In March, OkCupid users went to open the app, and realized it no longer looked like its picture: Instead of the simple “Ok,” the app’s logo had been redesigned to look like a disaster of logos seemingly thrown on top of each other.
OkCupid said the app icon update was supposed to convey “the chaotic mess that dating really is in a fun, relatable way.” Instead, the icon looked more like a Macbook plastered with startup stickers. Perhaps the Macbook you stared at while you were sitting in that coffee shop, waiting awkwardly to find out if your internet date had stood you up.
This is what it looked like before and after the change:
OkCupid did a redesign & the icon totally incoherent. They claim "it conveys the chaotic mess that dating really is." No this is not a joke. pic.twitter.com/7G6BMrNJL8
— Eli Schiff (@eli_schiff) March 16, 2017
Users on the OkCupid subreddit saw other patterns in the tea leaves. “It looks like a chimp with seizures designed the new icon,” spartanbadwolf wrote. Others wondered if it was a mistake.
Is this a visual bug or has OkCupid lost its mind with its app logo pic.twitter.com/TT6KlfYVrP
— Steve (@BergerofLondon) March 16, 2017
OkCupid has now learned the lesson that so many brands, from The Gap to the London 2012 Olympics logo before it, now know: Do not do anything risky with your logo design. Everyone will hate it, no matter how cute you think you are.
OKCupid's new logo reminds me of how messy and chaotic their app feels. Repetitive, unwanted messages piling up. pic.twitter.com/K6KG3AW5hI
— Andrea Silenzi (@andreasilenzi) March 16, 2017
OkCupid understands this now, which is why it changed the icon back to something more subtle. It also included a reminder of rising sea levels.
The new @okcupid logo looks drunk and lonely. pic.twitter.com/iTUxuaaDGD
— Andrea Silenzi (@andreasilenzi) May 9, 2017
Online dating is maybe not a fun chaotic mess so much as a constant source of insecurity and perpetual dread. Let’s not traumatize these people more.
