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If you weren\u2019t already buying the Reddit IPO rumors<\/a>, the internet\u2019s beating heart of deeply<\/a> niche<\/a> microcultures<\/a> just introduced a rebrand<\/a>, refreshing its iconic logo and rolling out some new visual vibes.<\/p>\n Reddit\u2019s most obvious visual update is a new design for Snoo, the anthropomorphic red and white robot mascot synonymous with Reddit since its earliest days.<\/p>\n Image Credits:<\/strong> Reddit<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Compared to the now-ancient initial version of Snoo, the new Snoo looks very slick. The new mascot replaces the flat design of the previous Snoo with a three-dimensional version of the character that could look at home in a Pixar movie. Snoo, who is genderless, also scored opposable thumbs in the redesign process along with an open-mouthed smile.<\/p>\n The new logo \u2014 a disembodied Snoo head in a red chat bubble \u2014 is already live as the logo and favicon on Reddit\u2019s corporate website. We\u2019re starting to see the new logo on Reddit.com as well, along with some wonky behavior like broken comments. (TechCrunch has reached out to the company to ask if the issues are related to the rebrand\u2019s rollout.)<\/p>\n Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, aka \/u\/kn0thing, originally created Snoo as a sketch<\/a> while he was still in college at the University of Virginia. (Ohanian, who previously served as Reddit CEO, stepped down<\/a> from the company\u2019s board of directors three years ago to open the board up to more racial diversity.)<\/p>\n Beyond the Snoo glow-up, Reddit is also refreshing its typefaces with a new original set of fonts meant to evoke chat bubbles, a visual hint at Reddit\u2019s self-styled identity as a place for \u201cconversations.\u201d One of the typefaces, Reddit Sans, will be open source and widely available online.<\/p>\n \u201cAs we expand our global presence into new markets and engage with more audiences from advertisers and developers to redditors and moderators, we need to strengthen our brand foundation to allow for more creative and consistent expression,\u201d Reddit chief marketing and consumer experience officer Roxy Young said. \u201cOur goal remains to focus on redditors\u2019 needs and make it simpler to bring community, belonging, and empowerment to everyone in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n The company is also expanding its color horizons beyond the classic reddish orange (apparently known as OrangeRed) that Reddit is known for. A suite of new colors known as GuavaPink, LimeGreen, BananaYellow, and JuniperBlue will pop up in designs, bringing more color into the platform and its apps.<\/p>\n The timing might not be a coincidence. It\u2019s easy to forget that Reddit, a longtime useful corner of the social internet isn\u2019t already a public company like many of its peers. Reddit endured a rocky 2023 after waging war with its own developer community<\/a>, a protracted fight that saw many subreddits \u2014 Reddit\u2019s core interest-based communities \u2014 go dark in protest.<\/p>\n Now that the drama has cooled off, Bloomberg reports<\/a> that Reddit may be on track for an IPO that could land as soon as the first quarter of 2024. The company\u2019s interest in going public has been bubbling up for years now so take that with a grain of salt, but a conspicuously timed brand refresh certainly hints that big news for Reddit could be right around the corner.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n