X's new mobile logo looks like bad distressed jeans

Your screen isn't dirty. That's the new logo.
By Tim Marcin  on 
illustration of elon musk looking at new x logo and phone
X, but distressed. Credit: Photo Illustration by Jonathan Raa/NurPhoto via Getty Images / screenshot: X app / iPhone

Elon Musk's X — the app formally known as Twitter — has updated the logo for its app to look like distressed jeans from the '90s.

The initial X logo replaced the iconic Twitter bird with an X that had a striking resemblance to the font Monotype. Now, Musk's X has updated the app's logo to have a distressed look. Why a microblogging app should be distressed like a pair of black jeans in the '90s, no one knows. But here's the new look.

x logo on screen of phone
This tech app is ~ gritty ~. Credit: Screenshot: iPhone / X app

In my experience, the app logo has been shifting for at least a week. It would flicker with the new, distressed look then flip back to the old design. It has recently fully converted to the new, distressed look. Desktop, however, still appears to have the old look X.

I'm not a huge fan of the new design, though I admit I am no graphic designer. But the stylized X over a distressed background has a Bro Thinks This Is Cool vibe to me — which is kind of Musk's whole deal lately. It just doesn't seem to make much sense to have the app where you post jokes and news to try to look edgy and distressed.

Some people online have even complained that the new logo has tricked them into thinking their screen was broken or dirty.

That's a pretty hilarious side effect to an app redesign and a symbol of how Musk makes big decisions on whim.

We'll see if the new X logo migrates to desktop or if a new design comes with time.

Topics Twitter

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Tim Marcin

Tim Marcin is a culture reporter at Mashable, where he writes about food, fitness, weird stuff on the internet, and, well, just about anything else. You can find him posting endlessly about Buffalo wings on Twitter at @timmarcin.


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