Intel (2020)Copied

Intel launched its new identity in September 2020 alongside 11th Gen Core processors. The company framed it with a Robert Noyce quote, Don't be encumbered by history, and as part of a broader push on purpose and responsibility. The Verge noted it was only the third logo Intel had used.

Chief marketing officer Karen Walker told Forbes the old brand reinforced Intel's legacy rather than its future: we seem to be looking backwards versus forwards. Her own editorial said the brand had stayed largely untouched for years even as the business moved beyond processors into AI and the internet of things. The colour palette widened beyond classic Intel blue to a lighter blue alongside orange, black and yellow, and the Intel Inside stickers became simpler badges. Even the five-note bong was remade, played on synths instead of the xylophone and marimba blend.

The previous branding, used in various forms since 2006, enclosed the wordmark in a circle. The 2020 version removes it entirely, leaving a flat, minimal wordmark in a boxier font than the clipped curves of 2006. It keeps the signature square-capped i, one of the elements The Verge noted was carried over from earlier designs. Intel blue remains the foundation, extended with new variants and a broader palette for depth. The product badges, from Intel Inside onward, were rethought as simpler expressions that give each product line identity while tying them to one family, and the five-note sound signature was kept but modernised.

Intel presented the identity as its own work.

Reaction was muted. Inverse found it a bit boring, missing the fun of the uneven e in the 1969 logo, and argued Intel's real problems were yields and performance, not branding. CNN noted it was only the company's fourth logo in 51 years.

Dropping the enclosure was overdue; it had always looked like a 2006 idea. The new wordmark is clean and very legible, but it is also plain enough that the square i has to do almost all the work of making it Intel. For a company selling engineering, that understatement fits, even if it is not memorable.