News

Instagram Has Introduced A Visual Refresh

To help its users put the new font to good use, Instagram has also introduced fullscreen marketing layouts, which are clearly inspired by TikTok.

Published

4 years ago

May 26, 2022

David Morelo

Instagram

Instagram’s visual identity, including its logo, has evolved dramatically since the photo and video sharing social networking service launched in 2010. On Monday, Instagram introduced the latest visual refresh, complete with a brand-new font called Instagram Sans. The refresh is supposed to embrace continued evolution by giving existing brand elements new energy and purpose.

The Instagram gradient background, which consists of five colors — Princeton Orange (#F58529), Jasmine (#FEDA77), Vivid Cerise (#DD2A7B), Grape (#8134AF), and Iris (#515BD4) — has been brought to life using an innovative 3D modeling process that makes it feel as if it were lit from within.

“The concept is that the gradient feels like it’s made of light, so it feels illuminated. And it has a kind of a sense of depth to it,” says 3D digital artist and motion designer Rose Pilkington.

The biggest star of the show, however, is the new font, which was designed with Instagram’s heritage in mind. The typeface’s collection includes multiple global scripts (including Arabic, Thai, and Japanese), and it can be described as a contemporary remix of grotesque and geometric styles.

instagram visual refresh font 1

“Details like sheared terminals that suggest the flick of a human hand, unexpected quirks seen in the ‘Q’ and the interior teardrop of the ‘a’ add a friendly personality,” writes Instagram about the new font.

instagram visual refresh font 2

To help its users put the new font to good use, Instagram has also introduced fullscreen marketing layouts, which are clearly inspired by TikTok. The new layouts are supposed to put content at the center, and they reflect the latest usage trends.

Also Read: 12 Arab Women Dominating Instagram In 2023

So far, the visual refresh has received a mixed response, with some users and observers praising it for being both recognizable and future-oriented, and others criticizing it for being unnecessary and self-indulgent. What are your thoughts on the refreshed look?

News

Visa’s Return To Syria Starts With A Test And A Bank In Lebanon

Foreign visitors will be the first users to benefit, but whether Syria’s own banks and cardholders follow is still an open question.

Published

1 week ago

August 27, 2026

Dana Saadeh

visa's return to syria starts with a test and a bank in lebanon

Visa is returning to Syria. Its first live international card transaction in the country was a test rather than a launch, and the milestone event ran through a Lebanese bank.

The acquirer (the bank on the merchant’s side of a card payment) was Fransabank Lebanon, with Paymera as the other named partner. Nadim Moujaes, who heads a Fransabank Group subsidiary, describes the test as both the culmination of “longstanding efforts to link Syria back to international payment networks” and “the first step in a larger path”.

Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa makes the first electronic payment in Syria using a @Visa card at a store in Damascus, following the lifting of US sanctions on Syria. pic.twitter.com/lpAN7nQ6Fc

— Tech Magazine (@TechMGZN) August 27, 2026

“We are excited to have successfully tested live transactions today as we plan to enable international visitors to use their Visa cards while in Syria,” says Leila Serhan, Visa’s senior vice president and group country manager for the North Africa, Levant and Pakistan region. Although a significant first step, that plan doesn’t come with a hard date for when a visitor’s card will work normally.

Mohammed Safwat Raslan, governor of the Central Bank of Syria, says the test paves the way for international card acceptance in Syria and that maintaining strong compliance, risk management and operational controls will remain essential. Serhan likewise stresses that Visa has worked within applicable legal, regulatory and compliance requirements. For a test transaction, it seems there was a great deal of attention paid to the rules, with the entire operation being carefully managed.

Also Read: Lebanon’s 5G Era Begins With 150 Stations And A $1M Budget

The test is the latest step in a sequence that began in December 2025, when Visa announced a strategic roadmap to support Syria’s integration into the global digital economy. In February 2026 it hosted its first industry gathering of banks, ecosystem partners and policymakers in Damascus and, the same month, signed an agreement with Syria’s Ministry of Communications and Information Technology in San Francisco.

Michel Kattouah, Paymera’s CEO, called the test “the return of international card acceptance,” but while that’s positive news, there’s no word yet on when a Syrian bank will issue a Visa card to a Syrian customer.