HP is launching a global brand offensive today with the ultra-thin Spectre 13 laptop, and one of the subtler changes the company is making is to its logo. Where last year's Spectre x360 had the full "Hewlett-Packard" written out, the new 13-inch model has just four minimalist slashes making up the "HP" wordmark. HP says it'll be using this logo solely on its premium laptops.

This very same mark first surfaced online in a 2011 brand redesign study released by Moving Brands, who HP had hired to develop a new logo and brand identity. The American tech giant ultimately decided against adopting the aggressively styled logo that had been proposed, much to our disappointment. But now that it has split into two — and having delivered an impressively staid logo for its enterprise entity — the new consumer brand seems more willing to embrace an edgier look. Moving Brands had been working with HP since 2008, so even though the Spectre 13 is in a brand new, cutting-edge device, its logo, at least, is the product of many years of deliberation.

Update April 5th, 10:25AM ET: This story has been updated with additional information on where HP's new logo will be used.

First look: Hp Spectre 13