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Tumblr Logo, 2007–2013

Contributed by Stephen Coles on Dec 3rd, 2013. Artwork published in 2007.
tumblr_logotype_white_blue_512.png

Current Tumblr logo, redrawn for 2013.

Source: http://www.tumblr.com. License: All Rights Reserved.

From 2007 to 2013, the logo for blog­ging plat­form Tumblr was Book­man Old Style with vary little adjust­ment. Consid­er­ing that Book­man dates back to 1860, the mark looked remark­ably contem­por­ary. The glassy fill and occas­sional bubbly outline had some­thing to do with that, but even without the effects it felt pretty fresh. Chalk it up to a super-tight, all-lower­case setting.

Around the time of their Yahoo! acquis­i­tion in mid-2013, the company refined its logo, redraw­ing the letters for an even tighter, more custom­ized fit. The ‘t’ was narrowed, the ‘u’ lost its lead­ing serif, the arm of the ‘r’ extends just a bit further, and the ‘u’ and ‘m’ curves were given a smoother connec­tion to the stems, result­ing in rounder (perhaps friend­lier) counter shapes.

tumblr-may-2007.png

The Tumblr homepage in May 2007. Looking back at this in 2013, with today’s design trends firmly in flatland, it appears that the pendulum of style took about six years to swing.

Source: http://www.flickr.com. Screenshot by Chris Messina. License: Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial Share Alike.
tumblr-april-2007.jpg

Tumblr’s April 2007 dashboard redesign.

Source: http://www.flickr.com. Screenshot by Chris Messina. License: Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial Share Alike.
tumblr-oct-2007.png

Tumblr’s October 2007 dashboard redesign said farewell to the Davidville flower.

Source: http://www.flickr.com. Screenshot by Chris Messina. License: Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial Share Alike.
tumblr-dash-2011.jpeg

Tumblr dashboard, 2011.

Source: http://mashable.com. License: All Rights Reserved.
tumblr-home-2011.jpg

Tumblr homepage, 2011. The glossy Bookman logo survived virtually unchanged from 2007 to 2013. Only the spacing got tighter (period no longer straying from the word), shadows varied slightly, and shapes were fine tuned.

Source: http://www.flickr.com. Screenshot by Chris Messina. License: Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial Share Alike.
tumblr-sticker.jpg

Outline/sticker variation of the logo, introduced sometime in 2009.

Source: https://vimeo.com. License: All Rights Reserved.

1 Comment on “Tumblr Logo, 2007–2013”

  1. JB Morizot says:
    Dec 3rd, 2013 12:28 pm
    Edit

    Great to see a brand with coher­ent uses of its typeface. But I not sure about the lost of serif on /u. This kind of contem­por­ary trick doesn’t fit with this type (i think).

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