# Intel new logo (2006)

> Intel launched a new logo in Jan 2006, designed by FutureBrand. Swoosh oval replaces dropped-e logo, "Leap ahead".

## Key facts

- Brand: Intel
- Launched: Jan 2006
- Studio: FutureBrand
- What changed: Swoosh oval replaces dropped-e logo, "Leap ahead".
- Why: Intel rebranded to reposition itself as the technology behind many digital products, not just PCs.
- Industry: Technology
- Logos: https://rebrandlog.com/logos/intel-2006/before.svg (before), https://rebrandlog.com/logos/intel-2006/after.jpg (after)

## The rebrand, explained

In January 2006 Intel dropped the logo with the lowered e that had represented the company for decades, along with its Intel Inside branding. The replacement was a single mark: the Intel name surrounded by an oval swirl, paired with a new tagline, Leap ahead.

The BBC reported the plan days before the launch: Intel Inside was out, Leap ahead was in, and the lowered-e logo, unchanged for 37 years, would give way to an oval swirl around the name. The aim was to reposition Intel as the technology behind many digital products, not just PCs, with chief executive Paul Otellini unveiling the campaign at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas on 5 January. At stake was a brand Interbrand ranked as the world's fifth most valuable, worth an estimated 36 billion dollars.

The change was about scope. Reuters, via NBC News, reported that the rebranding was meant to emphasise a shift beyond the core PC business toward consumer products, laptops and servers. The overhaul followed the appointment of Eric Kim, hired from Samsung where he was credited with building a consumer brand, as chief marketing officer, and it reflected changes inside the company since Paul Otellini took the helm. Intel spokesman Bill Calder said it aligned the brand strategy with a business strategy that had been under way for several years.

Intel's announcement did not credit an outside design agency.

Intel Inside gave way to a new tagline, Intel. Leap Ahead., and chief executive Paul Otellini backed the change as part of moving from PC chips to platforms and consumer technology. The Deseret News noted it was the first logo change in 37 years. Critics were unimpressed: ABC News' Silicon Insider column declared Intel Inside out, and bloggers called the new slogan vague and the swirl unoriginal.

The swirl merged the two most famous things Intel owned, the corporate logo and the Inside swoop, into one. It made sense on paper. In practice it traded a quirky, ownable dropped e for a more generic shape, and Intel itself returned to a plain wordmark in 2020. Leap ahead also had a hard act to follow in Intel Inside.

In short: A merger of two famous marks that kept neither's best quality.

## Other rebrands of Intel

- [Intel (2020)](https://rebrandlog.com/rebrand/intel/) 2 Sep 2020

## Sources

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel
- https://www.intel.com/pressroom/archive/releases/2006/20060103corp.htm
- https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna10648944

## Cite this

Rebrand Log, "Intel new logo (2006)", https://rebrandlog.com/rebrand/intel-2006/, last updated 2026-10-20.