8 ms·

Google updates logo, moves 'g' and 'l' by one pixel each

58 points by fredley 12y ago

yefim 12y ago
Who cares?
- scottyallen 12y ago
  Clearly someone at Google does:) In fact, I almost guarantee this change had multiple people involved, and probably at least several internal discussions. Source: Used to work on the team responsible for the webserver that serves the Google homepage.
  - noir_lord 12y ago
    > In fact, I almost guarantee this change had multiple people involved, and probably at least several internal discussions. You just described Hell to me.
fredley 12y ago
I made a gif for easy comparison: http://i.imgur.com/ltqwgvL.gif http://i.imgur.com/ltqwgvL.gif
- KevinCostner 12y ago
  ...back, and to the left. ...back, and to the left. ...back, and to the left.
regularfry 12y ago
Who noticed, how and why?
- fredley 12y ago
  I imagine the updated url was noticed. Decrement the last number in the url to see older images, e.g. https://www.google.com/images/srpr/logo1w.png https://www.google.com/images/srpr/logo1w.png
Theodores 12y ago
“I was working on the proof of one of my poems all the morning, and took out a comma. In the afternoon I put it back again.”
pearjuice 12y ago
Someone got paid far above minimum wage to do this. I am not saying it is not deserved just that some people move graphics a pixel a month and tank $300K starting. Others work their asses off physically and maybe make 1/10th of that at their peek.
- krapp 12y ago
  To be fair, I doubt whoever did this has "pixel adjuster" as their primary job description. Although maybe for some reason it's a highly complex and non-trivial affair at Google.
- hrktb 12y ago
  Some people are paid very well to correct typos, or move text and pictures on a page. You can say it's a bullshit job, or recognize it's a different matter when you're working day in day out on newspapers printing at lots of thousands a day for instance.
Kiro 12y ago
I like the old logo better.
- cliveowen 12y ago
  I don't know what is it, but this new one just feels wrong. I hope they change their mind before it's too late.
darsham 12y ago
The descriptions are wrong, the letters were moved right not left. Anyways, the new one is more balanced. Quite the zen garden.
nnq 12y ago
Let me guess, a new OCD-suffering designer has joined the team? :)
r721 12y ago
I think this guess from /r/typography/ is worthy to consider: "My educated guess is that it most likely scales in Webkit better. I can only imagine this change was the result of a dozen round table discussions and half a year of a/b testing. EDIT: Yup! Here's both logos at 50%, scaling done by Chrome. Notice how the letter l changes [1] [1]: http://i.imgur.com/x6K1yVe.png http://i.imgur.com/x6K1yVe.png " http://www.reddit.com/r/typography/comments/26fgq6/google_updated_their_logo_they_moved_the/chqk2a7 http://www.reddit.com/r/typography/comments/26fgq6/google_up...
- dvirsky 12y ago
  > I can only imagine this change was the result of a dozen round table discussions and half a year of a/b testing I really hope not...
- thomasahle 12y ago
  It's not a bad theory, but then again the `G` doesn't visually change, the `l` looks better horizontally, but worse vertically. Seems like a tie, at least at this resolution.
- panarky 12y ago
  Assume google.com serves 300 trillion impressions a year and clicking an ad generates $0.20 in revenue. The new logo would need to improve CTRs by 0.0000017% to generate a million dollars per year in new revenue.
- nilsimsa 12y ago
  A company is making too much money if they can waste half a year in discussing and testing something like this.
  - untog 12y ago
    Not really. It takes very few resources to run an A/B test for six months. Set it up, check back for results six months later. Not that they necessarily did that here, but still.
  - fallinghawks 12y ago
37prime 12y ago
Obviously the 1-pixel moves signify the shift in Google’s business strategy. Google is now politicaly one more pixel to the left and moving towards the lower upper class by one pixel. #OverAnalyzing
- ChrisGaudreau 12y ago
  You'd make a fantastic English teacher.
Pitarou 12y ago
This change totally sucks and, to me, it represents everything that's happened at Google that I don't like. Which is everything. Because I hate it when stuff changes.
- danford 12y ago
  I know! I can't even find the g and l anymore unless I move my eyes slightly down and to the left, how is this intuitive??
mercer 12y ago
I found this through /r/mildlyinteresting, and it just made me thing why exactly I find that subreddit, and these kinds of things, so interesting. Perhaps it's that it makes you think about mundane things that you normally don't give a second thought, or even notice?
dkarapetyan 12y ago
This sounds like something out of the onion. I think this is how you become irrelevant. Didn't yahoo do something similar?
- oneweirdtrick 12y ago
  Life is just parody of itself these days. Edit: And yes, Yahoo did something similar: It turns out Mayer herself played a pivotal role, working with Yahoo's design team (and an intern) to design the new logo over the course of a single weekend. "I’m not a pro, but I know enough to be dangerous," Mayer says of her Adobe Illustrator know-how. "We knew we wanted a logo that reflected Yahoo — whimsical, yet sophisticated," she writes. "Modern and fresh, with a nod to our history." http://www.theverge.com/2013/9/5/4696274/yahoo-reveals-its-new-logo http://www.theverge.com/2013/9/5/4696274/yahoo-reveals-its-n...
increment_i 12y ago
Arrgh! This is the third time I've run into this "story" in the last 24 hours - let it go, internet!
SchizoDuckie 12y ago
What is wrong with you HN visitors that this is on the FP?
8ig8 12y ago
Obviously a response to the DDG redesign.
raldi 12y ago
Clearly this is the start of a boil-the-frog campaign that will see the "l" drop out of the logo completely as the "g" slides over to take its place. It'll happen so gradually over the course of the next eight months that most users won't even notice.
animex 12y ago
Fixed.
czottmann 12y ago
lol theyre new desing ppl are idots, Gogle is doomed etc. etc.
pteredactyl 12y ago
LOL
alok-g 12y ago
Resisting the temptation to ask who is thing being upvoted, I'll ask a sibling question: Why are people upvoting this? Does this help someone in a meaningful fashion and in a way that worthy of bringing to everyone's attention?

58 points by fredley 12y ago

yefim 12y ago

Who cares?

scottyallen 12y ago
Clearly someone at Google does:) In fact, I almost guarantee this change had multiple people involved, and probably at least several internal discussions. Source: Used to work on the team responsible for the webserver that serves the Google homepage.
- noir_lord 12y ago
  > In fact, I almost guarantee this change had multiple people involved, and probably at least several internal discussions. You just described Hell to me.

fredley 12y ago

I made a gif for easy comparison: http://i.imgur.com/ltqwgvL.gif http://i.imgur.com/ltqwgvL.gif

KevinCostner 12y ago
...back, and to the left. ...back, and to the left. ...back, and to the left.

regularfry 12y ago

Who noticed, how and why?

fredley 12y ago
I imagine the updated url was noticed. Decrement the last number in the url to see older images, e.g. https://www.google.com/images/srpr/logo1w.png https://www.google.com/images/srpr/logo1w.png

Theodores 12y ago

“I was working on the proof of one of my poems all the morning, and took out a comma. In the afternoon I put it back again.”

pearjuice 12y ago

Someone got paid far above minimum wage to do this. I am not saying it is not deserved just that some people move graphics a pixel a month and tank $300K starting. Others work their asses off physically and maybe make 1/10th of that at their peek.

krapp 12y ago
To be fair, I doubt whoever did this has "pixel adjuster" as their primary job description. Although maybe for some reason it's a highly complex and non-trivial affair at Google.
hrktb 12y ago
Some people are paid very well to correct typos, or move text and pictures on a page. You can say it's a bullshit job, or recognize it's a different matter when you're working day in day out on newspapers printing at lots of thousands a day for instance.

Kiro 12y ago

I like the old logo better.

cliveowen 12y ago
I don't know what is it, but this new one just feels wrong. I hope they change their mind before it's too late.

darsham 12y ago

The descriptions are wrong, the letters were moved right not left. Anyways, the new one is more balanced. Quite the zen garden.

nnq 12y ago

Let me guess, a new OCD-suffering designer has joined the team? :)

r721 12y ago

I think this guess from /r/typography/ is worthy to consider: "My educated guess is that it most likely scales in Webkit better. I can only imagine this change was the result of a dozen round table discussions and half a year of a/b testing. EDIT: Yup! Here's both logos at 50%, scaling done by Chrome. Notice how the letter l changes [1] [1]: http://i.imgur.com/x6K1yVe.png http://i.imgur.com/x6K1yVe.png " http://www.reddit.com/r/typography/comments/26fgq6/google_updated_their_logo_they_moved_the/chqk2a7 http://www.reddit.com/r/typography/comments/26fgq6/google_up...

dvirsky 12y ago
> I can only imagine this change was the result of a dozen round table discussions and half a year of a/b testing I really hope not...
thomasahle 12y ago
It's not a bad theory, but then again the `G` doesn't visually change, the `l` looks better horizontally, but worse vertically. Seems like a tie, at least at this resolution.
panarky 12y ago
Assume google.com serves 300 trillion impressions a year and clicking an ad generates $0.20 in revenue. The new logo would need to improve CTRs by 0.0000017% to generate a million dollars per year in new revenue.
nilsimsa 12y ago
A company is making too much money if they can waste half a year in discussing and testing something like this.
- untog 12y ago
  Not really. It takes very few resources to run an A/B test for six months. Set it up, check back for results six months later. Not that they necessarily did that here, but still.
- fallinghawks 12y ago

37prime 12y ago

Obviously the 1-pixel moves signify the shift in Google’s business strategy. Google is now politicaly one more pixel to the left and moving towards the lower upper class by one pixel. #OverAnalyzing

ChrisGaudreau 12y ago
You'd make a fantastic English teacher.

Pitarou 12y ago

This change totally sucks and, to me, it represents everything that's happened at Google that I don't like. Which is everything. Because I hate it when stuff changes.

danford 12y ago
I know! I can't even find the g and l anymore unless I move my eyes slightly down and to the left, how is this intuitive??

mercer 12y ago

I found this through /r/mildlyinteresting, and it just made me thing why exactly I find that subreddit, and these kinds of things, so interesting. Perhaps it's that it makes you think about mundane things that you normally don't give a second thought, or even notice?

dkarapetyan 12y ago

This sounds like something out of the onion. I think this is how you become irrelevant. Didn't yahoo do something similar?

oneweirdtrick 12y ago
Life is just parody of itself these days. Edit: And yes, Yahoo did something similar: It turns out Mayer herself played a pivotal role, working with Yahoo's design team (and an intern) to design the new logo over the course of a single weekend. "I’m not a pro, but I know enough to be dangerous," Mayer says of her Adobe Illustrator know-how. "We knew we wanted a logo that reflected Yahoo — whimsical, yet sophisticated," she writes. "Modern and fresh, with a nod to our history." http://www.theverge.com/2013/9/5/4696274/yahoo-reveals-its-new-logo http://www.theverge.com/2013/9/5/4696274/yahoo-reveals-its-n...

increment_i 12y ago

Arrgh! This is the third time I've run into this "story" in the last 24 hours - let it go, internet!

SchizoDuckie 12y ago

What is wrong with you HN visitors that this is on the FP?

8ig8 12y ago

Obviously a response to the DDG redesign.

raldi 12y ago

Clearly this is the start of a boil-the-frog campaign that will see the "l" drop out of the logo completely as the "g" slides over to take its place. It'll happen so gradually over the course of the next eight months that most users won't even notice.

animex 12y ago

Fixed.

czottmann 12y ago

lol theyre new desing ppl are idots, Gogle is doomed etc. etc.

pteredactyl 12y ago

LOL

alok-g 12y ago

Resisting the temptation to ask who is thing being upvoted, I'll ask a sibling question: Why are people upvoting this? Does this help someone in a meaningful fashion and in a way that worthy of bringing to everyone's attention?