Friday Fives, Vol.43

Here’s this week’s Friday Fives!

Say goodbye to these two iconic logos
Luxury fashion house Burberry has joined the wave of brands jumping on the minimalist bandwagon, unveiling a new logo and monogram on Instagram earlier this week. Doing away with the classic knight on a horse, the new, modernized look was completed by legendary designer Peter Saville on rapid four-week timeline. Meanwhile, internet browser Firefox is planning a major overhaul to their logo and icon system using an open source approach pioneered by Mozilla. If you have a special place in your heart for that little flaming fox, make your voice heard by posting your design feedback here. — CS

Everlane is not sexy
Everlane, the fashion brand that refuses to call themselves a fashion brand, is dominating basics. Their simple clothing offers no frills, (virtually) no patterns, and no distinct style to speak of. The brand refers to their clothes only as “items”, each of which has been designed for a specific “use case.” These “use cases”, are all daytime pursuits such as running errands, picking up coffee, and working in an office. Although this may sound uncomfortably robotic, the lack of romance is apparently intentional — in the words of CEO Michael Preysman, “You do not get laid in Everlane.” — MM

Putting the fun in funeral
Beyond, a London-based company that helps customers compare funeral prices, is facing enormous backlash after unveiling a series of radically (a.k.a. uncomfortably) fun advertisements. Having recently undergone a strangely friendly rebrand, the company’s new ads swap beachgoers’ surfboards for coffins and describe cremation as a “one-way” vacation with “roasty temperatures.” People are understandably offended, but this discomfort around death is exactly what Beyond is hoping to confront. Maybe this friendly, bearded mascot will help soothe their uneasy audience. — CS

No hands needed
Snapchat has just rolled out a major piece of new technology — a series of AR lenses that animate when users speak simple words like “hi,” “love,” and “wow.” Snapchat has offered lenses that involve audio before, but this is the first time the app will be able to recognize specific words. The initial launch includes five or six lenses that are intermittently available on users’ carousels, all of which are set to become fully available sometime next week. Although these new lenses may be a cool feature, they’ll never replace the soft spot in our hearts for the 3D dancing Bitmoji ❤. — KJ

RIP Sticky Notes
Step aside reusable straws, reusable sticky notes are now here. Yes, you heard that right — reusable sticky notes. They’re made of silicone with a special coating that can be written on with oil ballpoint pens. Completely portable and water resistant, the special silicon coating is making its way onto cases for iPhones and other smart devices. Although it may sound futuristic, this innovation is giving us a big blast from the past — the company has also recreated the original 90’s slap bracelet with the same silicone. — MM

Originally published at eepurl.com.