Studio Nari wordmark gives Threads a voice of its own

Threads has been seen as an extension of Instagram since it launched. As the site has organically grown, however, it sought a more individual identity. This is where London-based design agency Studio Nari came into the picture. “The core challenge was helping Threads establish more independence as a brand while still feeling connected to the wider Meta ecosystem,” design lead Lauren Davidson tells us. Previously, Threads’ wordmark was set in Instagram Sans – a typeface inherited from its namesake. “The opportunity was to create something more ownable that could express the behaviour of Threads,” Lauren adds, and speak to the “cultural immediacy” and IRL conversations that came from the app. “We were interested in building a system rather than just a logo,” she says, “something functional in product, but expressive enough to scale into campaigns and cultural moments.”

While giving Threads its own voice, Nari was careful not to design in reaction to other social media platforms and instead to focus on the uniqueness the app brought to users. At the centre of this was immediate conversation and participation. “The identity reflects that balance through a sense of movement and momentum,” Lauren says, “tempered by warmth, restraint and human gesture.”

The wordmark cements itself in the physical due to its angular, sculpted form, based on the strategic concept underpinning the new brand, which Nari calls the “Trending Chisel”. Lauren explains: “We became interested in how culture moves through emphasis, highlights and fragments of conversation, and wanted to translate that behaviour directly into the wordmark and glyph.” The metaphor manifests in a chisel-tip marker, crafting the pressure, contrast and cuts of Threads’ now-distinctive mark. “Those gestures are embedded into the letterforms in a restrained way,” she adds, “so the brand feels human without becoming overly decorative.”

This approach was similarly reflected in Threads’ @-inspired logo – the hero glyph that epitomised the brand – which is constructed on satisfyingly looping lines. “We were careful not to overuse the existing looping language,” Lauren says, “because it’s such a recognisable part of the icon.” Instead, Nari focused on embracing the behaviour of the glyph rather than its specific forms. “The directional cuts and flowing rhythm subtly echo that conversational flow without becoming too literal that helped the identity feel mature and editorial while remaining recognisable."

Now free from the shackles of Instagram Sans, Threads’ wordmark and logo feel much more native to the Meta ecosystem, rather than a by-product of Instagram. “The bespoke type base gives Threads a more distinct voice and editorial authority,” Lauren ends. By embedding a characteristic behaviour into the brand, the update is emblematic of its fast, continually evolving content and the real-world impact it creates – feeling both now and then.