back to article Earth wobbles on axis as Google rebrands

Paradigms were shifted and the Earth possibly wobbled a little on its axis yesterday as Google announced a new logo to brand its continuing drive towards total world domination. According to a blog post, the revamp includes a fresh face and an "identity family", all suitable for deployment across the bewildering and exciting …

  1. Blank-Reg
    WTF?

    One suspects that the sale and supply of josticks and whalesong CD's around Google secret evil genius hideout HQ spiked during this, erm, exercise.

    1. Trainee grumpy old ****

      > One suspects that the sale and supply of josticks and whalesong CD's around Google secret hideout HQ spiked during this, erm, exercise.

      Looking at the results, I suspect this is one case where the joss stick & whalesong budget was under-spent.

  2. JDX Gold badge

    It's so bad. Like someone's kid wrote Google with fridge magnets.

    1. chivo243 Silver badge

      looks like my kids work.... he's 5

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      "It's so bad. Like someone's kid wrote Google with fridge magnets."

      It seems to be the way of things. Skeuomorphism out the window along with anything that took someone with a modicum of talent more than 5 minutes to knock up. Look at the Win8/10 GUI, recent iOS home screens, latest OS/X dock etc.

      I'm not really sure what this whole Back To The 90s look is in aid of. Perhaps its just millenial designers being faux-ironic or maybe some misplaced nostalgia for a simpler look. Thats fine, but when the simpler look actually turns out to be a shit look its time to think again.

      1. mythicalduck

        I'm not really sure what this whole Back To The 90s look is in aid of

        Don't worry, we'll get "Back To 95" soon, then they'll introduce us to 3D looking buttons and what not :)

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        >millenial designers

        Bad taste and a total lack of understanding of the concept of privacy. What a generation. They deserve their gig economy.

      3. Atrophic Cerebrum

        It doesn't bother me that much, what does is the backlash against Skeudomorphism as a design rationale.

        For instance, the google earth icon should just be a real time image of what the product/service is, it'd look far better than some strange representation of the planet, you'd get a real time image of the earth complete with terminator to roughly know what time it is. If the user needs it to use less bandwidth then limit the realtime Skeudomorphic representation to update only over a wi-fi connection. For me that would be a good design and create a strong connection between icon and product.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          *YAWN*

          *YAWN* , nothing really happening there, looks like it was a solution to a non-problem... nothing Earth shattering. More interesting is the creation of the Alphabet holding company (or whatever it is) and why this obviously strategic move was made.

        2. Michael Wojcik Silver badge

          the backlash against Skeudomorphism

          There's no "d" in "skeuomorphism".

          the google earth icon should just be a real time image of what the product/service is, it'd look far better than some strange representation of the planet, you'd get a real time image of the earth complete with terminator to roughly know what time it is

          Do you mean "a (soft) real-time image of a projection of a hemisphere of the earth"? And presumably that hemisphere would include one of the terminators. A bit under-specified, if you ask me. And, frankly, I don't see the benefit.

          In any event, though, it's hard to see how your proposal is more skeuomorphic than "some strange representation of the planet", unless the latter is very abstract indeed. It'd be more skeuomorphic than an icon which has nothing to do with the planet. Skeuomorphism just means the design is derived from an original referent that isn't present.

          1. Concrete Gannet

            Pun on pseudo?

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      @JDX

      The worrying thing is ... if this is supposed to appeal to us, do they see us as those kids? Perhaps with a dash of Golgafrincham B Ark thrown in?

  3. Andraž 'ruskie' Levstik

    And the world....

    yawns...

    1. VBF

      Re: And the world....

      I'm glad someone said this! Just wondering what all the fuss is about - it's only a logo FFS!!!!!!

  4. graeme leggett Silver badge

    of global import?

    #whataloadofold......

  5. Stumpy Pepys

    I'm still upset

    about a Facebook page redesign in 2013.

    1. m0rt

      Re: I'm still upset

      Facebook?!

      Who cares.

      Now the El Reg redesign of 2014...that was a tradgedy.

      EDIT: Or was it 2015? I have no idea. My life is such one long bundle of fun I can no longer tie events to a point in time...

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: I'm still upset

        Now the El Reg redesign of 2014...that was a tradgedy.

        Not a tragedy, more like a wrecking ball. However, it could have been worse.

        They could have added a ribbon :)

        1. Michael Habel

          Re: I'm still upset

          They could have added a ribbon :)

          Shush! Let's not give them any new ideas!

  6. Ol'Peculier

    I wonder how much this will cost them, reprinting stationery, business cards, logos on the outside of their buildings, and I wouldn't be surprised if you found an old logo hiding somewhere on Google's websites in a year that they forgot about.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      It's OK,they need to "lose" the taxable income some how.....so I guess a few billion dollars?

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Sans serif

    The new logos will work legibly on extremely tiny screens like wearables and IoT (and as a logo on them). Google now have symbols with the same use cases as those of Apple, and a helpful differentiator from everybody else's very similar microphone symbol. It does make sense.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Sans serif

      "The new logos will work legibly on extremely tiny screens like wearables and IoT (and as a logo on them)"

      No offence, but who the f**k cares what a logo looks like on tiny screens? If the screen is that small you're not going to be able to read any search results text anyway.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Sans serif

        >> who the f**k cares what a logo looks like on tiny screens?

        marketing people do.

        who the f**k did you think decided new logos were needed?

        >> If the screen is that small you're not going to be able to read any search results

        how old fashioned, like this is just about search results.

        that little multicoloured G for example, in 10 years they'll hope that'll be a small and subtle but recognisable round lozenge on 10 million IOT devices all over the world.

        I love this idea of people moaning it's too simple and it could've been done by a child as if that is the defining factor as to whether a brand or logo is good or not.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Sans serif

          "I love this idea of people moaning it's too simple and it could've been done by a child"

          The IBM logo looks as if it was knocked out in a couple of minutes. If you look at their website, though, although the serif-with-lines-through logo is still there in the corner, elsewhere IBM appears as a simple sans face with no decoration.

          Graphic designers aren't actually clueless. They do tend to know what works.

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: Sans serif

            "Graphic designers aren't actually clueless. They do tend to know what works."

            Bollocks. They don't have a clue - they just go with the rest of the herd and hope it works. For a company like google thats a virtual monopoly in certain spaces its irrelevant, but for a smaller company a childish logo could be the kiss of death. Unless of course its for a nursery or similar.

        2. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Sans serif

          "who the f**k did you think decided new logos were needed?"

          People who saw a bunch of loaded suckers a mile off.

          "how old fashioned, like this is just about search results."

          Currently thats where google gets the vast majority of its income from. So it might be old fashioned, but its also current reality.

          "that little multicoloured G for example, in 10 years they'll hope that'll be a small and subtle but recognisable round lozenge on 10 million IOT devices all over the world."

          We'll see. I won't hold my breath.

          "I love this idea of people moaning it's too simple and it could've been done by a child as if that is the defining factor as to whether a brand or logo is good or not."

          Generally it is. Its only marketing types who don't realise it.

        3. Peter Simpson 1
          Happy

          Re: Sans serif

          >> who the f**k cares what a logo looks like on tiny screens?

          marketing people do.

          who the f**k did you think decided new logos were needed?

          I knew there was a use for them.

          // first against the wall, etc.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Sans serif

      Sure, something designed to be displayed on 640x480 screens at 72ppi is really not adequate for today "low resolution" displays well over 200ppi...

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Sans serif

        "Sure, something designed to be displayed on 640x480 screens at 72ppi is really not adequate for today "low resolution" displays well over 200ppi"

        Missing the point. It isn't about the dpi but the size at which the text is legible. You may be able to read 4.7pt serif faces but a lot of people can't (which is why they are popular for the small print in prospectuses...). The old Google light face will start to disappear far sooner than the new one. Google's explanation about desktop versus small devices is perfectly reasonable.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Sans serif

          At 200 and more ppi, you have enough pixels to display well serif faces at the same "physical" dimensions which in the past with far lower ppi would display ugly.

          Designers are fashion-driven people, today sans-serif fonts are cool, tomorrow maybe not... maybe one day a Comic Sans logo will be cool...

      2. Captain DaFt

        Re: Sans serif

        "Sure, something designed to be displayed on 640x480 screens at 72ppi is really not adequate for today "low resolution" displays well over 200ppi..."

        It's a matter of scale. Those old 640x480 screens were normally 13 inch diagonal, the new screens (Up to 4K now!) are as small as 5.5" and even still many at 3.5" on feature phones.

        Lay in a supply of sugar cubes to train the pissants to read your phone for you.

    3. Sealand
      Thumb Up

      Re: Sans serif

      You nailed it.

      This is about a logo that is easy to print on things.

      Skeumorphism doesn't work well on a plastic or metal surface.

  8. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    MEH

    The G logo is nice, but I think the new typeface is not as good looking as the old.

    Sure this consumed hours of meetings, and high level memos getting all serious about "pop" and "fresh".

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Happy

      Re: MEH

      Dilbert's take on new company logos

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: MEH

        Was that a reference to Kim's behind?

  9. knarf

    Rebrand eh what...???

    Not really sure if most people would notice unless they pointed it out.

    1. Captain DaFt

      Re: Rebrand eh what...???

      "Not really sure if most people would notice unless they pointed it out."

      True, that. People go to Google to search for something, not bask in the genius of the logo's design. At best it only registers peripherally.

  10. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Hmmmnn

    ISTR that the serious rot with Windows started about the time that MS decided one's desktop should look like it was designed by Fisher-Price.

    Wonder which way Google's share price isgoing?

    1. Indolent Wretch

      Re: Hmmmnn

      Yesterday it's up 2.77%

  11. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    I vaguely remember another recent redesign

    I vaguely remember another recent redesign of a very important website that was equally poorly received as a completely unpositive step forward for both design and usability. Definitely a new identity family, a paradigm shift.

    Back then, the redesign certainly strongly registered with me in a negative manner; but time has moved on and I'm fine now. Perhaps the same will happen with Google v2.0?

    1. Captain DaFt

      Re: I vaguely remember another recent redesign

      "Back then, the redesign certainly strongly registered with me in a negative manner; but time has moved on and I'm fine now."

      I'm happy you adjusted. It drove me to almost exclusively view the mobile site, which needed a bit of help from plug-ins to render palatable.

  12. Dan 55 Silver badge
    Black Helicopters

    "Show me my photos of Lucas with the pumpkin" (1:39)

    Thankfully it appears her husband's not called Lucas.

    Privacy, who wants it...

  13. Joe Gurman

    Alas

    Yet another serif logo goes the way of all print, Helveticalized to the point of inhumanity. A logo for machines, read by machines. Time for the cyberlizard overlords.

    1. Paul Kinsler

      Re: Yet another serif logo goes the way of all print

      Well, it has been nearly a century since the notion of "modern" embraced, amongst other things, an enthusiasm for sans serif fonts. It's nice that Google have finally got around to catching up, although maybe they should also lose the upper case G if they really want to get with the program.

    2. Michael Wojcik Silver badge

      Re: Alas

      There's a reason why sans-serif typefaces are also called "grotesque".

  14. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Borrowed from Glasgow

    The coloured G looks very similar to the Glasgow commonwealth games "G" logo?

  15. Joseph Haig
    Happy

    All these comments ...

    ... because no company has ever rebranded before.

    Maybe the comments section on this type of article should come ready populated with posts saying:

    1) How much did that cost them?

    2) I preferred the old one.

    3) Most people probably didn't notice.

    4) Obviously a publicity stunt.

    5) Who cares?

    1. Kevin Johnston

      Re: All these comments ...

      You missed...

      6. All of the above

  16. DJV Silver badge

    Ah, new logo, my life is now complete...

    sarcasm tags needed?

  17. J.G.Harston Silver badge

    So, they've swapped Times for Ariel

    yawn.

    Well, actually, with more use of small-screen devices, non-serifed less-rounded fonts are easier to read. A couple of years back the Beeb de-italicised their logo as upright lettering is crisper on the more common smaller displays people are using.

    Edit: just noticed somebody else posted exactly the same point while I was typing.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: So, they've swapped Times for Ariel

      A couple of years back? It was 1997 - nearly 20 years ago!

  18. Mike Flugennock
    Coffee/keyboard

    So, minimalist design has finally jumped the shark

    Just how much did they pay somebody's 14 year-old kid to type six characters in different colors into Illustrator?

  19. Eddy Ito

    What's with the blue pill in the feminine hygiene cup?

  20. DropBear
    Pint

    To be fair though...

    ...the Earth is always wobbling in its orbit, thanks to the often overlooked fact that the Moon doesn't actually orbit Earth, rather they orbit each other around their common barycenter - which just happens to be about 1/4 of Earth radius under the surface of the Earth, causing it to waltz around the Sun in a somewhat wobbly fashion (I swear the wobble is readily detectable, but for some weird reason only on Friday afternoons...)

    1. Alistair
      Coat

      Re: To be fair though...

      ..... that wobble is far more noticeable when one is lugging 40 kilo packs of roofing tiles up an aluminum ladder to the third floor roof......

    2. Mike Flugennock
      Boffin

      Re: To be fair though...

      Point well taken. I also had this pointed out to me in my junior high school astronomy class. Still, as the Earth/Moon system's barycenter is within the Earth, most regular folks are good with the idea of the Moon "orbiting" the Earth.

      Now, if you want a really good example of a "wobbly" system, check out some of the time lapses of Pluto and Charon taken by New Horizons on approach prior to the flyby. The barycenter of the Pluto/Charon system is well outside Pluto, and Pluto can be seen visibly wobbling in space as Charon tugs at it as they orbit their common barycenter much in the manner of a binary star.

  21. Florida1920
    WTF?

    Iceberg approaching?

    Then why are they rearranging the deck chairs?

  22. j7n

    The elegant logo in Giovanni font looked legible enough on 1024*768 shadow mask screens in 1999-2000. Nobody asked for a paragraph of body text set that type and color to be read. If devices with an even lower resolution screen than that exist today, which I doubt, Google could serve a simplified logo exclusively to them, perhaps in formatted HTML, and no pictures at all. Problem solved.

    The earth did kinda wobble, because I heard about the logo on the World Service yesterday. I didn't pay any attention to yet another "doodle" on the corner of the search results page.

  23. Pan_Handle

    Favicon

    The new favicon looks crap.

  24. Nelbert Noggins
    Trollface

    It's obvious why this has happened now. As a subsidiary of Alphabet it was time for a new logo, brand, image, business cards and expensive lunch discussing the whale and joss-stick budget just so it's clear to people they're a new company and not just a paperwork/legal/tax re-jig of the same old monster

  25. Alan W. Rateliff, II
    Paris Hilton

    Whoopedy doo

    That is all.

  26. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Wot?

    eh?

  27. Whit.I.Are

    It looks crap

    Just looked at the new logo on my phone. Haven't these jokers heard of anti-aliasing?

  28. Michael Wojcik Silver badge

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