Microsoft Office icons to soon get new and modern design: Here’s the first look

Microsoft Office icons redesign: Microsoft decouples letter and the symbol in the icons with 3D depth.

Microsoft embrace a new world of work (Microsoft)

Microsoft Office icons are getting redesigned after five years.

The company on Thursday gave a sneak peek at the design change which focuses on making the icons more cross-platform friendly. Microsoft Office icons are now also doing away with flat design in favour of depth-based 3D-like icons.

"Today's workforce includes five generations using Office on multiple platforms and devices and in environments spanning work, home, and on the go. We wanted a visual language that emotionally resonates across generations, works across platforms and devices, and echoes the kinetic nature of productivity today," wrote Jon Friedman, Head of Microsoft Office design, in a Medium post.

"Our design solution was to decouple the letter and the symbol in the icons, essentially creating two panels (one for the letter and one for the symbol) that we can pair or separate. This allows us to maintain familiarity while still emphasizing simplicity inside the app," he added.

Evolution of Microsoft Word icons (Microsoft)

Evolution of Microsoft Word icons (Microsoft)

For instance, the Excel icon has been redesigned into a rectangular shape to reflect the spreadsheets, while Powerpoint has a circular pie chart and Outlook has a mail envelope as its icon, Engadget reported.

Microsoft Office icons get 3D look and feel (Microsoft)

Microsoft Office icons get 3D look and feel (Microsoft)

The new icons will reach apps and the web in the coming months. It is to note that the change to the icons does not mean any functional improvements. 

(with inputs from ANI)