

Google is changing its logo - AndrewDucker
http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2013/09/is-google-revamping-its-logo-hints-appear-in-new-chrome-beta-for-android/#p3

======
Andrex
They use this one in print materials.

[http://deployment.googleapps.com/Home/user-
resources/google-...](http://deployment.googleapps.com/Home/user-
resources/google-icons-and-logos)

But if they're using it in Android apps it may point to more flattenification
in KitKat/future releases. However, that doesn't seem to be the case:

[http://www.theverge.com/2013/9/9/4710634/redesigned-
google-l...](http://www.theverge.com/2013/9/9/4710634/redesigned-google-logo-
found-in-chrome-for-android-beta)

> Update: A person familiar with Google's branding tells The Verge that this
> is not a replacement for the company's traditional logo. Instead, _the
> flatter design is used in instances where the beveled logo may not display
> well — such as on printed banners or other corporate use cases_. The logo in
> question has been pulled from where it first appeared previously in Chrome
> for Android, signaling that the company quickly realized its mistake.
> Suffice it to say, the Google logo you know and love isn't going anywhere
> anytime soon.

Case closed.

------
jbrooksuk
Why is flat "modern"? I don't understand it. I'm not criticizing it, I think
it looks neat, but I just can't understand why, after all this time we
struggled to make shadows, rounded corners etc, everything is just flat.

~~~
potatolicious
Because it can afford to be now.

There was a time where most people didn't know how to operate a computer. We
had to pull all the stops out to make computer use possible or easier for them
- skeumorphism is one of the things that came out of that. We hoped that by
emulating real-world objects, both in detail (see: iCal) or in more abstract
terms (see: "3D" buttons).

Whether or not this ever really _helped_ usability is a matter of debate.

In any case though, basically everyone knows how to use the computer and the
web now. The general UI elements and their rules - links, buttons, sliders,
etc, are all known to just about everyone. At this point since we've trained
everyone, we get to drop some of the frills around the UI without suffering a
substantial drop in usability.

That and it's just the style. Why are cars today more beveled and sharper-
edged than cars of the 90s? Whatever happened to the big hair of the 80s?

~~~
RogerL
I'm 47, been using computers since high school, and find flat a disaster. I'm
in Firefox right now. The forward/back buttons take _slightly_ different
shades of gray depending on whether they are currently disabled or not. I
endlessly find myself speculatively clicking on them to see if they work or
not. Sure, somebody will respond that the difference is clear to them, but
that does not obviate my data point.

Further, I often find myself completely unable to discern which tab is for the
page I'm on. If you use chrome, the tab in the foreground lays on top of the
other tabs, so it is clearer. Firefox - a slightly different shade again.

Are there more tabs than are visible? Again, this is denoted by a slightly
different shade of gray. This probably works great for 20 somethings with
great eyesight. It is very problematic if your eyesight or monitor is not so
good, if your windows color settings are not the norm, and so on.

As for cars, they are shaped this way because of wind tunnel data. Data and
utility matter, design is not just all about fashion.

~~~
ggchappell
It seems to me that your complaint is not so much with flat design as it is
with insufficient contrast between active/selected items and other items. That
can be a problem with non-flat UIs as well.

In any case, your point about the 20-somethings is a good one. Large portions
of the web are usable only with difficulty for people with poor eyesight, or
lack of experience with high-stimulation environments, or attention problems,
or sensory-processing issues, etc. We see articles about making things usable
by blind people, but very little about the much larger population of people
who can't handle low contrast, overly busy pages, or tiny text.

------
dbecker
_this looks about a million times better than the current logo_

Even accepting that this is hyperbole, I think it reflects a disconnect
between design aficionados and normal users.

The logos are pretty similar, and I'm skeptical that most people would have a
preference either way.

~~~
mixmastamyk
Indeed... I find the second much harder to differentiate from the background.
Especially the yellow o.

------
gphil
Whether or not Google is about to flatten their logo, it's worth noting that
Yahoo just un-flattened theirs. It's also not inconceivable that one of the
reasons Yahoo did this was to appear more Google-like.

~~~
willismichael
Makes me think of Dr. Suess's story "The Sneetches":
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sneetches_and_Other_Storie...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sneetches_and_Other_Stories#.22The_Sneetches.22)

------
valhallarecords
Hm, I doubt this is a new logo. The bevelled logo is the one used in digital
media. The flat logo is the one used in print and has been in use for a while.

For example:
[https://cloud.google.com/files/KhanAcademy.pdf](https://cloud.google.com/files/KhanAcademy.pdf)

------
matt__rose
This is funny HN headline: google is changing its logo Source Headline: Is
google changing its logo? Source conclusion: No, google is not changing its
logo.

~~~
adambard
If the answer was "yes", they'd have no need to make the headline a question.

------
AndrewDucker
Personally I prefer the old one - I don't find it to be garish or over the
top, and I find the new one somewhat lifeless.

------
marknutter
The old logo is what most first time photoshop users would end up with shortly
after discovering the bevel feature. It's about time they updated it.

~~~
petercooper
It's funny how tastes shift. This whole "flat" look that's currently in would
have looked babyish in the tech space 10+ years ago. And so it goes with
bevels, shadows, and all the rest.. looks silly to us now but was _de rigeur_
back then! :-)

Of course, things will continue to shift and today's trendiest looks will seem
ridiculous in 2023..

~~~
RivieraKid
In 2023 all the hipsters will use B&W design. "You use colors? OMG, that looks
like it was designed in 2010."

~~~
steven777400
2023? Visual Studio switched to largely B&W icons in its 2012 release. Some of
the websites that have been linked from HN as prime examples of flat design
also used the B&W icon motif (I don't recall which ones specifically though).

~~~
Pxtl
Ick, don't remind me. Looking at the source control browser in VS2012 makes my
eyes want to bleed.

------
reustle
So essentially Marissa took the bevel along with her from Google to Yahoo?

------
iQuercus
The old logo, warts and all is a classic by now. It's actually surprisingly
timeless. In one word it's playful. I wouldn't change it just to follow the
latest design trend.

~~~
binxbolling
Which of the old logos are you referring to?

~~~
iQuercus
The one shown in the article, which has been in use since 2010 I believe?

------
jpswade
This is speculation at best. We see this kind of news every time Google
changes their favicon.

[http://googleblog.blogspot.co.uk/2009/01/googles-new-
favicon...](http://googleblog.blogspot.co.uk/2009/01/googles-new-favicon.html)

------
DanBC
> but Joshua Stewart figured out that just by incrementing the number to 5 or
> 6

Wait what, people still do this and admit to it?

~~~
georgemcbay
Yeah, somebody needs to lock this criminal Joshua Stewart up. Maybe he can
share a cell with weev.

------
gjm11
The actual Ars Technica headline begins (now, at least; perhaps it's changed)
"Is Google changing its logo?", and recent updates to the article suggest
that, as per Betteridge, the answer is "no, probably not".

------
Samuel_Michon
It’s not a new logo. It’s not even a different logo: the glyph shapes are
exactly the same in both versions, it just has different shading for when it
needs to be displayed small.

Apple has been known to try different shading and color for its logo, but that
doesn’t mean that whenever they do so, they’ve adopted a new logo.

------
howlett
Windows logo got flat before it was cool.

------
phorese
So Google becomes flat and keeps its serifs, while Yahoo! unflattens itself,
but loses the serifs. Huh.

------
harrytuttle
Well they probably save several terabytes a year with the new logo!

------
ozh
If you look closely, it's not flat. There's a very thin bevel.

It's symptomatic to me of Google's inability to make up their mind in the
design department: UI different across products, UX disaster when they
introduce discrepancies between products, not able to decide whether their
logo is flat or bevel....

Really, Google is good at doing nerd stuff, but they should just outsource
everything regarding design.

~~~
Keyframe
_If you look closely, it 's not flat. There's a very thin bevel._

I can't see it, where? I can see a gradient though. It's slick, font isn't
though.

~~~
ozh
thin gradient, or bevel, or shadow, not sure how you want to name that. The
thing is, it's not flat.

~~~
kalleboo
In that case, iOS 7 isn't flat either

------
antonpug
Interesting. Yahoo ditches flat for 3D. Google ditches 3D for flat. The
result? Neither have good logos.

~~~
cnlwsu
Yahoo's change was more the CEO deciding that she can redo it in a weekend. I
would think any change from Google would go through a UX/UI design team and a
ton of redundant meetings... not sure which is worse.

~~~
antonpug
I don't think they went through any UX team here. Google needs a new face, a
new logo. The colorful serif-font logo looks very childish and 90's.

~~~
delinka
"Googol" is a word invented by a child. "Google" is a homophone of this word.
How to do you give the logo a less-childish treatment while maintaining a name
that is also childish?

------
daGrevis
It's about time. Old logo reminds me of times when people used tables to
design web-pages.

------
wil421
If they really are changing their main logo to match that one, I wonder if
they are doing it because Yahoo just changed their logo.

Maybe Google is trying to compete with Marissa Meyer and her new strategies at
Yahoo.

Edit: Flat is so hot right now.

------
mydpy
The title of this article, as posted to Hacker News, is "Google is changing
its logo." The title of the article linked to by this post is "Is Google
revamping its logo?".

This is a significant difference.

~~~
clauretano
Especially since the answer, as always, is no.

------
oulipian
The new one is not completely flat, there's some really subtle shading there.
I like it a lot. More elegant.

------
crististm
"...recent Yahoo disaster..." \- thats what you get when focus-groups drive
your design.

------
wtvanhest
I'm surprised that it didn't take 30 seconds to load while missing letters.

------
martin-adams
Maybe the new logo compresses better and Google are tightening it's belts.

------
olog-hai
Why link to #p3? Let me read the post from the top without making me scroll
up.

------
Havoc
Doesn't exactly shout "rapid technological progress".

------
recycleme
This modern look seems to typically have a slight gradient as well.

------
programminggeek
I'm not sure that taking the shadows out of their logo is actually changing
it. Google uses flat logos on t-shirts and elsewhere I'm sure. Imagine a black
t-shirt with a white google logo on it. Flattening a logo is something you
might do in the context of usage, so I just don't know why flatening it for
their default (which matches a lot of their existing design anyway), is seen
as a big deal.

------
Yuioup
Yahoo! What a great logo!

------
wslh
The world is flat ;-)

