Google’s colorful new logo has the technology blogs abuzz, but there’s a lot more to it than a slick redesign. It’s a branding effort, with Google actually creating a new typeface to accommodate the company’s new direction.
It looks a little like Android’s Roboto font, but Google’s new type is called Product Sans. I know, it’s not a sexy name, but the font is.
Here’s what Google’s design team has to say about the new typeface:
In tandem with developing the logotype, we created a custom, geometric sans-serif typeface to complement the logo in product lockups and supporting identity materials. We call it Product Sans.
The typeface design takes cues from that same schoolbook letter-printing style, but adopts the neutral consistency we’ve all come to expect from a geometric sans serif. This allows us to maintain an appropriate level of distinction between the Google logotype and the product name.
The character set is complete with numerals, punctuation, accent and alternate characters, fractions, symbols, and supports extended Latin, Greek, and Cyrillic.
In addition to introducing Product Sans, Google also revamped the experience for users. A new four-dot animation lets you know when Google is working; they bounce when anticipating your spoken direction or query, animate like an equalizer while you’re speaking, and rotate in a very Slack-ish fashion when looking something up for you.
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This broader branding refresh will find its way to just about all Google properties and services, with “thousands” of vector-based variants having been created to satisfy just about any use-case Google can come up with.
➤ Evolving the Google Identity [Google]
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