Just before TwitchCon 2019, Twitch announced a bold rebrand to the streaming platform; including an updated logo, color palette, san serif typeface and refined Glitch mascot.
Twitch is Happy to Meet You Again, for the First Time.
The refresh is no sudden reaction but has been over a year in the making. Built from the collaboration between Twitch’s in-house design team and independent design agency, COLLINS. In a press release announcing the update, Twitch expressed their goal as, “an updated Twitch brand that matches the vibrant energy of our creators and communities.”
They further detailed the design changes as being “evolutionary” to the Twitch identity. As Twitch Creative Director, Sam Johnson stated, “We’re a brand of millions of different brands—how do we balance the uniqueness and vibrancy of those creators, lift their bespoke identities, but have a consistent identity for ourselves?”
To answer that question, Twitch simply embraced their “vibrant communities” with a design system meant to elevate “every single person on Twitch.” So let’s dive into it.
The Logo & The Glitch
The logo itself didn’t stray far from the original’s DNA. It embraced a clean “retro gaming aesthetic” that stands out by ditching the transparent negative space and filling the letters in with white. The standard Glitch branding received similar treatment, reflecting the primary logo’s contrasting white on black design. The Twitch Creative team explained that they didn’t want to ditch this anchoring mark and instead opted for a simple extension of the original.
A New Purple & More
“There is no Twitch without purple. Period.” The team at Twitch simply brightened up the traditional brand color to reflect the vibrant nature of their community. This led to, possibly the biggest change in the rebrand, the inclusion of 24 additional accents and muted color schemes. Having named them after classic video games and pop culture icons, they stated that “These colors will show up wherever we do,” meaning that these aren’t meant to be throw away additions.
This portion specifically caters toward brand creation for streamers. These new color schemes are included in the new Creator Color tool that allows them to set specific brand colors on their channel page. These work seamlessly with the new Twitch purple as gradients and can be tweaked at any time to more appropriately mesh with a personal brand.
The Typeface
Sans serif based type face is nothing new for tech companies. Keeping with the integration of classic and modern, Twitch did combine the retro Moog synthesizer logo type with Sans Serif to create their own spin on the trend. Overall the sleek, modern font is just Twitch following suit and matches their industry well.
Alongside the redesign, which has been implemented across the entire platform, Twitch has launched its first ad campaign touting the new look. Having grown organically since its inception in 2011, the brand refresh and marketing is a necessary step for Twitch to remain on top and propel other creators forward. As their new campaign states. “You’re already one of us,” and Twitch hopes you’ll recognize that.
Check out the Twitch rebrand launch video below and for more on the creators that make up the platform, check out our Pro eSports profiles.
