A typographer tells us what Google's new logo says about Google
If it wasn’t already clear, Google is in the midst of a major makeover.
Last month, the company announced that it would reorganize as Alphabet, a wide ranging “collection of companies” that would include Google, which in the future will narrow its focus to old-school Google products: search engines, ad networks, and apps.
Today, the newly-redefined Google unveiled a new logo, which ditches the typeface it introduced in 1999 for an updated sans-serif font that the company calls Product Sans.
Brian Hoff, a typography wonk and creative director of Brian Hoff Design, helped us parse the message Google is trying to send with its new branding.
“The old serif logo felt a little too serious,” said Hoff. In the old logo, it didn’t “feel like it was intended to flow from one letter to the other.”
The new logo is more modern and playful. The colors, too, are softer shades of Google’s classic primary hues.
“This feels more modern. It’s simplified,” said Hoff. “The letters have this flow to them, a rhythm and a balance.”
The new icon also breaks from the tradition of a logo as a static wordmark. Instead it’s an animated iconography that transforms on the screen as users interact with Google products. If you conduct a voice search, for example, the logo morphs into dots, which ripple like sound waves in response to your voice.
As Google put it, “it doesn’t simply tell you that you’re using Google, but also shows you how Google is working for you.”