Facebook designer explains changes to ‘friends’ icons
Caitlin Winner updated the icons because the female figure had a ‘chip in her shoulder’ from being placed behind a man.
If you visit Facebook this week, you’ll notice a few changes beyond the social media giant’s updated logo.
The site has updated its’ “friends” and “groups” icons, and in a post on Medium, designer Caitlin Winner explains that she started the project on her own:
The iconic man was symmetrical except for his spiked hairdo but the lady had a chip in her shoulder. After a little sleuthing I determined that the chip was positioned exactly where the man icon would be placed in front of her, as in the ‘friends’ icon, above. I assumed no ill intentions, just a lack of consideration but as a lady with two robust shoulders, the chip offended me.
Winner goes on to say that she changed the woman’s hair from “the Darth Vader-like helmet” to “a more shapely bob,” and that she then smoothed down the man’s hair and smoothed out his shoulders. Then:
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