Airbnb, a popular travel website, has a new logo, a new website and several new interesting apps. What's more interesting, to some social media users, is that the new logo looks like a vagina.
The company's new brand identity is about being "together." The logo is a contour line that makes something almost like a pretzel formation and meeting at each end. Some say it looks like a female sex organ.
According to reports, Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky spoke at a webinar about the new look and feel of the company's brand.
"Airbnb stands for something much bigger than travel. It stands for belonging," he said.
The new look, in regard to its iOS and Android apps and website, incorporates a consistent design throughout. Images are also much larger, which seems to be a more user friendly touch. Also, the designs are much cleaner.
According to the reports, there is also a new Discover section on the Airbnb website, too. It allows visitors to offer suggestions on places to visit, and it is customizable.
According to one source, users of the site received an email alerting them of the new changes and invited them to have a look. In Chesky's blog about the redesign, he said the new symbol is called a Bélo and wrote, "We're proud to introduce the Bélo: the universal symbol of belonging."
But others offer a different vision for what the symbol represents. Some said the image conjured the thought of butt cheeks or even a vagina. Some also said it even resembled several male organs.
Beyond the social media commentary surrounding the anatomical nature of the logo, Airbnb may have also ran into a possible copyright snag. Automation Everywhere reportedly has a similar logo.
According to a source, a spokesperson for Automation Everywhere reached out to Airbnb. The two companies are trying to cooperate to come up with a solution to the branding issue. Automation Everywhere is trying to come up with a new logo that does not resemble the Airbnb logo.
Airbnb also offered other improvements to its website. One new feature is the ability to check out a neighborhood, where users can get helpful information about the area. Another is the ability for users to create their own unique Bélo symbols with different colors, patterns and styles.
The company also plans to introduce better calendars and more accurate pricing. The design firm that designed the new brand image and logo for Airbnb is London-based DesignStudio. They said they weren't aware of the Automation Everywhere logo or of the logo's resemblance to human body parts.
