Native Instruments new brand identity

rainwebs

I'm quite happy about the NI/brainworx/plugin-alliance and iZotope deal. All deliver great products I use continuously.

But, this rebranding thing is a mess to me.

I'm with NI for more than two decades and a real fan of the kind of music production support (software and hardware, I've a bunch of controllers on my desk) and the aesthetics. In the beginning I even collected the product packaging (like I still do with Apple ones). The last years those became less appealing. Nevertheless, the design was pleasing.

The same with the software design: a real good user experience, incl. appealing icons, fonts, colors.

The last days I've updated to the the 14 collector's edition. Now I get a bunch of black icons with a font that is ugly and hard to read.

Although there's a good contrast in it (especially older) eyes get into trouble: unnecessary mental effort. Color was an important thing in the past to recognize products fast. This is already skipped with Native Access, Traktor, Kontakt. I hope that this will not become the pattern for the other icons in the collection some day.

All this is over-engineered to me. And I don't get it. Why change something that was already good how it was developed over the last decades?

To give something a better look does not produce more acceptance for the products or the brand. The mistakes of the past (incl layoffs) need another product strategy. And there are some things that have to be further developed, for sure. Traktor stems for example, is still a pretty good concept but it has almost died. I don't understand why the user experience of the stems editor is so bad. Next, why is the Maschine software still a crippled DAW or only usable as a slightly better sample player?

There were times when NI was leading edge or as innovative that others tried to copy it. Would be nice to change back to this mindset.

XBO

Guys, who is the logo designer. An apprentice ?

CONTRACT ME TO DO THE JOB PROPERLY AND PROFESSIONAL !!!!!!!!!!!

Please don't tell me you pay 1 cent for this. Not even a cent is worth this logo.

Everyone is telling about the new AI logo from NI, but teher is much more wrong with this logo.

If you want me to assist you, please send me an eMial.

I'm a Designer! We can correct this together!

semitone_autonomy

The original logo was efficient and everyone knew the brand.

Now you've gone and paid someone on Fiverr to rip off KIA logo for you guys.

And they sucked at doing it too.

Pretty disappointed in NI team for not making Traktor Pro 3 what it should have been 3 years ago.

This is probably the last few months im using NI gear and instead maturing to more matured gear than S4 Mk3/Maschine Plus, or the (extremely old) KK61 Mk2.

LostInFoundation

There is only one thing good about all the new rebranding: it is quite honest.

Native Instruments isn’t anymore the one that was before. New management have completely new strategy/interests. Nothing that made NI great and a leader in its market segment is there anymore.

Therefore…changing the logo is the most honest thing to do. The people that take the (bad) decisions now are already living (or surviving) thanks to the innovative and interesting work someone else did before them. Even branding themselves like the same company…maybe was a little too much even for them…

And the “quality” of the new logo is reflecting the “quality” of the new ideas…

BIF

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/77290#Comment_77290

I agree! Comic Sans for everything! Driver licenses, PhD diplomas, prescription bottles, fine-print in real estate closings, congressional bills sent to the President and his signature or veto, all treaties, trade agreements, and declarations of War, Help/About verbiage, and most importantly, the writings we send into deep space showing the hungry meat-eating aliens how to find Earth, with "free food" highlighted right over Europe. 😉

TVbene

Been following this thread since the beginning and I think I can‘t stay silent anymore: I’m sorry but I like the new logo.

LostInFoundation

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/84552#Comment_84552

You don’t have to stay silent, nor to be sorry: everyone has his taste.

And I’m sure you’re not the only one, since they chose it

BIF

So here's what I have decided: The new logo is really "AI". No, not Artificial Intelligence.

At first, I thought maybe "All Instruments" was it, given the acquisitions of Izotope and Brainworkx and a bunch of smaller players. But then I found out that Native Instruments ITSELF was ALSO acquired! The new acquiring company then renamed itself to "Native Instruments" because the whole "Yamaha owns Steinberg", "Avid owns Pro-Tools" thing never really worked out for THOSE companies.

I think the new logo is indeed "AI" and I think it's an inside joke that means "Acquired Instruments". Because after years of doing the acquiring, and all the while thinking they were the big fish in the pond, they done gone and got them selves et now by a gator who doesn't recognize silly things like sizes of fish. "Food", I me

I don't really care what they call themselves, as long as it's not "Alphabet Instruments", "Apple Instruments", or "Adobe Instruments". And if they start doing "subscription only" plans, I'll surely start calling them something else that starts with A.

D-One

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/84551#Comment_84551

I agree with everything except the Alien part, everyone knows the Green man are vegetarian, that's why they're green. :)

Maria O'Dwyer

Hello, I am just about to launch a Kontakt instrument that will need to use your software Kontakt 6 or higher. Would you please send me a jpg for the correct logo I should put on my box set. Many thanks.

Maria.

Co-Founder Ancient Music Ireland

Stevan

How many times did everyone start a wrong application ever since the logo are changed? (facepalm)

Staykool

Can someone please explain what a discord server is? Why is it needed or not needed? [pros and cons].

I was asked to participate in a survey without having any understanding of what it is.

Please and thank you.

Thinkman

I just signed up to say this: just saw the new NI logo... yeesh!

What were you thinking?? I thought you guys were sharp (design wise).

The new logo fails on so many levels:

• It’s not legible (not as NI anyway). The A shape looks completely independent from the I shape. It doesn’t even read as an N.
• It’s not visually appealing. There’s no harmony between the elements. just two awkward shapes next to each other.
• It’s not original nor memorable. It looks like a bad NASA worm logo spinoff.

I think you just might have beat KN (I mean KIA) for the worst logo redesign. 😂

BIF

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/102745#Comment_102745

This whole topic was months ago. And it's kind of too late to change anything now. NI has shipped their first hardware product with the new logo. And several software products too. It's kind of molded in now, sorry! 😉

D-One

NI has never changed their mind abut anything due to bad feedback, to assume that was a possibility is quite naive, they do what they want regardless of what we think. Look at the sounds.com fiasco.