'Subtle' logo refresh wins Google a thumbs up

Google is the latest big tech company to give its logo a facelift, putting a smile on the design community which believes the recent big-name refreshes are boosting the craft.

Google has introduced its first new logo in three years, sporting a flatter look and a muted colour palette the update is part of a wider redesign of the Google bar.

The update comes after Yahoo refreshed its logo globally and earlier this month Microsoft also unveiled a new design for its struggling search engine, Bing.

Jason Sew Hoy, chief operating officer of design community 99designs, said the updates from high profile companies are “highlighting the importance of great design to the world”.

“The conversations the new logo has started amongst the online and design communities is testament to the fact that design matters,” he told B&T.

“Google’s subtle logo change is testament to the fact that you can’t create a logo and expect it to still be current in 15 years time.

“Brands change, consumer tastes change and thus design does too.”

The 99designs community is not shy when it comes to expressing its opinion on the logo refreshes of big name brands. The site often runs competitions asking members to submit alternatives to the official logo. Single contests have received more than 5,000 entries, such as this recent one for Yahoo.

Last year 99designs ran a similar competition around the eBay refresh.

But Sew Hoy doubts the community will be disappointed with Google’s new stamp, believing they will embrace the search giant’s restraint.

“It’s no surprise that Google has redesigned its logo, as over the past two years Google has been on a journey to create a consistent and modern design experience across all of its products. We’ve seen beautiful slick interfaces released for the likes of Google+, Gmail and Maps, across both desktop and mobile, so it’s only fitting that the Google logo should follow the same flat style, where less is more.”

“It’s also worth pointing out that Google has shown great restraint here – companies often fall into the trap of changing too much when it comes to refreshing their brand.”

Google announced the update, which is due to roll out across its products over the coming weeks, in an official blog post here. Tech site Arts Technica composed a comparison of the new and old logo to demonstrate the subtle changes:

In the new logo the letters appear flatter and the vibrancy of the colours have been dialled down.

In 2010 Google did the opposite with its colours, upping their brightness but dulling down the shading.

Google chief executive Larry Page reportedly said at its Zeitgeist Americas partner conference earlier this week that his dream is for the Google logo to become personalised and localised in real-time.

“I wanted the Google logo to change based on the weather. I wanted to simulate what would happen in the future to your house,” Page said, according to this AllThingsD report.

“I grew up in Michigan, there’s ice and snow, so I wanted the ice and snow to be modeled properly, so on the north side of the logo, exactly what would happen to your house. Because in Michigan that’s important — you can die in an ice storm or something like that. And I think that would be beautiful to mix technology and design.”

Do you like the new Google logo? Do you like the subtlety or is the update too restrained and not noticeable? Let us know your thoughts by leaving a comment in the form below.

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