Hewlett-Packard, that giant of computing, has just released its new logo. Um... again. Well, not really again. Sigh. If you haven’t heard, there’s two Hewlett-Packard’s now, okay? Now, I’d really like to tell you that this is because of alternate time-lines crashing into each other, or because HP is going through its very own Spider-Clone Saga. The truth is much less entertaining, but has better continuity than the average comic book: the company split up last year. The two Hewlett-Packards separated to focus on different demographics. Hewlett-Packard Enterprise is, as you might guess, focused on industrial-grade servers, and their many of their clients are as big as, or bigger than they are. They released their new logo last year, and it’s as imaginative as their company name. Nothing wrong with that; conventional wisdom says that the world of big business tends to like more “comfortable” branding. The company more commonly and colloquially known as “HP” is focused on individual consumers. Since “edgier”, more stylised branding tends to go over better in this market, HP has finally chosen to begin using the superbly minimal logo that it’s had knocking around in the back of a drawer for the last few years. The logo itself was designed by Moving Brands as part of a long-term collaboration with HP, some years ago. It seems that since they no longer have to advertise to two markets at once, HP decided that this logo’s time has come—at least on some of its higher-end products.

The defining signature of the [new logo] is the 13° angle. 13° represents HP’s spirit as a company, driven forward by ingenuity and optimism about the future and a belief in human progress.
— Moving Brands

Personally, I find myself feeling conflicted. I feel like only a company with HP’s existing brand recognition could get away with sticking this logo on their devices. If I knew nothing about them, I’m not sure I’d actually see the letters “H” and “P” at first glance. That said, it’s really pretty, and they are well-known enough to pull it off. Were I in the market for a new laptop, I would not be ashamed to have this logo emblazoned on the back of my machine.