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Twitter brand evolution

Twitter bird iterations

Aviary evolution

As Creative Director at Twitter, I directed and oversaw both UX and Marketing design teams, and was the shepherd of the Twitter brand as the company and network evolved from a tiny startup to one of the most used and depended-on social services anywhere.

Early Twitter homepage

Show, don’t tell

My first set of changes to the logged out homepage changed it from a static marketing page that told users about Twitter, to an active preview of the tweets, trending topics, and popular accounts users could find on Twitter.

Twitter logo v3

Pre-logo Larry the bird

When I joined as Creative Director, Twitter had been using a bird known internally as “Larry” (illustrated by Phil Pascuzzo, under direction of Biz Stone). Larry was used on supporting materials, but was not yet on the site, nor as Twitter’s logo.

Twitter logo v4

First bird as logo

For Twitter’s first substantial redesign under my direction, known as #NewTwitter, I modified our logo and added Larry to it (shown below), predicting we would one day want use a bird alone as a logo, similar to Nike’s swoosh and Apple’s apple.

Twitter logo v5

Current evolutionary form

Twitter’s current logo was executed by an outside firm under the direction of Jack Dorsey, Andrei Herasimchuk, and myself in 2012. This was the first time we eliminated all text from the logo, using only a bird to represent Twitter everywhere.

Put a BIRD on it

Inspired by the sketch comedy television series, Portlandia, we created a shirt design, and we put [our] bird on it.

First Twitter logo incorporating the bird

I created the first version of Twitter’s logo to incorporate Larry, the bird, placed next to an evolved logotype I adjusted from the original.

Birdhouse icon used as home stating with #Newtwitter

I created some of the icons Twitter used throughout the product, including the birdhouse used for our Home timeline.

Common Twitter components, including title bars, icons, buttons, and field labels

We developed an ever-evolving set of common components for Twitter that had to stay fresh and in congruency with each platform and its UI changes.

Twitter building sign, featuring the logo and @twitter name

I worked with our facilities team on the design of Twitter HQ’s signage on our building in San Francisco. I pushed heavily for the sign to use “@twitter” in homage to Twitter’s popularization of the @username format, and because of the physical location it represented for anyone who could see the sign.

Twitter bird/text lockups

After changing our logo to the bird, we defined lockups of bird + text for use in print and on screen when identifying common Twitter features and departments.