X Headquarters in San Francisco, California; Photo: Elon Musk
Twitter is now X, and branding has shifted for the company on the web and for employees associated with the social network.
Alex Tourville (@ajtourville) took to Twitter to share the intriguing backstory of the distinctive ‘𝕏’ logo, recently adopted by Elon Musk. Alex provided a detailed account of how the unique character came to symbolize Musk’s ventures and now graces the platform “that saved freedom of speech.”
Two years ago in July 2021, Alex had been contemplating creating a club on the platform Clubhouse. However, he found the short-lived aspect of Clubhouse content limiting. Those absent from live discussions were unable to benefit from the content later. Alex wanted to produce content that was accessible to listeners beyond the real-time discussions.
The launch of @getcallin, a social podcasting app by @DavidSacks, offered a solution. Alex stated, “It was exactly what I was looking for, providing everything that was missing in Clubhouse.” In September 2021, he established the 𝕏 show on Callin, focused on discussing Elon Musk and his various enterprises.
Choosing a name for the show was a challenging task. Alex recollected, “Naming it the ‘Elon Musk Show’ or the ‘Boring Neuralink SpaceX Tesla Show’ was obviously out of the question.” Inspired by the unused domain name ‘http://X.com’, owned by Musk and speculation on Twitter about a potential umbrella parent corporation, ‘X Corp,’ Alex chose ‘𝕏’ for the show. “The letter ‘x’ is often used as a variable, which was perfect given the variety of topics the show would encompass,” Alex explained.
For the hosts of the show, Alex roped in fellow passionate Musk and Tesla followers including @meckimac, @AdamBerg4680, @SawyerMerritt, and @WholeMarsBlog. They collectively provided insights on various topics related to Musk’s ventures through different lenses such as engineering, technology, innovation, finance, and the stock market.
On branding, Alex said, “We needed an edgy typeface… I chose the Unicode character 𝕏 (U+1D54F) for use in the display name of the show. Based on that character, I made a slightly more refined and pronounced graphic logo.” The podcast launched in September 2021.
Our headquarters tonight pic.twitter.com/GO6yY8R7fO
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 24, 2023
Sadly, the podcast was discontinued in February 2022 after the death of a team member, Jessica. However, the symbol lived on, and Elon Musk recently adopted it for Twitter, leading Alex to remark, “Even if 𝕏 is only an interim logo… I’m nevertheless happy and proud to see it be chosen by a man I deeply admire and respect, to be used by the platform I love, the platform that saved freedom of speech.”
“This is the logo I designed and, if @elonmusk wants, he can have it for free,” said Alex on Saturday evening, after Musk picked his logo.
The goal of X is to become the ‘everything app’, equivalent to a version of WeChat in China, said Musk in the past. WeChat allows users to send payments to other users and also easily pay businesses with a QR code.
Twitter and the bird–RIP. Expect mobile app icon branding and more to transition to the new X logo soon.
