Celebrating its 26th anniversary this week, the popular streaming giant, which was originally established on August 29, 1997, has undergone numerous changes throughout the past two decades. One notable change that has surprised some devoted binge-watchers is the evolution of the brand's original logo.
For those who were not familiar with the streaming service during its early days, it may come as a surprise that it initially operated as a DVD rental service. It was reminiscent of Blockbuster, albeit without the physical stores.
Netflix is the brainchild of Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph. The site allowed users to order their fave films online with the DVDs then being mailed out.
Over the past two decades, the rental service has transitioned into a streaming platform. Not only did Netflix expand its presence and become a globally recognized brand with its own original content, the company but also made updates to its logo.
However, the initial logo design can be described as a little, um, low-tech. In the 1990s, it should come as no surprise that it appears to have been designed using Word Art, with a purple film reel separating the words 'net' and 'flix'.
Although this design was short-lived and replaced in 2002, but it still left some viewers pretty unimpressed.
One person said: To be perfectly honest, in my humble opinion, it is boring.
A second wrote: It looks so bad
A third said: I don't like it, Simple and unimpressed.
Despite the logo being subject to mockery, it actually contains a significant detail that is absent in Netflix's current logos, and it's not the film reel!
Observant film enthusiasts will notice that the word 'Flix' is capitalized, which refers to the streamer's original website. When Netflix was first launched in the 1990s, the letter "F" in the web address, NetFlix.com, was also capitalized. However, along with their postal service, this capitalization has been abandoned in recent years.
During the early 2000s, there was a short period when the website showcased a black-and-yellow design, incorporating a television as the dot above the letter 'I' in the logo.
However, it was in 2014 that the brand created a cinematic impact by introducing the red logo, which has remained unchanged to this day.
Additionally, shortly after this redesign, the brand also introduced its 'N' emblem, which is now prominently used as the app's icon.
