Google doesn’t care that you hate their new logo
I’ve been watching the unfolding reaction to the change in Google’s visual identity with interest. To me it’s the clearest indication yet that design is viewed by the masses as a commodity that can be purchased from a supermarket shelf. We’ve all heard the expression; everyone thinks they’re a designer. We’ve all met that person who says ‘I don’t like that design’, and when further questioned as to why responds with a ‘I just don’t’.
This is a worrying trend for people like me who make their living in the design industry. It dangerously devalues the work of many talented individuals. The way the world views the whole concept of design is wrong. Design is not something that is subjective; art is subjective. Art is created to provoke dialogue, to inspire change, to be discussed subjectively. Design is a solution to a problem. If something is made by design it is built for purpose, to improve upon the thing that went before, to provide answers. Design is objective and should be discussed in those terms.
This is why Google doesn’t care that you hate their logo. They understand that design is not about looking prettiest or winning praise. It’s not about what you like or dislike; whether you prefer this or that — it’s about what works.
You only need to read Google’s blog post that accompanied the release to see that this is a well thought out and considered design. Not only does it solve exisiting problems but it future proofs their visual identity in a world where digital displays are simultaneously getting bigger and smaller. Google is the gateway to the internet for millions if not billions of people every day. It’s vital that they have an identity which works well across all platforms, at all sizes, all of the time. The new design does that.
Take the typeface, which has been widely criticised as being too simplistic and lacking in personality. The typeface is actually imbued with the very things that stand at the core of the company. Rather than take my word for it, why not hear it direct from source;
“The Google logo has always had a simple, friendly, and approachable style. We wanted to retain these qualities by combining the mathematical purity of geometric forms with the childlike simplicity of schoolbook letter printing.”
At it’s core, Google is a complex mathematical algorithm that aids simple discoverability and learning; what better way to represent this than by combining the two, as they describe here. It’s not about whether you like it. It’s about designing with purpose and with meaning.
Not only this, but it also solves the challenges that Google faced with their previous logo, too. As they state in their article,
“The old logo, with its intricate serifs and larger file size, required that we serve a text-based approximation of the logo for low bandwidth connections.”
Again, in a world where users are accessing Google’s products and services in all kinds of environments, on all kinds of devices, this causes a real problem. The intense diversity of access creates an even bigger need for consistency throughout their ever expanding product line. The new logo has been specifically designed to solve this problem; Google have removed the complexities and intricacies of the design and replaced it with a simple, effective typeface — without sacrificing any of the core elements that makes them Google. It has been rigorously tested across all chanels and environments to ensure that, above all else, they’ve designed a solution to their problem. In their words,
“The final logotype was tested exhaustively at various sizes and weights for maximum legibility in all the new digital contexts.”
They’ve done the research, they’ve tested their design; it doesn’t matter that you prefer serif fonts. The data speaks for itself.
I could go on, but the article perfectly explains the decisions, the logic; the design. It’s not art. They don’t care if you hate it. They know it works. They designed it.
You can read Google’s blog post here.
This article was originally posted on uxandthat.com
