LinkedIn’s new Advanced Search engine has now been rolled out to the entire LinkedIn network, changing slightly how it shows results and putting features in new hiding places.
Made up of a group of individuals: Reid Hoffman, Konstantin Guericke, Jean-Luc Vailant, Allen Blue and Eric Ly. The network has been in existence since 2002 and is located in Mountain View, California.
Meaning and history
Officially, the career of this company and its logo began in late 2002, but in reality the service began operating in the spring of 2003. In the first half of 2011, it applied for an IPO and for the summer it was registered on the Stock Exchange from New York. In January 2017, it became the property of Microsoft, which bought it. All the key periods in the development of the affiliate platform are reflected in the symbolism.
The company’s emblem appeared immediately upon opening and is modern. Over the years of its existence, it has changed twice, but very slightly, remaining the same as at the beginning. It consists of the word “Linked” and the preposition “In”. Between them there is a barely noticeable space, which makes the elements seem fused.
2003 – 2011
The debut version was created in a working style: commercial, practical, no-frills, which immediately gets into a serious mood. The first half of the image is the word “Linked” in the Source Sans font: Light and Semi-bold. Lowercase letters (except initial), black, sans-serif. The endings of the letters “k” and “d” coincide in height with a dot over “i” and with a capital “L”.
The in element is at the end. It is placed in a separate blue square with rounded corners. Unlike the rest, it has a white color, clearly standing out against a cobalt background. It is used as a separate emblem when it becomes necessary to place it in a limited space.
2011 – 2019
After eight years of the logo’s existence, the owners decided to carry out a small redesign. It is due to the fact that the site received IPO registration on the New York Stock Exchange. To make the sign more readable, the designers slightly extended the letters, almost a couple of millimeters, so that the differences are not immediately visible. In addition, they worked with “e”, giving it personality: the bottom became a little narrower than the top and folded.
2019 – 2021
Two years after becoming a subordinate of Microsoft, the company received an updated logo. The changes touched the corporate palette, making the sign look monochrome and contrasting at the same time. The fact is, designers transferred the main color to the first part of the word, making it now blue on a white background. While the second segment, on the contrary, is made in white on blue font. In this way, the new owners emphasized the individuality of the service.
2021 – Present
LinkedIn updated its logo in 2021 to reflect a brighter, more modern look that aligned with both its evolving platform and Microsoft’s broader design language after the 2016 acquisition.
The change wasn’t about overhauling the brand but about subtle refinement for digital clarity and brand cohesion. The blue became slightly more vivid and energetic, giving the logo a fresher, friendlier feel while maintaining its professional tone. This brighter shade also improves visibility on high-resolution screens and across different devices, which is crucial in an era where most LinkedIn interactions happen on mobile.
The typeface was adjusted to a cleaner, more contemporary custom style (often referred to as “Community”), making the text sharper and more legible at small sizes. Overall, the 2021 update aimed to signal modernity, accessibility, and approachability without losing the trust, stability, and recognizability that LinkedIn’s blue “in” icon had built over nearly two decades.
Typography & Color: Deep Dive
Font Journey
Across its evolution, LinkedIn’s logo typography has remained rooted in clean sans-serif design. Initial versions hinted at Source Sans (Light or Semi-Bold), while others suggest Myriad Pro variants—Myriad Pro-Light or Myriad Pro-Semibold—as the two most closely matching designs. Some sources also cite Akzidenz-Grotesk for its professional tone and even spacing, though this may capture the logo’s essence rather than its literal font family.
Color
LinkedIn Brand HEX color code for the typical “LinkedIn Blue” is #0A66C2.
FAQ’s
Did Paul D. Hunt Design the LinkedIn Logo?
No, Paul D. Hunt did not design the LinkedIn logo. Some sources incorrectly suggest that Hunt created the LinkedIn logo, but that claim is not supported by reliable evidence.
Paul D. Hunt is a well-known American typeface designer and font developer, currently associated with Adobe Type. Hunt started their career in typography at P22 Type Foundry as an intern in winter 2004, before joining Adobe as a typeface designer in January 2009. Their work includes designing Adobe’s first open-source font families—Source Sans Pro and Source Code Pro—and contributing to non-Latin scripts and Unicode initiatives, such as being part of the Emoji Subcommittee.
Has LinkedIn’s logo changed over time?
Yes. Since its 2003 launch, LinkedIn’s logo has undergone four key iterations: the foundational 2003 design, subtle font work in 2011 post-IPO, a unified blue palette in 2019, and a brighter, modernized version from 2021 to today.
Reference: [1]