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Google’s look, evolved
141–150 of 447 posts
Re: Google’s look, evolved
#142Here's a bit more info on the design process: https://design.google.com/articles/evolving-the-google-ident...
> including building a special variant of our full-color logo that is only 305 bytes, compared to our existing logo at ~14,000 bytes.
That's huge for low-bandwidth users.
Re: Google’s look, evolved
#143Anyone else feel the need to do a parody video demonstrating how the ads have encroached on the organic link space over the years?
Not hating, I actually like the new look, it was just the first thing I thought of when they mentioned the original "ten blue links".
Re: Google’s look, evolved
#144Just when I thought we might be starting to pivot away from flat design - does anyone know of a different design paradigm that is being used by smaller/fringe designers who are tired of flat/minimal UX/UI?
Relatively flat design is here to stay for a while. The trend though is getting away from purely flat, to flat with subtle edges, gradiens, shadows, etc. - generally flat design with better UI cues.
eg, Material Design with paper cards and drop shadows
Re: Google’s look, evolved
#145Earlier quoted context omitted.
The new favicon is way better IMO. On the other hand, the main logo... I think this sums it up: "seem as much like a preschool as humanly possible". https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10153449 I'm just not a fan of extremely flat designs.
Have you ever seen a toddler obsessed with Google just because of the colorful logo? It happens all the time.
FWIW my three-year old can instantly locate the Google Chrome icon, which he has dubbed "the pizza".
Re: Google’s look, evolved
#146Earlier quoted context omitted.
Wow, that's an uncharitable opinion of design and designers. They're highly-trained professionals too, and redesigns like this aren't done just for the heck of it -- according to the blog post, this measurably increases performance on small screens and in low-bandwidth contexts.
Being able to do everything with SVGs is admittedly nice. But if Google was worried about performance on small screens and in low-bandwidth contexts, we wouldn't have Material design, as it's animations have quite a bloated effect on performance. Particularly on devices with low power/low processing. Page loads on desktops for some Google sites are up to ten seconds now. But yes, most redesigns are done just for the…
There's Material Design Light, which seems to work pretty well for low-performing browsers: http://www.getmdl.io/index.html
Re: Google’s look, evolved
#1472008 HN discussion from when the outgoing "little blue g" favicon was introduced: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=211518 In it, Dustin Curtis criticizes Google (rather rightly, in my hindsight-enhanced opinion) for a Marissa-Mayeresque design process of "Make 300 logo variants with pseudorandom permutations, and then pick your favorite." Looking at those permutations now ( http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_7ZYqYi4xigk/S…
I've never understood that criticism. Business decisions should be data driven. You test new signup flows to see which one onboards users better. You test advertising changes to see which one converts better. Why should a logo design or a title bar color be any different? Without testing each iteration, how do you know which one has the best effect on whatever success metrics you're using? I can understand if you're…
> Business decisions should be data driven.
The evolutionary, data-driven approach will never yield a Nest thermostat, iPhone, Helvetica, or flag of New Mexico. We have no idea how to even begin to write a fitness function for good design.
Re: Google’s look, evolved
#148Here's a bit more info on the design process: https://design.google.com/articles/evolving-the-google-ident...
> including building a special variant of our full-color logo that is only 305 bytes, compared to our existing logo at ~14,000 bytes. That's huge for low-bandwidth users.
Why? This is one of the most cacheable resources. Also, it's displayed reasonably often, so I'd expect it to be rarely evicted from the device-local cache.
Re: Google’s look, evolved
#149Re: Google’s look, evolved
#150The favicon still hasn't changed: https://www.google.com/favicon.ico I can't imagine the nightmare it must updating the logo for a company like Google. There must be so many forgotten places that will be missed.
I strongly suspect that the timing of this change is not random.
Android Marshmallow will probably feature it. Their design article even show how google now and voice search are supposed to look on mobile with the new logo.
The change has gone very smoothly on the web, but yes I am pretty sure that in some dark corners of their least used properties, there are some forgotten logos.