A few days ago we launched our new logo for the PrivacyTools sites and services.

But, we are not changing it without a good reason. The previous logo we have been using since 2015 wasn't created by us, and was released to public domain, which meant that anyone could use it in their own projects. Because of that, some of you may have seen it being used on different unrelated websites. This by itself, was a sufficient reason for a new logo. Another issue we had was that it felt too generic, it's just a shield with a white/blue squares and there are a lot of similar logos used by different projects.

So, it was clear we needed a refresh. At first, I started thinking about what people imagine when thinking about privacy. One of the most obvious one is some kind of shady looking person with glasses and a hat, but that wouldn't give our brand a trustworthy look. Otherwise, we have a lock and a shield, which calls to mind both security and privacy, so that's the base I chose to design first.

Our first draft logo was very similar to old shield with white and blue sections, which would present a more familiar look, but it still would feel generic, just like the old logo.

In my second draft, I wanted to show the "Tools" part of PrivacyTools in our logo. There were a lot of tool icons considered, perhaps a hammer, screwdriver, or wrench. I realized either a screwdriver or a hammer would have too many details to incorporate, and we wanted the new logo to be simple. We went with the wrench because it was a simple design that would be visible at all sizes, while being distinct, making it an ideal choice.

The second draft I created incorporating a lock and wrench was met with some mixed feedback in the private team chat. The lock iconography has been used in many other privacy-sites in the past, and it didn't really feel like "PrivacyTools". I got few suggestions, including trying to use shield instead of a lock. Which is how we ended up with our final design:

The logo was made using the free and open-source vector graphics editor Inkscape, and vector copies and different layouts can be found on GitHub. We hope that our logo will create a more consistent branding system across our sites and services!