Airbnb revealed a new logo Wednesday that is drastically different than its previous one for a couple reasons.
1. It looks drastically different than the last.
2. And the new logo isn't just a logo. It's a symbol the company is hoping to create meaning for and identify its brand with - a strategy completely absent from the last logo.
The company wanted a symbol that would emulate "the idea at the core" of the company, which co-founder Brian Chesky said is "belonging."
In a blog post on Airbnb's website, Chesky wrote a detailed explanation of the story and philosophy behind the new logo.
Cities, according to Chesky, were once closer to large villages were everyone knew everyone. However, they have expanded over centuries and lost that component, which he thinks Airbnb could play a part in restoring on some level and finding value in that again.
That's why Airbnb is returning us to a place where everyone can feel they belong. Like us, you may have started out thinking you were just renting out a room to help pay the bills. Or maybe you were just booking a bed for a night on an unexpected layover. However we first entered this community, we all know that getting in isn't a transaction. It's a connection that can last a lifetime. That's because the rewards you get from Airbnb aren't just financial-they're personal-for hosts and guests alike.
At a time when new technologies have made it easier to keep each other at a distance, you're using them to bring people together. And you're tapping into the universal human yearning to belong-the desire to feel welcomed, respected, and appreciated for who you are, no matter where you might be. Belonging is the idea that defines Airbnb, but the way we've represented Airbnb to the world until now hasn't fully captured this.
Airbnb has dubbed the symbol "Bélo" and encouraging people to use the symbol as they use the Airbnb service and spread the company's new message and idea behind itself, which Chesky says was there from the beginning.
Here's a YouTube video of the new logo explaining it a little further.
