With Uber’s new app icon now live, more and more people are expressing cantankerous outrage.

Uber is the disrupter of disrupters, so their approach to design is um, disruptive… or is it destructive? Uber CEO Travis Kalanick developed the logo in-house because he supposedly only trusted his inner circle. And it shows. The identity was dashed off quickly, and it is cold, corporate, boastful. It is about itself and not about the connection between riders and drivers, between point A and point B. This company doesn’t look like my friend – it looks like a hedge fund.

Their explanation video seems to be about how Uber sees itself:

“When you push a button on your phone, a car moves across the city and appears where you are. We exist in the place where bits and atoms come together. That is Uber. We are not just technology but technology that moves cities and their citizens.” 

Well, its just a logo, for now. Hopefully Uber will seize the opportunity to expand their brand in other ways, leveraging emotion-based benefits. As we always say, your brand isn’t just your logo! People will protest for a while, and then they will simmer down and the new look will be normalized.

It will be interesting to see how this plays out!