Microsoft has had a logo since 1975. The company has gone through many different logos over the years, but they all have one thing in common: they’re all really cool. 1975-1977: Microsoft was just starting out, and their logo was a simple blue and white square. 1978-1983: Microsoft’s logo changed a lot during this time, but the most notable change was when they added the “Microsoft” lettering in blue. 1984-1988: Microsoft’s logo stayed pretty much the same during this time, except for the addition of a green “M” on top of their blue “S.” 1989-1995: Microsoft’s logo changed again in 1989, this time adding an orange “O” on top of their blue “M.” This logo is still used today. 1996-1998: Microsoft switched to a new logo that featured a simple yellow and green shield with the word “Microsoft” written inside it. This logo is still used today.
1999-2002: In 1999, Microsoft introduced their new millennium logo which featured an abstract design made up of circles and lines. This design is still used today. 2003-2007: In 2003, Microsoft introduced their new corporate look which featured a more modern design with darker colors and sharper angles. This design is still used today. 2008-2012: In 2008, Microsoft introduced their new brand identity which featured bright colors and geometric shapes inspired by origami paper folding techniques. This design was discontinued in 2012 due to complaints from customers about how it looked too similar to Apple’s branding style. However, some elements of this design are still used in newer products like Windows 10 Anniversary Update and Office 365 ProPlus . 2013-present: In 2013, Microsoft reintroduced their classic corporate look which features simpler colors and more traditional fonts than before. ..

Since its founding in 1975, Microsoft has grown dramatically. As new products and eras came along, the firm changed its branding image over the years to match. Here’s a look at all of its major logos from the past 47 years.

Groovy Lines: 1975-1980

Back when Microsoft was “Micro-Soft,” graphic artist Simon Daniels created the firm’s first corporate logo using the Aki Lines typeface in 1975. The typeface, created by Akihiko Seki in 1970, utilizes sets of seven sweeping lines to form the shapes of the letters.

At the time, Microsoft’s major product was Altair BASIC for the Altair 8800 microcomputer, which ignited the personal computer revolution in a big way. Bill Gates and Paul Allen founded Microsoft in Albuquerque, NM in 1975 to be close to the creators of the Altair, but moved the firm to Bellvue, WA in 1979 as their product line expanded to serve other microcomputers as well.

Microsoft Goes Metal: 1980-1982

By 1980, Micro-Soft had become “Microsoft,” and the firm found itself at the dawn of a new era in Microsoft history: its first hardware product. This coincided with a major logo rebranding. In retrospect, the result recalls classic logos from heavy metal rock bands such as Metallica (whose logo actually debuted three years after this one).

Simon Daniels created the “metal” Microsoft logo using the New Zelek typeface (with some modifications, such as the extended “M” and “R”), and it can be seen in early ads for the Microsoft SoftCard (which added a Z80 CPU to the Apple II computer so it could run CP/M) and the Microsoft RAMCard, which added RAM to the Apple II.

The Blibbet: 1982-1987

After only two years with the “heavy metal” logo, Simon Daniels went back to the drawing board and returned with a more conservative design based on the ITC Avant Garde Gothic Demi Bold typeface. The stylized “O” in the logo, which is somewhat evocative of the hole in a 5.25″ floppy disk, came to be called “the Blibbet.” Others nicknamed it “the Death Star” after computerized graphic designs featured in Star Wars (1977). Microsoft used the Blibbet prominently in corporate signage and watermarks on its stationary.

After news came that Microsoft had paid big bucks for a new logo design in 1987 (see below), pranksters Hans Spiller and Dave Norris at Microsoft distributed a memo and a pin-on button reading “Save the Blibbet.” But love for the Blibbet apparently ran deeper than just pranks in the company. “A lot of people collected Blibbet things and had collections in their offices,” says Microsoft veteran Steven Sinofsky, who went on to become President of the Windows division. “Even when I started, people still talked about the Blibbet, as it always had a bit of that ATT/Death Star feel. There was a lot of attachment to it.”

The “Pac-Man” Logo: 1987-2012

While Windows premiered in the Blibbet era (see above), the OS grew into a worldwide cultural and business force under the reign of a new logo introduced on February 26, 1987. The logo featured the use of lowercase lettering for the first time, and it also relied on an italic typeface (Helvetica Italic Black) and a special notch in the “O”. In 1987, logo designer Scott Baker remarked, “The new logo, in Helvetica italic typeface, has a slash between the o and s to emphasize the ‘soft’ part of the name and convey motion and speed.”

The notch in the “O” reminded some people of Pac-Man’s mouth, so it became informally known as the “Pac-Man” logo. This logo, which featured some minor redesigns over the years, not only witnessed the success of Windows, but also saw the rise of Xbox and dozens of other product lines throughout its 25-year history, making it the longest-lasting Microsoft logo so far.

The Grid: 2012-2022

On August 23, 2012, Microsoft unveiled its first new logo in 25 years, designed by Jason Wells. It incorporates the Segoe Semibold font that the firm uses in its software interfaces. For the first time, the Microsoft logo features a symbol that stands alone from the logotype: four squares, colored the four traditional Windows colors (red, green, blue, yellow) as found in its famous “flag” logo.

The grid is also possibly a nod to the Metro design language found in Windows 8—an OS that debuted just before the logo unveiling. Metro featured featured rectangular panels instead of icons. While Microsoft no longer uses Metro in Windows 11, it borrowed from this Microsoft logo when unveiling its new Windows logo in 2021—taking the four squares and turning them blue.

With some minor modifications, this “grid” logo is still in use 10 years later. As long as there’s a Microsoft, the company will always need a logo. It will be fun to see what the future of Microsoft’s logo design has in store as the company continues to evolve.

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