At the time of Instagram's rebrand, acclaimed Michael Bierut said on his
that the gradient may create a sense of nostalgia — a throwback to the early days of the internet when tools like Microsoft Paint empowered users to use very harsh design tools, like gradation filters. According to design experts, the trend seems to be a rebuke to the simplistic design trend that captured the early 2000s, when web logo simplicity was more functional.
"I believe that some brands moved to flat designs this century to improve their digital presences," said Ashleigh Axios, former Obama White House creative director. "Today, however, technology has improved enough that even more complex color gradients can be made with code and load in our products without such extreme implications."
"I think in the case of giant brands, the thinking may be that the only thing more powerful than owning a single color — like IBM's blue, or Coke's red — is to own the entire spectrum. In the digital age, a million colors cost the same as one, so why not?" Bierut emailed."More recent introduction of saturated, multi-colored gradients is likely a reaction to the feedback about boring logo treatments," said Ashleigh Axios.
axios How TF am I supposed to read this when a pop up telling me to subscribe to your stuff keeps showing up?!