Google Cleans Up Their Logo Design
Bringing the Google Brand together
Caught this update via the Google Blog this morning. Usually I just blindly pass over anything the Google blog sends me, but this did catch my eye. The rolling out of the update Google logo design. Specifically an identity exercise to maintain consistency throughout their brand.
For personal reasons, I am loving the simplicity of the design. Very clean and functional, and this is clearly what Google have stated in their post as being the main objective.
Liking the light grey tag line as well for added clarification. Blue and grey works and looks great.
I am happy they have refrained from messing around like they have done with previous ‘favicons’.
You can read the full story ‘Google – The New Logo Look‘ and also over at Brand New – Google Lock-ups..
Article Posted On: May 23, 2009 at 9.23 am
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In Categories: Branding, Design, Identity, Logo design
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Now if they only could loose that cheap and tacky 3D effect it would be even better.
It looks like their design team just discovered bevels and drop-shadows in Photoshop…
MARC – I completely agree. You would think that a company like google would realize that the drag and drop effects look like garbage. The best way to make a logo look dated would be to throw a Photoshop 3D effect on it. Nope, never liked it, and still don’t!
I couldn’t agree more with the posts made above, I’ve always found the google logo both beautiful and at the same time awful for the bloody drop and drag photoshop effects on it!
Marc, JWG, Jorde : Thanks for adding you’re thoughts here. Just wanted to add that the the main focus of this post was more to credit them for keeping the ‘extensions’ of the logo ’safe’. Not falling victim to hideous designs, such as some of the previous favicons.
I agree that the main Google logo could do without the ‘photoshop’ effects, but it has been like this I think for some time. And in my eyes, is not overly disagreeable.
They have done well to keep the ‘extensions’ simple and stylish which is the main focus here. I’m sure in time, they may discover they could just ‘drop’ the photoshop effects, so that it’s pure flat colour and there would be no major loss of brand cohesion in doing so.
Possibly they have this up their sleeve. Shell for example are famous for making continuous and subtle logo changes over the years, without any fanfare. Rather than the whole instant BIg BANG logo design change.
Agreed. I do like the cleanliness of the extensions. And, your right. Along with Shell, Delta, Apple, and a few others have also made minor changes over the years while maintaining the original integrity of the design. I just would have thought that because the google logo uses different colors, there really isn’t a need for the 3D effect and they would have dropped it when making this change. 2 birds at the same time you know?
I’ve seen this posted a couple of times elsewhere, why isn’t there isn’t a before and after? What is it they did there?
There is no before and after as such. The point of these posts has been to talk about the addition of the brand extensions to the main logo. In this case, the sans serif blue and grey text, added to the end of the original Google logo.
There is no change with the main logo.
I have to agree that I really like what they did by simplifying it all! Of course like everyone else that left a comment i would get rid of the shitty photoshop effects but, they’re going into the good direction. Plus, i like that they used blue and grey, more modern!
I guess there is something to be said for sticking to an original and now retro look, but I think the Google treatment will always look dorky and doesn’t bring (me for one) brand comfort. I’d like to see it go flat with a confident angular post-modern serif font and keep the rainbow of colors.
I have seen an ‘official’ flat colour version using the same typeface and it looks pretty good. They use it on Google tee-shirts.
So im not even sure a typeface change would be required. Just getting rid of all the effects and making it flat colour, possibly bolder would make a world of difference.