Why Google’s Logo Change Makes Sense

Google introduced a new logo two days ago, giving offices worldwide a new water-cooler topic. Some people think the alteration is a step backward for Google, while others are glad for the change. In the biggest change to the logo since 1999’s short lived exclamation mark, the company have removed the serifs from their typeface. The typeface is more rounded, and has been labelled “Product Sans”. The change also sees the removal of the ‘g’ icon, replaced with a ‘G’ featuring Google’s four signature colours. While the new logo has been likened to a school child’s handwriting, there are plenty of reasons why change actually makes quite a lot of sense.

The New Alphabet

A month ago, Google announced that they were pulling several of their projects from Google Inc. and making them into subsidiaries of their new conglomerate, Alphabet Inc. By changing their logo, Google are marking the large change in their structure. The new typeface is also used in the Alphabet logo, but is coloured completely red.

Unities All Platforms

No longer is Google just the white text box that you ask questions to on your desktop. Google is now a search engine, a street directory or a mail service available to you in your pocket, your car, watch or on your TV screen. On their blog, Google wrote that they’ve “taken the Google logo and branding … and updated them for a world of seamless computing across an endless number of devices and different kinds of inputs.” This is reflected in the new “G” logo which will be seen on every Google app or feature, including the microphone recording button.

It’s Scalable

Google tested a variety of new logos, and selected one that is easily scalable. The logo will now read well whether it is on a 2.5 inch watch screen, or a 60 inch TV. It is also only 305 bytes, while the old typeface was ~14,000 bytes. This allows users with a lower bandwidth connection to display Google easier. Considering Google aims to bring the internet to places around the world that don’t already have it, this change is a step towards reaching their goals.

It’s Approachable

There’s no denying that Google is a powerful company. From creating driverless cars to a pair of camera-equipped glasses, they are producing a lot of meaningful work in technology. By removing serifs, which are often associated with newspaper heavyweights such as The Daily Mail or the New York Times, Google aims to be presented as “simple, uncluttered, colourful and friendly”. Google are intending for consumers to not think of them as an all-powerful entity, but as a human friendly guide, your technological guardian angel, if you will.

While we may all feel odd over the next week or so when seeing the new typeface, all it takes is a quick Google search of the old logo to see that yes, it was definitely time for an update.