History of the Netflix logo

Do you think that the Netflix logo has always been like this? Well, the truth is that no, under this famous streaming platform there is a whole history of the Netflix logo that you may not know.

So we have decided to remind you (because it is so old) and remind you of those times that it has changed its logo and you didn't know it. Of course, it has only had 3 changes, one of them very significant. Do you want to know which one?

The history of the Netflix logo

Obviously, the history of the Netflix logo is related to the evolution of this entertainment service. But few know the origin of Netflix, or why it is so important to understand the company's philosophy.

In this case, Netflix was born in 1997. Its parents, creators, and partners were Marc Bernays Randolph and Wilmot Reed Hastings Jr., both from California.

They were focused on a video rental business, the typical video stores that existed at that time. But with a slight difference. And it is that instead of it being the customers who had to go to the store, they were the ones who took the orders or sent them by mail. In other words, it was an online video or DVD rental by mail.

After a year of life, they had 30 workers and less than a thousand DVD's to work with. But from that date his success began to rise, so much so that it grew very fast.

The name of that company? Netflix. And obviously, their logo was also a reflection of what they did, but the truth is that it was very different from how we see it now.

To begin with, the logo was in black, with normal letters. And separated. It read Net on one side, and Flix on the other. Also, both N and F were slightly larger than the rest of the letters.

And what separated the word? Well, a tape that simulated a movie reel film with black and purple lines.

For 3 years, he kept this logo. Until, with the arrival of 2000, there was a change of face.

The new Netflix logo

The year 2000 not only brought a change of century, but for Netflix, which was beginning to establish itself as an increasingly famous company, it also brought a change of logo. Of course, the first one only lasted a few months, it disappeared almost completely and very few know about it.

The history of the Netflix logo now changes to another, leaving behind that first one and replacing it with one with a red background. Above, the letters made with the technique of the old CinemaScope, white and surrounded by a black outline that simulates that they come out of the screen, creating a 3D effect. Both the typography and the colors change.

And it is that they go from black to white in the letters and from white to red in the background. The letters are sans serif, that is, without any kind of flourish or elegant ending, all in the same size, but slightly arched in a low arch.

Visually, especially when you stare at the logo, they can appear to be moving due to the effect of the shadowed black border, which makes them stand out from the design.

They liked this logo so much that the company kept it for 14 years, until in 2014 it decided to change it again.

2014, the year of change and the arrival of the double logo

In 2014 the company decided it was time for a global change. And for this, they trusted the work of Gretel, a New York design company that led them to design a new brand image for a company that was emerging strongly, not only in America, but throughout the world.

And what did they do? For starters, they removed the red background, and made it white. But that red was used to put the name of the company, Netflix. They also removed shadows and letter edges that made words stand out. And while they kept that slight arcing slant, they softened it, or at least by removing the shadows and edges it looked less influenced.

It didn't change too much from the previous logo, but they did merge everything to create this.

In 2016, two years after the new logo, the double logo arrived. And it is that, due to the need to have a smaller logo, for applications, for mobile phones, tablets, etc. they needed something that stayed on the line but was legible. And obviously the word Netflix was too big to stand out as an icon or app logo.

This is how that second logo was born, which you surely have on your mobile. What they did was focus only on the N. But not the N of the logo, but they created it for real and if you look a little you will see that it looks like a bow that is folded on itself creating the letter N. That is how they invented it .

To make it stand out, white couldn't be, because it "eats" too much color and doesn't fulfill its objective, so they opted for black and the red of the bow itself darkens as if the side sticks were the back of the bow and the that crosses the correct side.

The history of the musical Netflix logo

If you have entered Netflix and have seen any original movie or series on the platform, you will know that first of all they play a little music with the company's logo. You remember?

Well, you should know that this sonic logo was created by Hans Zimmer, a famous composer who has won many music awards. He was the one who made that N that we talked about earlier be animated both with the music and by the animators, in such a way that it is a kind of warning for those who are going to watch that series or movie. As happened in theaters that, after the announcements and trailers of other films, one was put on that warned that what they had gone to see was beginning.

Specifically, the logo was enlarged from 0,4 seconds to 0,17 seconds. Little time, but we will all have seen it complete. And we will have heard.

Now that you know the history of the Netflix logo, you will surely see it differently. Which of the logos do you like the most?