Slack Logo Redesign: Comparing the Old and New Designs
Compare the old and new Slack logos side by side, with the design changes explained in plain language and practical guidance for choosing or working with vector logo assets.
Contents
What you need to know about the new Slack logo
The new Slack logo replaces the previous multicolor hashtag mark with a simplified four-lobe pinwheel built from four rounded lozenges. The shapes stay close to the original Slack visual language, but the redesign removes the older hashtag silhouette, the plaid-like color intersections, and the tilted overall lockup in favor of a more orderly, symmetrical composition.
This distinction matters when searching for assets. An older or third-party vector file labeled only as a generic Slack logo may still contain the previous hashtag mark rather than the current pinwheel. If the task requires the updated identity, confirm that the artwork shows the four-lobe arrangement before using it.
Old design: the multicolor hashtag
The previous Slack logo was recognizable as a hashtag formed from four rounded bars. Each bar used a different color, and nearby bars overlapped with small tinted sections where their colors met. The result read clearly as a social or channel symbol at small sizes, but the overlapping colors created extra shapes that could feel visually busy.
The hashtag was also commonly seen in a tilted lockup beside the Slack wordmark. The angle gave the mark energy, but it made the logo harder to reproduce consistently across tight grids, button treatments, and third-party integrations.
New design: the four-lobe pinwheel
The current mark keeps the four-color system but arranges it around a central point. Four rounded lozenges face inward, leaving a small negative-space cross in the middle. The lobes do not intersect with mixed-color patches; each color stays within its own shape, which gives every lobe a cleaner edge.
The redesign favors symmetry over the diagonal hashtag structure. The resulting mark is more modular, easier to center, and less dependent on a tilted wordmark. It still reads as lively because of the preserved palette and the gaps between the lobes, but the construction is calmer than the previous version.
Side-by-side comparison
| Criterion | Old hashtag mark | New pinwheel mark |
| Primary silhouette | Hashtag made of four bars | Four rounded lobes around a center |
| Color behavior | Overlapping tint areas between bars | Separate solid-color lobes |
| Overall balance | Diagonal and energetic | Symmetrical and modular |
| Small-size clarity | Strong symbol shape, busier intersections | Cleaner gaps and simpler edges |
| Reproduction complexity | Higher because of overlaps and tilt | Lower because of simple geometry |
Geometry and visual structure
In the new mark, each lobe has a consistently rounded outer end and a narrower inner tip, with visible spacing separating it from the next lobe. The central cross is created by negative space rather than by an added white shape. This means the transparent gap remains correct whether the logo sits on a light or dark background, provided the lobe colors have enough contrast.
The old hashtag relied on overlapping shapes to feel connected. That approach produced a denser center and made exact color matching more involved, because the tinted overlap areas needed to behave consistently in print, screen, and single-color reproductions. The new design avoids that by keeping the connecting quality in the shared inward orientation rather than in actual shape overlaps.
Color and contrast
Both versions use a similar range of bright, distinct hues. The redesign preserves the recognizability of the palette but improves separation between the colors. Because the lobes do not overlap, adjacent colors are easier to distinguish and the mark tolerates more varied backgrounds without losing its shape.
For a reader preparing assets, this is a practical advantage. If a square avatar, browser tab, or loading state needs a very small version of the mark, the new design keeps its four-lobe pattern clearer because there are no small tinted intersections competing for attention. Whether this is sufficient for a particular placement depends on the actual background and pixel size, so testing at the intended size is still worthwhile.
Typography and lockup changes
The redesign also moved away from relying on a tilted symbol-next-to-wordmark composition. The new mark is intended to live comfortably as a standalone icon or in a stable horizontal relationship with the wordmark. This gives designers more predictable alignment when the logo appears beside navigation labels, product names, or partner marks.
Readers searching specifically for the new logo should not assume that a clean vector file containing the letterforms and the mark together is the updated lockup. Confirm both the symbol shape and the alignment of the wordmark, since older files may pair the new wordmark with the old mark or vice versa depending on when and where they were produced.
Scalability and asset editability
The new mark is built from relatively simple, rounded shapes, which generally makes it cleaner to edit in vector software. The four lobes can be recolored, separated, or animated more easily than a mark with overlapping tint sections. That is useful for presentations, product mockups, or internal design explorations.
This does not mean that any available file is automatically safe to use. Availability does not establish permission to reuse the logo, and a vector filename alone does not prove that the artwork inside is geometrically correct. A file may contain a traced approximation, altered spacing, or switched colors even if the name suggests an official version. Inspect the paths and compare them against a current reference image before treating an asset as authoritative.
Which version to choose
For work representing Slack itself or creating current brand-oriented materials, the new pinwheel is the appropriate reference. It matches the present visual identity and is more forgiving in small, constrained, or centered placements.
The old hashtag may still appear in historical articles, legacy product screenshots, or discussions of how Slack branding has changed. Keep it for archival comparisons, but do not treat it as the current logo. If a project specifically analyzes the evolution of the brand, show both marks at a comparable size and against the same background so the structural differences are judged under equivalent conditions.
Practical next step
Before downloading or editing a vector file, decide which design the project actually needs, then verify the artwork on two points: the symbol is the correct version, and the file contains clean vector geometry rather than a traced or damaged copy. If accurate official assets are required, obtaining them through the appropriate current source is safer than relying on an unverified download that happens to match a search result.
The supplied material does not include the exact vector path data or pantone-style color values for either version, so precise reproduction values should be confirmed against an authoritative current asset rather than inferred from a screenshot or description.