Google's new logo is fit for the Internet of Things
Logos are important. They're the visual shorthand for companies and products we love. So, you don't mess with them unless you feel you must. Google decided it had to and has changed its logo from the colorful and familiar "Google" letters to a quartet of Google-colored dots and a four-color "G."
Tamar Yehoshua, Google's VP of Product Management and Bobby Nath, Director of User Experience explained:
So why are we doing this now? Once upon a time, Google was one destination that you reached from one device: a desktop PC. These days, people interact with Google products across many different platforms, apps and devices--sometimes all in a single day. You expect Google to help you whenever and wherever you need it, whether it's on your mobile phone, TV, watch, the dashboard in your car, and yes, even a desktop!
This new new logo and identity family is meant to reflect this shift to Google on an Internet of things. It's meant to show you "when the Google magic is working for you, even on the tiniest screens."
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Even to an eye new to graphic design and marketing, you can see the evolution of Google logo and branding, which were originally built for a single desktop browser page, to "a world of seamless computing across an endless number of devices and different kinds of inputs (such as tap, type and talk)."
Clara Boza, branding expert, former Chief Marketing Officer of K&L Gates, and my wife, said, "They've done a good job modernizing the look and feel of the logo with the new font, while keeping the playfulness inherent in the original logo. The primary colors, red, blue, and yellow (complemented by the addition of green to show us that they're rule-breakers) are still there. They've now given us a visual shorthand, with the color bars and with the newly reconstituted G, for the brand we know well. It's a great reworking of the old logo into a clean, modern look that immediately says 'Google.'"
The new design is rolling out now. You'll soon see it on Search, Maps, Gmail, Chrome and many other Google services.
I like this new look and branding campaign. While, the original six colorful letters on a white desktop screen is as classic as the original shape of the Coca-Cola bottle, Google needed a logo that would work on phones, watches, and, who knows, even your refrigerator. Now, it has it.
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