OperaCopied

Opera began as a Norwegian browser company in 1995. Twenty years on it said it served over a billion internet users a month, counting 350 million people using its apps and services and 1.1 billion reached through its advertising arm, Opera Mediaworks. It no longer saw itself as a software company but as an internet company providing experiences online, and in September 2015 it unveiled a new identity to say so.

The work took about a year, with Opera's in-house creative team working with two agencies: London's DixonBaxi on global brand and creative strategy, and Anti from Norway on the visual identity, as both Opera and Design Week reported.

The red O stayed, but it was redrawn as a three-dimensional ring. Sean D'Arcy, vice president of global marketing and distribution, said the new logo stood for more than the first letter of the company name: it was a portal quickly connecting you with what you are looking for, a gateway to more content, discoveries, answers, communication, fun and data savings. The word 'Software' was dropped from the logo. D'Arcy said a brand identity is more complex than colours, icons and fonts; it is a system uniting goals, products and history.

The rollout started on mobile, with Opera Mini for iOS, and Opera Mediaworks got a fresh look at the same time. Opera for Android, desktop and the rest of the product family followed over the next months.

Telecompaper framed the timing for the telecoms trade: Opera followed Google in announcing a new logo, and tied the change to its 20th anniversary as a browser company. The statement promised a three dimensional O that kept the familiar red while standing for more content, more discoveries, more answers and, tellingly, more data savings, an unusually practical promise to hang on a symbol. Dropping Software from the name, the company said, reflected what it had become. The O finally looks like a door rather than a letter.

The shaded ring was a strong move. It reads instantly at icon size, has real depth without kitsch, and made the old flat O look thin. The 'portal' story is marketing filler, but the drawing does not need it. This is one of the better browser logos, and it has aged well.