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Google, 2015

Lesson 5 of 9 in Rebrands and case studies.

Jonathan Lee gives us insight into Google's rebranding · Design Indaba

Lesson

The new one is better and duller, and both halves of that sentence matter.

Google's 2015 logo in a round, even sans-serif that keeps the old colour order. It stays clear at every size, down to a phone icon.Google, 2015. Google.Wikimedia Commons/Public domainTrademark of its owner

Google's logo from 2013 to 2015, in a serif type with the same colour order as today. The 2015 change swapped the letterforms and kept the colours.Google, 2013–2015. Google.Wikimedia Commons/Public domainTrademark of its owner

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Question 1, locked
By 2015, Google's Catull logo was being shown at sixteen pixels on a watch. What went wrong at that size?
- The four brand colours blended into one muddy brown
- The single-storey g became hard to make out at all
- The serifs filled in and the bevel turned to mud
- The letters spread too wide for the screen
Question 2, locked
Google's loading animation, assistant and icon set all feel like one family. What in Product Sans makes that possible?
- Colours that split into four dots and reform as a G
- Bookish serifs that give every product the same charm
- A soft bevel and shadow applied across every product
- Letters that sit slightly unevenly, like a signature
Question 3, locked
You put the 2015 Google wordmark beside a dozen other tech wordmarks and remove all the colour. What does the lesson expect?
- Google would stand out thanks to the ear on its g
- Google would look older than the others
- Google would read as the only serif in the group
- You would struggle to tell Google apart

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