Instagram unveils new wordmark after a decade, users mock it as 'Instagzam'

Instagram refreshes its wordmark after a decade

Instagram unveiled a redesigned wordmark on Thursday, August 13, marking the first change to its text logo in ten years. Head of Instagram Adam Mosseri announced the update on both Instagram and Threads, describing the new design as "cleaner and more modern" while retaining references to the original. The change affects only the wordmark, the text spelling out "Instagram" that appears at the top of the app. The iconic pink-and-orange gradient camera icon, an abstract representation of a camera on a multihued background, remains untouched.

Mosseri said the wordmark had not been modified in ten years and that it was "time for a refresh." The new typeface blends cursive curves with sans-serif print, adding old-fashioned flourishes to the letters s, r, and g. The previous wordmark used a flowing cursive script that had been in place since 2016, when Instagram last undertook a broader redesign and replaced its skeuomorphic brown camera with a rainbow stripe with the flat gradient square still in use today. The Next Web described that 2016 change as a public admission that Instagram was no longer mainly an app for taking photographs.

Users read it as "Instagzam"

The reaction was swift and largely mocking. Mosseri invited users on Threads to share their "hot takes" on the redesign, and many obliged by pointing out that the stylized r in the new wordmark resembles a z or u, making the name read as "Instagzam," "Instaguam," or "Instagwam." One user quipped, "Instaguam! Nice to see the US territory finally getting its due." Another commented that it read like "Instagwam, how a toddler would pronounce it. Perfect."

The wordmark at the top of the app hasn't changed in 10 years, so it was time for a refresh. Cleaner and more modern, with references to the original and the simplicity and craft that's always made it Instagram.

Not all responses were negative. TechCrunch noted that the refreshed design drew compliments alongside the complaints, with some users praising the fresher look or the font choice. Others expressed nostalgia, calling the change "the end of an era." A common refrain among critics was "if it's not broken, don't fix it," questioning why the wordmark needed changing at all.

Critics call it "AI slop"

Ars Technica compared the new wordmark to "AI slop," arguing that the slightly unsettling kerning and disconnected letterforms resemble the garbled text that generative AI produces in images. The article pointed to the semi-connected r and the cutoff letters as evidence of legibility and identity problems, while acknowledging the design was probably not actually AI-generated. Engadget was similarly blunt, publishing a piece titled "Use this space to roast the new Instagram logo" and calling it possibly "corporate ragebait," inviting readers to study the jarring blend of half-cursive letters and sans-serif print.

The Next Web observed that a wordmark refresh is a cheap way to update every touchpoint a company controls without requiring users to relearn anything, and speculated that the app icon was left alone because it sits on billions of home screens and is too valuable to move. TechCrunch noted that younger generations are largely no longer learning cursive writing, which may make the boat-sail-shaped s harder to recognize. Meta has not responded to requests for further comment on whether additional design changes, such as a new app icon, are planned. Mosseri did not detail how or when the new wordmark will be officially implemented across the platform.