Logo Analysis” Netscape Internet Navigator
Way way way back in the day, before the rise of Internet Explorer, computers all over the world were fitted with an internet browser known as Netscape Navigator. Netscape Navigator has been credited with creating JavaScript (A language commonly used by coders, programmers, and designers alike) and was a major success up until the integration of Internet Explorer into PCs and Safari in Macs. Netscape’s logo is something that I’m sure will ring some bells in the back of your mind. While this logo may seem a bit basic compared to the logos littering the market today, Netscape’s logo set the precedence for all the future internet navigator logos. During the 1990s, computer displays had limited color options--many warm colors such as red and yellow were a bit difficult to display. Cool colors such as blue, green, black (as found in the Netscape logo), were more commonly used. The color scheme used by the Netscape logo also corresponds to the color scheme that comprises the user interface of the browser.
The use of a serif “N” acts as the main identifier of the logo. The “N” is “no good” “Netscape” for obvious reasons. The circular shape of the logo is the standard shape for internet navigators. It is used to minimize the amount of space that the icon takes up on a computer’s desktop or app dock. Other logos that share resemblances are Safari, Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, etc. What’s interesting about this logo is the similarities found between this and the 2012 Obama Campaign “Hope” logo.
Like the Obama campaign logo, Netscape’s logo features an almost rolling plains style that starts underneath the left side of the “N” and eventually envelopes the right side of the “N”. My guess is that this overlap is meant to signify the “navigator” aspect of Netscape. By using Netscape, consumers have the ability to “surf and navigate” their way through the internet.
For a company and logo that reached its peak in 1999, Netscape’s logo has done an excellent job at becoming iconic. It can be identified by different generations alike which is the largest sign of a logo’s success.















