This week, Instagram rolled out changes:

There’s the “the simpler design puts more focus on your photos and videos without changing how you navigate the app.”

There’s the desire to reflect the “global community of interests sharing more than 80 million photos and videos every day.”

There are small changes to the web and mobile interface.

But mostly, there’s the new logo – and the inevitable internet outrage.

Adweek calls it a travesty. The New York Times reporters deemed it “passable, if a little generic.” The Guardian described it “As if the camera was murdered, and chalk was drawn around its body. Murdered at sundown.” Users demanded that they change it back (and get rid of the algorithm too!)

Overall, the new design reflects the overall trend toward flat design. It also ties Instagram to the other apps in the family, Boomerang, Hyperlapse and Layout.

You can get a behind-the-scenes look at the design process in this Medium post from Ian Spalter, the head of design.

So tell us – what do you think about Instagram’s forage into the new frontier? Is the backlash warranted?

About the author:
Tara Saylor is a communications manager by day, grad student by night and curious all the time. She is also a web nerd and recovering copywriter. Tara focuses on the channels that enable communication and using metrics to improve communication effectiveness. She tweets about communication and combines as @AnokheeTara.

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