Nutanix logo redesign: comparing the old and new identity

What the Nutanix logo redesign is

The current Nutanix logo is an evolution of the company’s long-running geometric N mark, not a replacement with an unrelated symbol. The older identity showed that mark as a faceted, isometric form in blue, with light and dark planes that read as a folded ribbon or a shallow prism. The newer identity keeps the same angular N construction but presents it flatter, usually in a single vivid purple, with a tighter wordmark lockup. If you are choosing or redrawing an asset, the live choice is between the blue, dimensional system and the purple, simplified system.

Two scope distinctions matter before you compare files. The mark alone and the mark-plus-wordmark lockup are different assets even when they share a generation. Colorways such as purple on white, white on purple, and dark-background reversals are applications of one identity, not extra redesigns. In this comparison, “old” means the blue dimensional system; “new” means the current purple, flattened system as it appears in corporate and product materials.

Geometry, type, color and spacing

Both marks are built from the same idea: an N suggested by a small set of parallelograms, also called rhombi—four-sided shapes with parallel opposite sides—arranged so the planes and the gaps read as a letter. In the older mark those planes are shaded as faces. Highlights sit on the upper surfaces and a darker face recedes, so the symbol has implied depth. The newer mark reduces that modeling. Faces that once carried a second blue or a gradient are more often one flat fill. The silhouette stays compact and angular, but the eye reads a two-dimensional letter sooner than a three-dimensional object. That last point is an editorial reading of the change: the redesign trades gem-like volume for a shape that behaves like a product icon.

Exact vertex angles, whether any plane was cropped or sheared, and path or stroke units cannot be confirmed here. This article does not include matched vector specimens on the same artboard. Those measurements belong in official artwork. Do not infer clean vector geometry from a filename or an “svg” extension; open the file and check for real paths, embedded images, expanded strokes and stray clipping masks.

Color is the difference most people notice first. The older system is blue-led. The mark commonly used a bright-to-deep blue range, sometimes with a cyan bias on the lit faces, and the wordmark sat in near-black or dark gray. The newer system is purple-led. The mark and many brand fields use a saturated violet that stays vivid on light and dark grounds, with white as the usual knockout on a purple field. Specific hex or spot-color values are not stated here because this comparison is not sampling calibrated swatches. For production color, take values from the current brand kit. Two screenshots are not a fair color test unless they share color space, size and compression.

The wordmark is the name Nutanix in a geometric sans-serif: type without serifs, with relatively even stroke width and constructed letterforms. Widely used lockups are title case in both generations. Weight reads as medium, which helps the name hold next to a dense mark. The older lockup often felt more open, with more space between the symbol and the letters. The newer lockup reads tighter and more product-like. Alignment is typically optical, with the mark to the left of the word and centered on the cap height or x-height depending on the file. Stacked mark-over-type versions exist for narrow spaces. When you redraw a lockup, copy official spacing; pushing the mark against the letter N is a common unofficial error because the symbol and that letter compete at close range.

Criterion	Older identity	Newer identity
Mark geometry	Faceted isometric planes with implied depth	Same angular N, flatter solid fills
Primary color	Blue-led, often graded faces	Purple-led, typically one solid fill
Wordmark	Geometric sans, more open lockup	Geometric sans, tighter lockup
Small-size behavior	Facets can muddy if the mark is rasterized	Clearer silhouette, less surface detail
Best-fit use	Historical, archival and redesign comparisons	Current product, partner and presentation work

Scalability, editability and which version to use

At large size, the old mark’s facets and gradient are an advantage: they give surface and light. At favicon and app-icon sizes that modeling can collapse, especially if a gradient is flattened to pixels. The new flat purple mark holds a cleaner silhouette at very small sizes, with less crystal character when it is shown huge on a title slide. Those size notes are reasoning from typical mark behavior. They are untested here against a controlled size ladder, so treat them as conditional, not as lab results.

Editability depends on the file you hold, not on which generation it represents. A true vector file—editable outlines and fills—lets you recolor and scale without new pixels. A raster export of either logo does not. Public appearance of either mark does not grant permission to reuse it. The identity is a trademark, and partner, press or in-product use follows the company’s current artwork and rules.

• Use the current purple, flattened lockup when the work must match Nutanix as it appears now: product UI, current decks, partner badges and anything that will sit next to contemporary brand color.
• Use the older blue dimensional mark when the job is historical: an archive, a timeline of identity, or a comparison of versions.
• Do not mix the blue mark with the purple wordmark, or the reverse; that hybrid is not either official system.
• Match the lockup to the space: icon only, horizontal mark-plus-type, or stacked. Then confirm the background. The old mark was tuned for light fields with blue volume; the new mark is tuned to read as a flat purple or white shape on light and dark grounds.
• If you need production files, request official vectors for the generation you are allowed to use. Tracing a compressed web image is a poor substitute for either version.

This write-up does not include side-by-side vector specimens, measured path counts, or tests of minimum size, contrast or print gain. Anyone producing final artwork should compare the two official files on the same artboard, at the same point size, in outline view, and on both light and dark grounds before choosing or redrawing.