Nokia trades in its iconic logo to look less mobile and “more digital”

UPDATE: This article has been amended to credit Lippincott, the design consultancy behind the Nokia rebrand.

It’s a sad day for Snake fans. Nokia has announced the change of a logo that has been used across its products since the 1980s. The logo refresh is part of a complete rebrand from design consultancy Lippincott which seeks to reflect Nokia’s heritage “as the inventor of essential technologies, while giving it a fresh, contemporary, dynamic feel”, Lippincott states. For many, the previous Nokia logo was synonymous with the look of mobile phones. It is this association that the brand wants to move away from.

In an interview with Reuters ahead of the business update for Nokia, chief executive Pekka Lundmark explains: “There was the association to smartphones and nowadays we are a business technology company.”

The deep blue previously utilised for the logo has been discarded, as has the blockier letterforms which are better suited to screens with limited pixel resolution. The new logo introduces negative space and deconstructed forms to speak to its current identity as a tech company; the N, O and K letterforms are also repurposed as standalone graphics across assets. The new logo is accompanied by a refreshed website and a “kaleidoscopic colour palette”, says Lippincott.

The concept behind the logo can be found in Nokia’s new brand purpose: “At Nokia, we create technology that helps the world act together.” Lippincott explains: “To visually represent Nokia’s purpose, the logo’s individual letters were abstracted so they only read as ‘Nokia’ when they act together.”

Ultimately the overhaul reflects Nokia’s aim to be seen as a relevant player in the current digital space, describing itself as a “B2B technology innovation leader pioneering the future where networks meet cloud”, as detailed in Pekka's statement. The statement outlines several new strategic pillars for the brand, such as the drive to “seize opportunities from sectors beyond mobile devices to monetize our IP and continue to invest in R&D for Nokia Technologies”. The brand’s technology strategy also reflects on how networks “will need to evolve to meet the demands of the Metaverse era”.

The design update launched at MWC Barcelona on 26 February before being rolled out across sites and assets.