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# redesign
This is why Google decided a childlike logo was its future
You may have noticed the change last night.
ALONGSIDE ITS REJIG of its company as Alphabet and separating it into its own entity, Google made one of the biggest changes to its logo in its 17-year history.
Chances are you’ve already seen it in action, but unlike previous changes (which were mostly refinements of what came before it), the new logo changes the typeface for a cleaner and more vibrant look.
The new look will also change the G symbol from a blue symbol to a four-colour G that matches the logo.
So it’s gone from this:
To this.
Compared to what came before it, it’s a bit of a change.
https://vine.co/v/eI3TL2PT0Zr
And as with any change, reaction to it has been mixed (but leaning more towards positive).
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While the change does mark a major shift for the company, thanks to it announcing a major restructuring only a few weeks ago, the design change began early this year as its design team mentioned in its post describing the logo change.
It started when the company’s designers took part in a week-long design sprint (a period of work where a certain task or aim must be completed and ready). The aim: to redesign the Google logo.
To do this, there were four main aims.
- To make the logo visually pop out even in small spaces.
- Incorporating motion so the logo can adjust to any situation.
- Make sure it fits in with all Google products (for example, Google Maps logo would require the same redesign).
- Make the logo as ‘Googley’ as possible (make sure it has personality).
First of all, it boiled down the logo to its four main colours: blue, red, green and yellow. What then followed was hundreds of hours of design work just coming up with possible changes.
Alongside coming up with a new look, the team had to work with other groups across the company like engineering, research, product and marketing to properly test the logos.
Essentially, it boiled down into three main elements: the logotype (the general logo), dots (for loading and processing actions), and the ‘G’ (what you’ll see on mobile).
If you first thought upon seeing the new Google logo was it looks like something you would find in a child’s schoolbook, you’re not far off.
The Google logo has always had a simple, friendly, and approachable style. We wanted to retain these qualities by combining the mathematical purity of geometric forms with the childlike simplicity of schoolbook letter printing. Our new logotype is set in a custom, geometric sans-serif typeface and maintains the multi-colored playfulness and rotated ‘e’ of our previous mark—a reminder that we’ll always be a bit unconventional.
The dots are really for loading and showing an action is being processed like Voice search, they’re more playful in how they move. Although the design and movement are very deliberate.
While their movements might seem spontaneous, their motion is rooted in consistent paths and timing, with the dots moving along geometric arcs and following a standard set of snappy easing curves.
Google isn’t the first company to change its logo this year. Facebook made some subtle changes to its own logo earlier this year while Spotify changed the hue on its green logo to a more lime-like colour.
