Uber's Rebrand

Sometimes, you just don't have a ride to a party. Sometimes, it's raining or snowing and walking to the restaurant just simply isn't an option. Sometimes, you want to cut loose a little bit and not worry about electing a DD to drive home. So, what does your squad do? Get an Uber.

Uber has forever changed the ride-hailing game, especially for millennials. Uber has become so popular, it has become a verb. "Just Uber over," or "Ubering it," have become common phrases amount users.

It's a simple idea:

1. Download the Uber app and create an account 
2. Enter payment information and pick up location using GPS
3. Wait a few minutes for a certified Uber driver to accept your request and show up
4. Get in a car and go

The service has been around since 2010, but really has become widespread in the last 2 years or so. Uber has expanded globally, and is now located in over 400 cities across the world.

Just recently, Uber decided to rework some of their branding. Most of the company's changes are cosmetic, including a revamp of the overall interface and typography of the actual app pictured below:

Uber also released a video further explaining the reasoning and significance of the brand changes:

                                      

According to the company, 

"[The atom] belied what Uber actually is—a transportation network, woven into the fabric of cities and how they move. To bring out this human side—the atoms—we’ve added color and patterns. The team has spent months researching architecture, textiles, scenery, art, fashion, people and more to come up with authentic identities for the countries where Uber operates"

While perhaps the most dramatic change was the app's style, Uber has also customized the coloring for the different places where the services are used. After some extensive research on culture, patterns, and designs, Uber has reworked app colors for a variety of countries. Some examples include Japan, Ireland, Mexico, and China:

Personally as an Uber user, I think the changes are great. I don't LOVE the new app design, because I think the old one became pretty iconic and easy to find. I do think the country customization will be awesome, however. I think it shows to Uber customers that the brand truly wants to know their consumers on a personal level, and wants to integrate into their daily lives on the most basic levels.

Overall, 8/10 Uber. Even though I really liked the previous logo, the service is still amazing and the country customization is a really cool concept. As a consumer, I'm looking forward to what Uber has in store for the future.