A company that started in the early internet age – a time of ASCII and pixel art, amongst other aesthetics – the not-for-profit seems to have rooted its new visual direction in a bit of nostalgia. For its first revisit to the brand’s wordmark since 2017, Mozilla has developed a set of custom typefaces (Mozilla Semi-Slab, Mozilla Sans, and Mozilla Sans Text) in collaboration with Studio Drama with custom letterforms that take from pixel patterns and animate with flashing text cursors — something that takes us back to old computer displays. Like a game of snake, the brand’s new colour palette makes use of a classic RGB green, with its pixel grids displayed on simple black-and-white backdrops.
Mozilla’s new logo is a flag symbol built from the Mozilla M that comes to life to reveal the company’s iconic Tyrannosaurus Rex symbol and mascot, originally designed by Shepard Fairey. Now in a fun pixel pattern form, this nod to the brand history aims to “highlight Mozilla’s activist spirit […] acting as a symbol of belief, peace, unity and pride” as well as the brand’s commitment to mark its aim to “reclaim the internet”.
According to Mozilla, this new brand structure was a way to cement its role as a “beacon of digital rights and innovation”, with the new appearance better matching up to the empowering messages behind its privacy-preserving products, open-source developer resources, and community-building efforts.”
Mark Surman, president of Mozilla said in a statement: “Since open-sourcing our browser code over 25 years ago, Mozilla’s mission has been the same – build and support technology in the public interest, and spark more innovation, more competition and more choice online along the way. Even though we’ve been at the forefront of privacy and open source, people weren’t getting the full picture of what we do. We were missing opportunities to connect with both new and existing users. This rebrand isn’t just a facelift — we’re laying the foundation for the next 25 years.”
