Where to? The journey to Uber’s iconography

In early 2018, the Uber brand team started a rebranding exercise, exploring a fresh take on what it means to be a global transportation and technology company. A new logo was developed in tandem with a bespoke sans-serif typeface called Uber Move. What followed was a natural progression towards universal symbols of iconography that could scale across all products, services, and surfaces. Here’s a glimpse into the evolution and processes.

“Our typography is as unique and easy to use as we are. Inspired by the world’s best used transportation examples, it was designed to maximize its impact across all applications while keeping it easy to read, own-able, and highly recognizable. Its name: Uber Move.” — Uber Brand Book 2018

With typography being one of the most visible parts of our identity, the next step was to figure out how to use it in our Rider and Driver apps. Almost every time we use an icon, it will be accompanied by text, reinforcing each other. It is important that they pair well.

We used letters such as k, g, o, etc for the icons’ building blocks.

Characteristics: straight lines, generous rounding, straight caps, parallel terminals.

Side by side, our types and icons reflect our original inspiration from the shape of roadway and transit signs. We developed three sets of weights for them.

We created 3 sets of core icons for the 3 typography weights

We iterated these core sets in order to apply to our user interfaces. A design language emerged: Simple. Having just one set would leave little room for interpretation when and where to use what icon. One icon set, for everything. We reduced three icon weights into one.

We experimented to determine that the filled version (such as the ones for the Bold weight above) worked best for glanceability. Its visual weight served well as a visual anchor. We also got rid of the Light and Bold weights. The strokes on the Medium weight gave us more pixel wiggle room in small mobile devices.

Simple

Our lines of business require icons for thousands of user scenarios. We have to redesign existing icons and design new ones in a no-nonsense way. Our ride customers and partners would not care whether we just had a rebrand or not, they need a functional user experience to move on with…