There are a few potential reasons why the LinkedIn app icon is white:
Brand Recognition
The white background and simple blue LinkedIn icon has become iconic and easily recognizable over the years. Keeping the app icon consistent helps users quickly identify the LinkedIn app among other app icons on their home screens.
Professional Audience
LinkedIn aims to maintain a professional appearance as the world’s largest professional networking platform. The minimalist white and blue color scheme aligns with LinkedIn’s professional brand image.
Standout on Dark Backgrounds
Most smartphone screens use a dark or black background for app icons. The white LinkedIn icon stands out clearly against these dark backgrounds and is easy to spot.
Cohesion Across Platforms
LinkedIn uses the same white logo and blue accent color across its website, mobile apps, and other platforms. The consistent icon maintains brand awareness as users switch between LinkedIn interfaces.
Trend Toward Flat, Minimalist Design
LinkedIn updated its app icon in 2013 as part of a broader shift toward flat, minimalist icon design in mobile operating systems like iOS 7. The clean, simple icon aligned with this emerging aesthetic trend.
Allows Color Customization
The white background of the LinkedIn app icon allows the color to be customized or filtered based on the smartphone settings. For example, Android users can apply themes to change all app icons to have colored backgrounds. The white LinkedIn icon displays well with these color changes.
Improved Visibility on Light Backgrounds
In addition to dark backgrounds, the white icon also displays clearly against light wallpapers and backgrounds. The blue logo remains visible when surrounded by a white icon background.
Conclusion
To summarize, LinkedIn’s distinctive white app icon helps maintain brand recognition, exudes professionalism, improves visibility on varying backgrounds, adheres to minimalist design trends, and allows for custom color theming. The combination of a white background and simple blue logo has become an iconic visual shorthand for LinkedIn’s professional networking platform on mobile devices.
| Reason | Explanation |
|---|---|
| Brand Recognition | The consistent icon helps users quickly identify the LinkedIn app |
| Professional Audience | Aligns with LinkedIn’s professional brand image |
| Standout on Dark Backgrounds | The white icon is clear against black app icon backgrounds |
| Cohesion Across Platforms | Maintains consistent branding across LinkedIn’s interfaces |
| Trend Toward Flat Design | Fits with shift to minimalist, flat icon designs |
| Allows Color Customization | White background lets icon change color based on theming |
| Improved Visibility on Light Backgrounds | Displays clearly against light wallpapers and backgrounds |
Brand Recognition
The consistent white and blue LinkedIn app icon has become easily recognizable and associated with LinkedIn over the years. Users can quickly identify the LinkedIn app on their home screens alongside other app icons. This helps drive brand awareness and recognition.
Professional Audience
The clean, simple icon matches LinkedIn’s positioning as a professional networking site. The minimalist design gives a polished, business-focused impression, unlike more playful or colorful icons used by some social media apps.
Standout on Dark Backgrounds
Most smartphone interfaces use a black or dark background for the app icon grid. LinkedIn’s bright white icon stands out clearly against these dark backgrounds, making the icon easy to locate. The blue logo is also highly visible when surrounded by white.
Cohesion Across Platforms
Users encounter LinkedIn across its website, mobile apps for iOS and Android, social sharing buttons, and more. Keeping the icon and branding consistent throughout these platforms helps reinforce connection to the LinkedIn brand.
Trend Toward Flat, Minimalist Design
LinkedIn updated to its current app icon in 2013, moving away from aglossy, realistic icon to embrace the flat, minimalist aesthetic that was becoming popular at the time across iOS 7, Android, and Windows interfaces. The pared-down design helped the LinkedIn app visually align with this industry trend.
Allows Color Customization
Some mobile operating systems allow users to customize icon color schemes. For example, Android supports icon theming through launchers. LinkedIn’s mostly white icon can adapt to these color changes, while heavily saturated icons do not work as well with theming options.
Improved Visibility on Light Backgrounds
Along with dark backgrounds, LinkedIn’s white icon can display clearly against light wallpapers like white or gray. The surrounding white allows the distinctive blue LinkedIn logo to pop. This improves visibility in both light and dark mode.
