4 ms·

Google's new logo was created by Russian designer in 2008

25 points by usaphp 11y ago

FatalLogic 11y ago
>I would argue visual evidence inarguably points to Google borrowing and making minor edits to Kortunov's concept. I would certainly argue with "inarguably". Kortunov created a really good icon design, but it's not hard to imagine other people independently coming up with something similar.
- usaphp 11y ago
  True, but looking at both logos, even the tiniest detail like squared corners and the overall shape looks suspiciously similar.
  - FatalLogic 11y ago
    Kortunov's design is old, so other designers might have copied it, but look at these, anyway, because they all have similarities to Google's new icon, and they all predate it by years: http://freshtutorial.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/Big-Google-Plus-Icon-575x402.png http://freshtutorial.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/Big-Goog... http://takedesigns.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/free-2.png http://takedesigns.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/free-2.png http://designurge.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/g__by_mauxwebmaster-d420wxx.jpg http://designurge.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/g__by_mauxw... I think it's just a case of parallel evolution. Mix up a blend of influences like Google's existing primary color-based design, Microsoft's Windows Logo, Google Chrome logo, and some aesthetic sense, and you'll get a lot of logo designs that look similar. This article is interesting, but it has a terrible title and overly-confident conclusion, which is not supported by the evidence
    - usaphp 11y ago
      I do agree about the terrible title.
      - FatalLogic 11y ago
        @HN/Dang: Could you change the title to something like "Google's new logo is surprisingly similar to one created by a prominent Russian designer in 2008"? (And, maybe this is interesting. Someone independently derived a Kortunov-style logo from the new Google version. So there is a discussion among designers comparing the two logos: https://dribbble.com/shots/2224596-Google-redesigned-G-letter-mark-icon-revised https://dribbble.com/shots/2224596-Google-redesigned-G-lette... )
        rangibaby 11y ago
        I'm pretty sure the Google one is off center like that on purpose. It's kind of hard to explain but perfectly centering things is a good way of making a boring design.
rangibaby 11y ago
I doubt it's a rip. The capital G from that guy's design and the new Google logo are both from standard 1920's sans serifs like Futura or DIN 30640.
huhtenberg 11y ago
For simpler symbols it's very common for more than one designer to converge to the same idea. That said, Google should've done their due diligence and found this guy's sketch before going live with the redesign.
the_mitsuhiko 11y ago
The lack of article in this headline gives it away that the creator of that headlineis Russian ;)
fenomas 11y ago
The latter half of the article is interesting, but the lede about the "G" logo is inane. Any minimalist rendering of a common shape like a letter is going to wind up looking similar to something else. Surely this is self-evident? Incidentally the Tokyo 2020 olympic committee is in the late stages of a similar furore over their logo, a stylized "T" with some some adornments, which turned out look similar to the logo of a Belgian theater company: https://www.google.com/search?tbm=isch&q=tokyo+olympics+theatre+de+liege https://www.google.com/search?tbm=isch&q=tokyo+olympics+thea... Equally silly in my opinion, but people then found more blatant examples of copying in the designer's past work so they wound up scrapping the emblem.
- ipsin 11y ago
  I agree. My first thought is that the makers of Uno would have a better case than Kortunov.
- ipsin 11y ago
  I agree. My first thought is that the makers of Uno would have a better case than Kortunov.
Steko 11y ago
Sure they look similar but that doesn't imply one stole from the other, for all we know Google created this internally as part of their zillions of a/b tests years before. Google is also extremely rich and their logo is one of the most visible on the planet meaning stealing from someone would inevitably be worse than simply paying the guy for it.

25 points by usaphp 11y ago

>I would argue visual evidence inarguably points to Google borrowing and making minor edits to Kortunov's concept. I would certainly argue with "inarguably". Kortunov created a really good icon design, but it's not hard to imagine other people independently coming up with something similar.

usaphp 11y ago
True, but looking at both logos, even the tiniest detail like squared corners and the overall shape looks suspiciously similar.
- FatalLogic 11y ago
  Kortunov's design is old, so other designers might have copied it, but look at these, anyway, because they all have similarities to Google's new icon, and they all predate it by years: http://freshtutorial.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/Big-Google-Plus-Icon-575x402.png http://freshtutorial.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/Big-Goog... http://takedesigns.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/free-2.png http://takedesigns.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/free-2.png http://designurge.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/g__by_mauxwebmaster-d420wxx.jpg http://designurge.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/g__by_mauxw... I think it's just a case of parallel evolution. Mix up a blend of influences like Google's existing primary color-based design, Microsoft's Windows Logo, Google Chrome logo, and some aesthetic sense, and you'll get a lot of logo designs that look similar. This article is interesting, but it has a terrible title and overly-confident conclusion, which is not supported by the evidence
  - usaphp 11y ago
    I do agree about the terrible title.
    - FatalLogic 11y ago
      @HN/Dang: Could you change the title to something like "Google's new logo is surprisingly similar to one created by a prominent Russian designer in 2008"? (And, maybe this is interesting. Someone independently derived a Kortunov-style logo from the new Google version. So there is a discussion among designers comparing the two logos: https://dribbble.com/shots/2224596-Google-redesigned-G-letter-mark-icon-revised https://dribbble.com/shots/2224596-Google-redesigned-G-lette... )
      - rangibaby 11y ago
        I'm pretty sure the Google one is off center like that on purpose. It's kind of hard to explain but perfectly centering things is a good way of making a boring design.

rangibaby 11y ago

I doubt it's a rip. The capital G from that guy's design and the new Google logo are both from standard 1920's sans serifs like Futura or DIN 30640.

huhtenberg 11y ago

For simpler symbols it's very common for more than one designer to converge to the same idea. That said, Google should've done their due diligence and found this guy's sketch before going live with the redesign.

the_mitsuhiko 11y ago

The lack of article in this headline gives it away that the creator of that headlineis Russian ;)

fenomas 11y ago

The latter half of the article is interesting, but the lede about the "G" logo is inane. Any minimalist rendering of a common shape like a letter is going to wind up looking similar to something else. Surely this is self-evident? Incidentally the Tokyo 2020 olympic committee is in the late stages of a similar furore over their logo, a stylized "T" with some some adornments, which turned out look similar to the logo of a Belgian theater company: https://www.google.com/search?tbm=isch&q=tokyo+olympics+theatre+de+liege https://www.google.com/search?tbm=isch&q=tokyo+olympics+thea... Equally silly in my opinion, but people then found more blatant examples of copying in the designer's past work so they wound up scrapping the emblem.

ipsin 11y ago
I agree. My first thought is that the makers of Uno would have a better case than Kortunov.
ipsin 11y ago
I agree. My first thought is that the makers of Uno would have a better case than Kortunov.

Steko 11y ago

Sure they look similar but that doesn't imply one stole from the other, for all we know Google created this internally as part of their zillions of a/b tests years before. Google is also extremely rich and their logo is one of the most visible on the planet meaning stealing from someone would inevitably be worse than simply paying the guy for it.