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Google's mission, in their own words, is "to take the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful". While their past logos have always had a "simple, friendly and approachable style", their new logo reflects their core values even more explicitly - it's a custom sans-serif typeface that takes its inspiration from an easily recognisable school book font, harkening back to the days of learning in classrooms.
Based largely on circles, the design is simple and organic and feels less "quirky" and more "youthful and exuberant".
In one of the most successful scalings of a logo we've witnessed, Google have also transformed the new logo into a mobile-friendly multicoloured G for branding in small spaces, as well as utilising four dots following their traditional colour pattern for interactive, assistive and transitional moments. There's even a microphone icon for voice search.
The new logo is smaller in file size and no longer requires a change for low bandwidth connections. No matter where or how you're browsing Google, there will now be consistency across the entire brand, which is an extremely important feature for consumer comfort.
As Geoff Cook, founding partner at Base Design, says in this Wired article, "It's really about much more than a logo and more about a kind of smart system. Like an overarching visual language that really allows us, the users, to connect the dots across their ecosystem from product to product."
Which is a pretty good summary of what Google was trying to achieve with the change. Over the years they've gone from a search engine to a piece of technology that is deeply ingrained in our day to day lives. "Google it," is a regularly used phrase - we use their maps, their mail server, their calendar, their phones, even their social media - we share more personal information with Google than we do with most of our friends. Google is like everyone's Personal Assistant, always on hand to store appointments, tell us where to go and answer any queries we could possibly have, all in a matter of seconds. These extended brands have also gotten a facelift, with a new typeface - Product Sans - being used to both compliment and distinguish them from the Google logo.
What do you think of the change? Are you a fan? Can you even remember what the old logo looked like? Let us know on Facebook, Twitter and Google+!
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