4 ms·

I'm a pretty huge fan of all the new Google designs. Plus, gmail, the top bar, fonts.... They've kept things minimalistic while making things just feel cleaner

by latch 15y ago

I'm a pretty huge fan of all the new Google designs. Plus, gmail, the top bar, fonts.... They've kept things minimalistic while making things just feel cleaner and crisper. Whoever is leading this redesign is doing a fantastic job.

joebadmo 15y ago
Agreed. And according to Steven Levy[1]'s Wired article[2], it's Andy Hertzfeld, who was on the original Apple Macintosh team. [1] Who wrote In the Plex. [2] http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2011/06/inside-google-plus-social/all/1 http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2011/06/inside-google-plus-so...
- lachlanj 15y ago
  beat me to the link by a few seconds :)
- murz 15y ago
  That's not exactly correct. According to the article Hertzfeld was the key interface designer behind the Circles UI in Google+. The Google-wide visual redesign is the result of a lot of people's work.
- nostrademons 15y ago
  Andy Hertzfeld did the Circles editor in Google+. The site-wide redesign is done by Google Creative Labs, which I think is behind the Search On advertisement series and the Parisian Love Superbowl ad. It's also had significant input and direction from the individual teams, eg. most of the Search UX team was involved in the websearch portion of the redesign.
  - joebadmo 15y ago
    You're right, I apologize for the inaccuracy. Here's Hertzfeld himself on the subject: https://plus.google.com/117840649766034848455/posts/FddaP6jeCqp?tab=mX https://plus.google.com/117840649766034848455/posts/FddaP6je...
    - deleted 15y ago
      [deleted]
lachlanj 15y ago
The man behind that would be Andy Hertzfeld: http://techcrunch.com/2011/06/28/google-plus-design-andy-hertzfeld/ http://techcrunch.com/2011/06/28/google-plus-design-andy-her...
- skybrian 15y ago
  The article says he worked on Circles. Someone seems to have generalized that to give him credit for every new design that Google is launching.
  - lachlanj 15y ago
    Very good point. I assumed because they looked very similar that it was the same person, but quite possible that someone else did the designs. Definitely very similar elements in UI though. "Hertzfeld, who has been working at Google since 2005, is indeed the one we can thank for the better-looking interface on Google+, as he’s the design lead on the project." He was the lead for the design, not just the circles features.
    - nostrademons 15y ago
      No, he was just the lead for the circles features.
      - Locke1689 15y ago
        Nostrademons is correct (obviously, as a Google employee). Apparently there was an entire design team that worked on the UX/UI redesign.
stuartjmoore 15y ago
The main reason* I bought a Nexus S today is because I'm hoping this trend bleeds into Android Ice Cream Sandwich. *that, and because Sprint isn't getting the Pre 3.
- nextparadigms 15y ago
  I think that look and feel would be pretty sweet on Android phones. I think I'd like it more than the "holographic" look.
  - stuartjmoore 15y ago
    I really hate the holographic look of the tablets. I hope the seachange of Larry Page, Andy Hertzfeld, and the designer of WebOS pays off.
cageface 15y ago
There was a really good talk on the new Android Honeycomb UI at this year's Google I/O. The designers talked about wanting to move away from explicit box structures and to use type and spacing more to indicate structure. I really think they're on the right track with this, and they seem to be taking this approach with their new web UIs too. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGIU2JX1U5Y http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGIU2JX1U5Y That said, the left pane of the new gmail interface looks a little too spartan at first blush. Maybe I'll get used to it but it looks a little unfinished to me now.
- ianterrell 15y ago
  It's not just the left pane that feels sparse. I jumped into an email thread and it feels like I'm reading the soot filled footprints of ancient Siberians crossing the glacial land bridge: everything's surrounded by so much white! In this new design it's hard for my eyes to stay focused on the actual content.
malbiniak 15y ago
I'm not sure how democratic things are at GCL, but I'm pretty sure other people have had a say in the creative process. Ref: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2011/06/evolving-google-design-and-experience.html http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2011/06/evolving-google-desig...
DannoHung 15y ago
Looks like Google fixed their 40 shades of blue issue.
- espeed 15y ago
  I'm not liking the big red "Compose Mail" button and labels. Red is usually used as an indicator of warning and error messages, and the giant red button really jumps out at you when you first see the redesign. If you're trying to move away from the "40 shades of blue" while keeping a fun and playful feel, why not use green?
  - modernerd 15y ago
    Be sure to send them your feedback: http://www.google.com/support/bin/request.py?hl=en&contact_type=surveyk&ctx=go http://www.google.com/support/bin/request.py?hl=en&conta...
    - espeed 15y ago
      Done. Also, on closer inspection, I think I see the rationale for their decision. They may have chosen red because it looks like red may be the "official" color of Gmail -- notice the red line on the top nav bar above "Gmail," along with the red "M" in the logo.
      - modernerd 15y ago
        Red button: https://img.skitch.com/20110701-bpf7rn6giqq64ya9ihr88pmfr1.png https://img.skitch.com/20110701-bpf7rn6giqq64ya9ihr88pmfr1.p... Green button: https://img.skitch.com/20110701-pff56qthuqr89t77d2x3u2smhj.png https://img.skitch.com/20110701-pff56qthuqr89t77d2x3u2smhj.p... Grey button: https://img.skitch.com/20110701-wwxrad2urrj1xjmanusme8w9w.png https://img.skitch.com/20110701-wwxrad2urrj1xjmanusme8w9w.pn... I now think the red works best too (but felt the same way as you about it at first). Other colours stand out against the red "Mail" and "Inbox" links, which gives a somewhat technicoloured dreamcoat feel to the UI. They could change the red links to green, but then they lose the connection with the red 'M' envelope character, as you rightly point out. A light grey might work, but probably wouldn't stand out enough for new users.
pacomerh 15y ago
Yes agree on the cleaner look, this feels solid.
MaysonL 15y ago
Would find it hard to disagree more: the new design looks butt-ugly and disfunctional.

by latch 15y ago

joebadmo 15y ago

Agreed. And according to Steven Levy[1]'s Wired article[2], it's Andy Hertzfeld, who was on the original Apple Macintosh team. [1] Who wrote In the Plex. [2] http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2011/06/inside-google-plus-social/all/1 http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2011/06/inside-google-plus-so...

lachlanj 15y ago
beat me to the link by a few seconds :)
murz 15y ago
That's not exactly correct. According to the article Hertzfeld was the key interface designer behind the Circles UI in Google+. The Google-wide visual redesign is the result of a lot of people's work.
nostrademons 15y ago
Andy Hertzfeld did the Circles editor in Google+. The site-wide redesign is done by Google Creative Labs, which I think is behind the Search On advertisement series and the Parisian Love Superbowl ad. It's also had significant input and direction from the individual teams, eg. most of the Search UX team was involved in the websearch portion of the redesign.
- joebadmo 15y ago
  You're right, I apologize for the inaccuracy. Here's Hertzfeld himself on the subject: https://plus.google.com/117840649766034848455/posts/FddaP6jeCqp?tab=mX https://plus.google.com/117840649766034848455/posts/FddaP6je...
  - deleted 15y ago
    [deleted]

lachlanj 15y ago

The man behind that would be Andy Hertzfeld: http://techcrunch.com/2011/06/28/google-plus-design-andy-hertzfeld/ http://techcrunch.com/2011/06/28/google-plus-design-andy-her...

skybrian 15y ago
The article says he worked on Circles. Someone seems to have generalized that to give him credit for every new design that Google is launching.
- lachlanj 15y ago
  Very good point. I assumed because they looked very similar that it was the same person, but quite possible that someone else did the designs. Definitely very similar elements in UI though. "Hertzfeld, who has been working at Google since 2005, is indeed the one we can thank for the better-looking interface on Google+, as he’s the design lead on the project." He was the lead for the design, not just the circles features.
  - nostrademons 15y ago
    No, he was just the lead for the circles features.
    - Locke1689 15y ago
      Nostrademons is correct (obviously, as a Google employee). Apparently there was an entire design team that worked on the UX/UI redesign.

stuartjmoore 15y ago

The main reason* I bought a Nexus S today is because I'm hoping this trend bleeds into Android Ice Cream Sandwich. *that, and because Sprint isn't getting the Pre 3.

nextparadigms 15y ago
I think that look and feel would be pretty sweet on Android phones. I think I'd like it more than the "holographic" look.
- stuartjmoore 15y ago
  I really hate the holographic look of the tablets. I hope the seachange of Larry Page, Andy Hertzfeld, and the designer of WebOS pays off.

cageface 15y ago

There was a really good talk on the new Android Honeycomb UI at this year's Google I/O. The designers talked about wanting to move away from explicit box structures and to use type and spacing more to indicate structure. I really think they're on the right track with this, and they seem to be taking this approach with their new web UIs too. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGIU2JX1U5Y http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGIU2JX1U5Y That said, the left pane of the new gmail interface looks a little too spartan at first blush. Maybe I'll get used to it but it looks a little unfinished to me now.

ianterrell 15y ago
It's not just the left pane that feels sparse. I jumped into an email thread and it feels like I'm reading the soot filled footprints of ancient Siberians crossing the glacial land bridge: everything's surrounded by so much white! In this new design it's hard for my eyes to stay focused on the actual content.

malbiniak 15y ago

I'm not sure how democratic things are at GCL, but I'm pretty sure other people have had a say in the creative process. Ref: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2011/06/evolving-google-design-and-experience.html http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2011/06/evolving-google-desig...

DannoHung 15y ago

Looks like Google fixed their 40 shades of blue issue.

espeed 15y ago
I'm not liking the big red "Compose Mail" button and labels. Red is usually used as an indicator of warning and error messages, and the giant red button really jumps out at you when you first see the redesign. If you're trying to move away from the "40 shades of blue" while keeping a fun and playful feel, why not use green?
- modernerd 15y ago
  Be sure to send them your feedback: http://www.google.com/support/bin/request.py?hl=en&contact_type=surveyk&ctx=go http://www.google.com/support/bin/request.py?hl=en&conta...
  - espeed 15y ago
    Done. Also, on closer inspection, I think I see the rationale for their decision. They may have chosen red because it looks like red may be the "official" color of Gmail -- notice the red line on the top nav bar above "Gmail," along with the red "M" in the logo.
    - modernerd 15y ago
      Red button: https://img.skitch.com/20110701-bpf7rn6giqq64ya9ihr88pmfr1.png https://img.skitch.com/20110701-bpf7rn6giqq64ya9ihr88pmfr1.p... Green button: https://img.skitch.com/20110701-pff56qthuqr89t77d2x3u2smhj.png https://img.skitch.com/20110701-pff56qthuqr89t77d2x3u2smhj.p... Grey button: https://img.skitch.com/20110701-wwxrad2urrj1xjmanusme8w9w.png https://img.skitch.com/20110701-wwxrad2urrj1xjmanusme8w9w.pn... I now think the red works best too (but felt the same way as you about it at first). Other colours stand out against the red "Mail" and "Inbox" links, which gives a somewhat technicoloured dreamcoat feel to the UI. They could change the red links to green, but then they lose the connection with the red 'M' envelope character, as you rightly point out. A light grey might work, but probably wouldn't stand out enough for new users.

pacomerh 15y ago

Yes agree on the cleaner look, this feels solid.

MaysonL 15y ago

Would find it hard to disagree more: the new design looks butt-ugly and disfunctional.