diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index e79c2813..ecf79317 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -13,13 +13,15 @@ An in-progress version being developed on the master branch.
 
  * Added touch zoom, pan and double tap support for **IE10 touch devices and Metro apps** (by [@danzel](https://github.com/danzel) and [@veproza](https://github.com/veproza) with help from [@oliverheilig](https://github.com/oliverheilig)). [#1076](https://github.com/CloudMade/Leaflet/pull/1076) [#871](https://github.com/CloudMade/Leaflet/issues/871)
  * **Improved panning inertia** to be much more natural and smooth.
- * Improved panning animation performance in IE6-8.
- * Improved zoom animation curve for a better feel overall.
+ * Improved **zoom control design** to look better, be more design-neutral and in line with other controls, making it easier to fit different website designs. Replaced +/- images with text.
+ * Improved **dragging cursors** in Chrome, Safari and Firefox (now grabbing hand cursors are used).
  * Improved zoom control to zoom by 3 levels if you hold shift while clicking on a button.
- * Improved dragging with grabbing hand cursors in Chrome, Safari and Firefox.
  * Improved scroll wheel zoom to be more responsive.
+ * Improved zoom animation curve for a better feel overall.
+ * Improved fallback control styles for IE6-8.
+ * Improved panning animation performance in IE6-8.
  * Improved vectors updating/removing performance on Canvas backend even more (by [@danzel](https://github.com/danzel)). [#961](https://github.com/CloudMade/Leaflet/pull/961)
- * Cut total images size from 10KB to 3.5KB with [Yahoo Smush.it](http://www.smushit.com/ysmush.it/). Thanks to Peter Rounce for suggestion.
+ * Cut total images size from 10KB to 3.2KB with [Yahoo Smush.it](http://www.smushit.com/ysmush.it/). Thanks to Peter Rounce for suggestion.
 
 #### API improvements
 
diff --git a/dist/images/zoom-in.png b/dist/images/zoom-in.png
deleted file mode 100644
index ac892b86..00000000
Binary files a/dist/images/zoom-in.png and /dev/null differ
diff --git a/dist/images/zoom-out.png b/dist/images/zoom-out.png
deleted file mode 100644
index 38616e45..00000000
Binary files a/dist/images/zoom-out.png and /dev/null differ
diff --git a/dist/leaflet.css b/dist/leaflet.css
index 938a1be5..59c49236 100644
--- a/dist/leaflet.css
+++ b/dist/leaflet.css
@@ -190,19 +190,20 @@
 /* zoom control */
 
 .leaflet-control-zoom {
-	-webkit-border-radius: 7px;
-	        border-radius: 7px;
-	}
-.leaflet-control-zoom {
-	padding: 5px;
-	background: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.25);
+	margin-left: 13px;
+	margin-top: 12px;
+	box-shadow: 0 0 8px #666;
+	border: 1px solid #777;
+	-webkit-border-radius: 5px;
+	        border-radius: 5px;
 	}
 .leaflet-control-zoom a {
-	width: 19px;
-	height: 19px;
-	background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.75);
-	-webkit-border-radius: 4px;
-	        border-radius: 4px;
+	width: 23px;
+	height: 23px;
+	background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);
+	text-align: center;
+	text-decoration: none;
+	color: black;
 	}
 .leaflet-control-zoom a,
 .leaflet-control-layers-toggle {
@@ -212,19 +213,32 @@
 	}
 .leaflet-control-zoom a:hover {
 	background-color: #fff;
-	}
-.leaflet-touch .leaflet-control-zoom a {
-	width: 27px;
-	height: 27px;
+	color: #777;
 	}
 .leaflet-control-zoom-in {
-	background-image: url(images/zoom-in.png);
-	margin-bottom: 5px;
+	border-bottom: 1px solid #aaa;
+	font: bold 18px/23px Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;
+	-webkit-border-radius: 5px 5px 0 0;
+	        border-radius: 5px 5px 0 0;
 	}
 .leaflet-control-zoom-out {
-	background-image: url(images/zoom-out.png);
+	font: bold 25px/20px Tahoma, Verdana, sans-serif;
+	-webkit-border-radius: 0 0 5px 5px;
+	        border-radius: 0 0 5px 5px;
 	}
 
+.leaflet-touch .leaflet-control-zoom a {
+	width: 30px;
+	height: 30px;
+	}
+.leaflet-touch .leaflet-control-zoom-in {
+	font-size: 24px;
+	line-height: 29px;
+	}
+.leaflet-touch .leaflet-control-zoom-out {
+	font-size: 28px;
+	line-height: 24px;
+	}
 
 /* layers control */
 
@@ -298,14 +312,13 @@
 	border-top: none;
 	color: black;
 	line-height: 1;
+	padding: 2px 5px 1px;
 	font-size: 10px;
-	padding-bottom: 2px;
 	text-shadow: 1px 1px 1px #fff;
 	background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);
 	}
 .leaflet-control-scale-line:not(:first-child) {
 	border-top: 2px solid #777;
-	padding-top: 1px;
 	border-bottom: none;
 	margin-top: -2px;
 	}
@@ -313,11 +326,14 @@
 	border-bottom: 2px solid #777;
 	}
 
-.leaflet-touch .leaflet-control-attribution, .leaflet-touch .leaflet-control-layers {
+.leaflet-touch .leaflet-control-attribution,
+.leaflet-touch .leaflet-control-layers,
+.leaflet-touch .leaflet-control-zoom {
 	box-shadow: none;
 	}
-.leaflet-touch .leaflet-control-layers {
-	border: 5px solid #bbb;
+.leaflet-touch .leaflet-control-layers,
+.leaflet-touch .leaflet-control-zoom {
+	border: 3px solid #999;
 	}
 
 
@@ -363,8 +379,7 @@
 .leaflet-popup-content-wrapper, .leaflet-popup-tip {
 	background: white;
 
-	box-shadow: 0 3px 14px rgba(0,0,0,0.35);
-	-webkit-box-shadow: 0 3px 18px rgba(0,0,0,0.33);
+	box-shadow: 0 3px 14px rgba(0,0,0,0.4);
 	}
 .leaflet-container a.leaflet-popup-close-button {
 	position: absolute;
diff --git a/dist/leaflet.ie.css b/dist/leaflet.ie.css
index 4391f907..b59c8144 100644
--- a/dist/leaflet.ie.css
+++ b/dist/leaflet.ie.css
@@ -3,11 +3,11 @@
 	height: 1px;
 	}
 .lvml {
-	behavior: url(#default#VML); 
-	display: inline-block; 
+	behavior: url(#default#VML);
+	display: inline-block;
 	position: absolute;
 	}
-	
+
 .leaflet-control {
 	display: inline;
 	}
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@
 	_width: 27px;
 	margin: 0 auto;
 	_margin-top: -3px;
-	
+
 	filter: progid:DXImageTransform.Microsoft.Matrix(M11=0.70710678, M12=0.70710678, M21=-0.70710678, M22=0.70710678);
 	-ms-filter: "progid:DXImageTransform.Microsoft.Matrix(M11=0.70710678, M12=0.70710678, M21=-0.70710678, M22=0.70710678)";
 	}
@@ -25,14 +25,15 @@
 	margin-top: -1px;
 	}
 .leaflet-popup-content-wrapper, .leaflet-popup-tip {
-	border: 1px solid #bbb;
+	border: 1px solid #999;
 	}
 .leaflet-popup-content-wrapper {
 	zoom: 1;
 	}
 
-.leaflet-control-zoom {
-	filter: progid:DXImageTransform.Microsoft.gradient(startColorStr='#3F000000',EndColorStr='#3F000000');
+.leaflet-control-zoom,
+.leaflet-control-layers {
+	border: 3px solid #999;
 	}
 .leaflet-control-zoom a {
 	background-color: #eee;
@@ -42,9 +43,15 @@
 	}
 .leaflet-control-layers-toggle {
 	}
-.leaflet-control-attribution, .leaflet-control-layers {
+.leaflet-control-attribution,
+.leaflet-control-layers,
+.leaflet-control-scale-line {
 	background: white;
 	}
 .leaflet-zoom-box {
 	filter: alpha(opacity=50);
-	}
\ No newline at end of file
+	}
+.leaflet-control-attribution {
+	border-top: 1px solid #bbb;
+	border-left: 1px solid #bbb;
+	}
diff --git a/src/control/Control.Zoom.js b/src/control/Control.Zoom.js
index fe6821b8..7e993481 100644
--- a/src/control/Control.Zoom.js
+++ b/src/control/Control.Zoom.js
@@ -9,8 +9,8 @@ L.Control.Zoom = L.Control.extend({
 
 		this._map = map;
 
-		this._createButton('Zoom in', className + '-in', container, this._zoomIn, this);
-		this._createButton('Zoom out', className + '-out', container, this._zoomOut, this);
+		this._createButton('+', 'Zoom in', className + '-in', container, this._zoomIn, this);
+		this._createButton('-', 'Zoom out', className + '-out', container, this._zoomOut, this);
 
 		return container;
 	},
@@ -23,8 +23,9 @@ L.Control.Zoom = L.Control.extend({
 		this._map.zoomOut(e.shiftKey ? 3 : 1);
 	},
 
-	_createButton: function (title, className, container, fn, context) {
+	_createButton: function (html, title, className, container, fn, context) {
 		var link = L.DomUtil.create('a', className, container);
+		link.innerHTML = html;
 		link.href = '#';
 		link.title = title;