# Skyscanner new logo (2019)

> Skyscanner launched a new logo in Sep 2019, designed by Koto. New logo and identity.

## Key facts

- Brand: Skyscanner
- Launched: Sep 2019
- Studio: Koto
- What changed: New logo and identity.
- Why: Skyscanner rebranded because it wanted to be seen as a travel company rather than a flight-search tool, moving from a function-led to an emotion-led brand.
- Industry: Consumer internet
- Logos: https://rebrandlog.com/logos/skyscanner-2019/before.svg (before), https://rebrandlog.com/logos/skyscanner-2019/after.svg (after)

## The rebrand, explained

Skyscanner launched in Edinburgh to compare flight prices, but by 2019 it also sold hotels and car hire and wanted to be seen as a travel company, not a flight-search tool. Its app had 90 million downloads and 60% of users came via mobile, so the redesign started with the product: new ways to plan by dates or by destination, lower-emission flight options, and a more human illustration style.

London studio Koto spent about a year on the identity, working with some 50 people from Skyscanner's design team, before the in-house team rolled it out. Koto's founder said the old logo, scan lines through a cloud, communicated only one service, and that the guiding principle of putting travellers first meant moving from a function-led to an emotion-led brand.

The new icon shows the curve of the earth with sunbeams rising over the horizon and a small downward notch for a place pinned on a map. Skyscanner said it captured four ideas: optimism, sustainability, ideas and places to discover. The primary colour stayed sky blue, because, as Koto put it, anything else would feel wrong with sky in the name. A wide secondary palette of warm colours from destinations around the world was tested for accessibility. Photography avoided travel cliches in favour of small moments such as long golden-hour palm shadows, and the typeface is Relative from Colophon.

Skyscanner tied the launch to sustainability, citing 10 million users who had picked lower-emission flights in a year and its membership of the Travalyst initiative.

It's Nice That explained why the old cloud with scan lines had to go: it described a flight comparison tool, and Skyscanner had become a place to plan whole trips amid competition from Booking.com, Expedia and Kayak. The new symbol shows the curve of the earth, a subtle indent for a pinned place, and sunbeams rising over the horizon, a shift the agency described as from function led to emotion led. Blue stayed, because with sky in the name anything else felt wrong. The work took a year with around 50 people from Skyscanner's own design team.

The sunrise mark is pleasant, clear and almost too easy to read as generic travel; strip the blue and it could belong to any booking site. What makes the system work is the restraint elsewhere: the anti-cliche photography and the careful palette give Skyscanner the warmth the icon only gestures at.

In short: A friendly sunrise icon, saved from generic by a thoughtful system around it.

## Sources

- https://www.underconsideration.com/brandnew/archives/new_logo_and_identity_for_skyscanner_by_koto.php
- https://www.designweek.co.uk/issues/23-29-september-2019/skyscanner-rebrand/
- https://www.itsnicethat.com/articles/koto-skyscanner-rebrand-graphic-design-021019

## Cite this

Rebrand Log, "Skyscanner new logo (2019)", https://rebrandlog.com/rebrand/skyscanner-2019/, last updated 2026-10-20.