# Uber new logo (2018)

> Uber launched a new logo in Sep 2018, designed by Wolff Olins and Uber in-house. New logo and identity.

## Key facts

- Brand: Uber
- Launched: Sep 2018
- Studio: Wolff Olins and Uber in-house
- What changed: New logo and identity.
- Why: Uber said consumers were not connecting its previous logo with the company.
- Industry: Mobility
- Logos: https://rebrandlog.com/logos/uber-2018/before.svg (before), https://rebrandlog.com/logos/uber-2018/after.svg (after)

## The rebrand, explained

Uber's 2016 identity, an in-house design built around an abstract symbol meant to represent a binary bit, was widely criticised and never really explained itself. Two years and a change of CEO later, Uber hired Wolff Olins' San Francisco studio to work with its in-house team on a ten-month project to give the company a simpler, global system.

The Verge reported the reasons. Uber told Adweek that consumers were not connecting the previous logo with the company, and that some drivers even turned the company-supplied window decal inside out because the name was on the reverse. The custom Uber Move typeface echoes sans serifs used on transport signage around the world and spared the company licensing fees. A spokesperson said the simplified logo brought back the U and was scalable across the more than 660 cities Uber served. The mission statement changed too, from making transportation as reliable as running water to igniting opportunity by setting the world in motion, and the redesign arrived two days after Uber hired its first chief marketing officer, as the company worked to rebuild a reputation damaged under its founder.

The context was a company trying to change its reputation. Dara Khosrowshahi had replaced founder Travis Kalanick as chief executive, and Design Week framed the rebrand as part of his shift from growth at all costs toward service and safety. The 2016 identity had been Kalanick's personal project; the 2018 one was meant to look like a mature, global service.

Design Week summarised the team's principles as embrace black, invest in a wordmark rather than a symbol, and bring back the U. The logo is now just the name, set in Uber Move, a bespoke sans-serif inspired by transport signage, in white on black. Black and white form the core palette, with a custom Safety Blue reserved for important interactions like pickup points, and other colours used sparingly.

The cleverest part is not the logo but the layout. A U-shaped frame taken from the wordmark holds images and text across ads, motion and print, so the brand can be recognisable even when the logo is absent. Credits here go to Wolff Olins with Uber's in-house team, including Forest Young at Wolff Olins, with the logo and Uber Move typeface drawn by MCKL.

Design Week's readers were split between those who liked the U device and those tired of brands retreating to a plain sans. Both have a point. The wordmark is generic on its own, but after 2016 generic was arguably the correction Uber needed.

In short: A retreat to plain type that worked because the system around it does the talking.

## Other rebrands of Uber

- [Uber (2016)](https://rebrandlog.com/rebrand/uber-2016/) Feb 2016

## Sources

- https://www.underconsideration.com/brandnew/archives/new_logo_and_identity_for_uber_by_wolff_olins_and_in_house.php
- https://www.wolffolins.com/case-studies/uber
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uber

## Cite this

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