of the mentality of the brand.”
So, that’s reassuring! The company went on to notice that the form of the new logo is often described using mathematical equations (a property that's common to most shapes, I believe) and that it took the firm an extended time to select the proper one (it started the rebranding process in 2017).
Meanwhile, Hara explained during a separate video that through experimenting with the curve of the typography, the team received an ideal font - synched with the logomark outline. It designed the logotype again to match the new look. "Using the logomark and thus the logotype separately is ideal.
When promoting brand and services, we propose using logomark. He added that the logotype will look good on high-resolution devices by Xiaomi.
Designed by Kenya HARA
Xiaomi’s fresh logo was designed by a world-renowned designer, professor of Musashino Art University, and therefore the President of the Nippon Design Center (NDC), Kenya HARA.
With the adoption of a softer, rounder contour on the corners of the previously squared logo, alongside redesigned “MI” typography, the new logo is now more aesthetical. The color orange of the previous logo remains the same to still imply the youthfulness and liveliness of Xiaomi.
Black and silver also will be used as supplemental colors to accommodate high-end line applications. So, if you are feeling dead inside considering the many dollars of labor that went into circling the square of Xiaomi’s logo: don’t. That’s disrespectful to its brand identity.
About Xiaomi
Xiaomi ranked 3rd globally in terms of smartphone shipments within the fourth quarter of 2020. The Brand has established the world’s leading customer AIoT platform, with approximately 324.8 Million gadgets connected to the said platform, even without including smartphones and laptops.
Xiaomi products are present in additional than 100 countries and regions around the world. The Brand made it to the Fortune Global 500 list for the second time in August 2020, with 422nd rank, improving its place by at least 46 ranks when compared to the 2019 list. It also ranked 7th among internet companies.
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