Instagram last week unveiled a slightly redesigned logotype, introducing subtle yet significant changes to its two-year-old design. Released alongside the app's new photo tagging feature, the script was designed by Mackey Saturday, a Denver-based typographer and friend of Instagram co-founder Kevin Systrom. As Gizmodo UK reports, Mackey began working on the redesign more than a year ago, redrawing the app's Billabong webfont by hand to create a more elegant alternative. The changes could hardly be described as an overhaul, and may be difficult to discern at first glance (see the graphic, below); but the new design is certainly cleaner and more fluid.

The idea, according to Mackey, was to create a logotype that, like other iconic brand designs, would stand the test of time. "The real goal is to sit alongside some of those timeless scripts, like Kellogg's and Campbell's," Mackey told Gizmodo. "Coca-Cola's another great example. It's nostalgic, but it transcends popular trends."