Ebay completes its transition
Internet users of the 1990’s remember the excitement and intrigue of browsing, bidding, and potentially winning strange items on eBay. And while newcomers to the e-commerce site can still find those same thrills, most of it is now dedicated to regular, business-to-consumer selling. Missing is feeling of a perpetual flea market, replaced by a more buttoned-down shopping mall experience (with one flea-market out in back). Over 20 years, eBay has changed to “ebay,” and the logo has seen two changes—one large back in 2012, and now one small.
eBay's original logo (left), 2012 logo (middle), and new logo (right)
The first change, which BrandNew noted in 2012, marked a huge shift from a fun and quirky style to something more professional. The latest change, which runs not only through ebay’s logo but also through the entire visual identity, is meant to highlight “ebay's diversity, depth, and dedication to people,” according to New York designers Form&.
eBay's grid, colors, and Market Sans applied to their website
The redesign replaces eBay’s multi-colored approach with a single-color lock-up. The single color changes moment to moment. The identity features an ever-present grid, which you can see on the redesigned website.
If you visit ebay, you will also see their new typeface, designed by Swiss Typefaces—an honestly named Swiss type foundry. They say that the new font, Market Sans, is a “fusion between the neo-grotesque style of the Suisse Int’l and the geometric shapes of the Euclid Flex typeface. Market Sans is a brand-new family including six weights with italics.”
Market Sans glyph set
LINKS
ebay, the ecommerce website
Form&’s ebay redesign project page
Market Sans, Swiss Typeface's custom font for ebay
Note: At TYPE we’ve gotten over odd capitalization in brand names, like the old “eBay, ” or jetBlue or iPad. Except for story titles, where we revert to old convention, despite the capitulation of the Chicago Manual of Style. Of course we expect everyone to put the name of our magazine in all caps, just because we do.
