Mozilla’s Famous Fox Fades For Firefox

The Mozilla Foundation has unveiled the new logo and branding for Firefox, that shows that the well-regarded browser used by 250 million people, now offers much more than just web surfing.

It comes after Mozilla announced last July that it was redesigning the famous ‘fast fox logo with the flaming tail’, that had been closely associated with its Firefox web browser for many years now.

Mozilla did a similar exercise in January 2017, when it decided to drop the Mozilla dinosaur icon and asked users for their input on the new design.

New redesign

Now the Firefox family has new icons and logos, but the overarching fast fox with flaming tail logo has been morphed into something more ethereal, that essentially looks as if the world is on fire.

Mozilla revealed the change in a blog post, which talked about how the original fox that was “known for being quick, clever, and untamed”, also included “stretchiness” as its tail circumnavigated the globe.

“Well, Firefox has another trait not found in earthly foxes,” said Mozilla. “That fabled flexibility now enables Firefox to adapt once again to a changing environment.”

The ‘Firefox’ you’ve always known as a browser is stretching to cover a family of products and services united by putting you and your privacy first,” said Mozilla. “Firefox is a browser AND an encrypted service to send huge files. It’s an easy way to protect your passwords on every device AND an early warning if your email has been part of a data breach. Safe, private, eye-opening. That’s just the beginning of the new Firefox family.”

“Now Firefox has a new look to support its evolving product line,” the foundation blogged. “Today we’re introducing the Firefox parent brand – an icon representing the entire family of products. When you see it, it’s your invitation to join Firefox and gain access to everything we have to offer. That includes the famous Firefox Browser icon for desktop and mobile, and even that icon is getting an update to be rolled out this fall (otherwise known as Autumn).

Mozilla offered a video charting the evolution of the brand, found here.

“As a living brand, Firefox will never be done,” said the design team. “It will continue to evolve as we change and the world changes around us. We have to stretch our brand guidelines even further in the months ahead, so we’re interested in hearing your reaction to what we’ve done so far. Feel free to let us know in the comments below. Thanks for being with us on this journey, and please stay tuned for more.”

Product family

Firefox is certainly stretching beyond its roots as just a humble web browser.

Mozilla has reportedly hinted that a premium version of Firefox could be on the cards, that will include extra bits of functionality for the discerning web user.

The free version of Firefox, with all its current features, will remain unchanged, but the premium version of the browser could include additional features such as cloud storage and even a VPN.

It should be remembered that from October 2018, Firefox offered a VPN option, after Mozilla partnered with ProtonVPN, which will cost users $10 per month.

But Mozilla has been busy building out the Firefox family.

It recently strengthened its privacy capabilities, when it included a free-of-charge desktop password manager called Firefox Lockwise.

Mozilla has also added Tracking Protection in Private Browsing, to stop firms like Facebook from scrapping people’s data.

Other privacy developments include a new interface for Firefox Monitor, which Mozilla launched last year to help users see if their login details have been leaked as part of a data breach.

And in March, Mozilla officially released its Firefox Send file-sharing service, after nearly two years of product testing.

The Firefox Send website allows users to send files (via a link that automatically expires) to anyone around the world, avoiding email systems whose servers often have restrictions on the sizes of files they can send.

Receipts using any modern browser can click on the link and download the file, which makes it ideal for families or businesses spread out around the world, who wish to share data such as photos or documents, with each other.

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