Instagram wants its side project Threads to be an alternative to X, and in its three years of life, it has done very well: it currently has about 400 million active users compared to X’s 600 million active users.
Threads design lead Christopher Clare notes that the original Threads’ logo “carried DNA from Instagram’s typeface, Instagram Sans—similar weight and geometry. It read as inherited rather than distinct and felt static. The update maintains forward momentum, and the increased weight sets it apart from Instagram and helps it hold its own next to other app icons. It’s drawn in one continuous line, reinforcing the hand-drawn elements we’ve leaned into and signaling that on Threads, the conversation never stops.”
