# Letterboxd new logo (2018)

> Letterboxd launched a new logo in Nov 2018, designed by Letterboxd in-house. New logo.

## Key facts

- Brand: Letterboxd
- Launched: Nov 2018
- Studio: Letterboxd in-house
- What changed: New logo.
- Industry: Media
- Logos: https://rebrandlog.com/logos/letterboxd-2018/before.png (before), https://rebrandlog.com/logos/letterboxd-2018/after.png (after)

## The rebrand, explained

Letterboxd, the social film diary made by a small independent team in New Zealand, has never been a company for grand statements. On 1 November 2018 its Journal published a post called Brand New announcing that the logomark, colour palette and desktop backdrops had been updated.

The announcement is the whole of the official rationale. It promised no detailed explanation, no golden-ratio overlays and no Medium post, just a new, more flexible set of logomarks, an updated colour palette and visual improvements to pages with backdrops. It ended with: like and subscribe.

What the system contains is visible in Letterboxd's own brand page. The dots device is a registered trademark alongside the name, and the assets include the full logo for dark and light backgrounds, the dots in colour and mono versions, and a standalone L, including a gradient version. That is the flexibility the post referred to: the mark can shrink to dots or an L for icons and avatars while the wordmark carries the full name. The work was done in-house.

There was no public debate worth recording, which is a result in itself for a community that argues about everything else.

The tone of the announcement is the most interesting design decision here. It mocks the rebrand-essay genre while quietly delivering exactly what a growing app needs: a modular mark that works at every size. Letterboxd's dots were already one of the more charming small logos on the web, and giving them room to stand alone was the obvious, correct move. Sometimes a brand update deserves one paragraph.

In short: A sensible modular update, announced with the right amount of fuss: almost none.

## Sources

- https://www.underconsideration.com/brandnew/archives/new_logo_for_letterboxd_done_in_house.php
- https://letterboxd.com/journal/brand-new/
- https://letterboxd.com/about/brand/

## Cite this

Rebrand Log, "Letterboxd new logo (2018)", https://rebrandlog.com/rebrand/letterboxd-2018/, last updated 2026-10-20.