The Evolution of Google’s logo!

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The Evolution of Google’s logo!

If this isn’t the most recognizable brand in the world then I don’t know what is. I am pumped to write about this because not only will I be taking you through one of the most colorful histories but also because I too get to learn a lot about the most popular search engine in the world. Let’s just be real, some of us love histories and backgrounds of whatever interesting thing we may come across. Besides it’s Google! Who wouldn’t want to know how far Google has come?!

Okay folks let’s turn on our “pay attention in class” moods and get super curious about this famous brand’s visual journey because trust me, an evolution that took place in the last 20 years definitely has a lot to say. Let’s do this!

Humble background

First it’s important to know that Google wasn’t even first called this by Larry Page and Sergey Brin who were the founders of the search engine. Originally it was called “BackRub” and this was because the engine’s main purpose was to browse through the back links on the internet. So the first logo was the back of a hand with the word BackRub in red font. I’m just going to go ahead and say what we’re all thinking; “Thank God!” they changed the name to Google in 1997 because honestly BackRub was giving off some “creepy old man” vibes.

Someone said the first version of the Google logo was never going to win any design awards and I’ve not recovered from that. As if that insult wasn’t enough, the person went ahead to say “it’s a real reminder of just how ugly the early days of the internet could be.” You might think this person has a personal problem with the creators of Google. But as we can all see, the logo was really struggling.

Later on the founders of Google decided to launch it officially and Sergey Brin came up with a better design using the GNU Image Manipulation Program. But of course by today’s standards, the design wasn’t exactly the smoothest but it was definitely an upgrade from the previous one. What makes it quite different from the current logo is the color order and the exclamation mark which was apparently an idea gotten from Yahoo!’s logo.

Ruth Kedar comes into the picture

Through a mutual friend, Brin and Page were introduced to Ruth Kedar who was an assistant professor at Stanford but also reputed as a designer. She produced diverse concepts for the new logo and clearly her aim was for the logo to reflect on the company’s purpose. For example one of the designs she made had a magnifying glass to imply that Google actually was a search engine, the other had a target and I believe this was to signify accuracy.

The founders obviously perceived some of the logos as being a bit much and decided to take a simpler alternative. “This is where we started simplifying”, Kedar explained in a 2008 interview with Wired. She adds “The idea was, ‘Can we create the sense of playfulness without having recognizable or identifiable objects that are going to end up limiting us?” Indeed playful was the next logo because it really does give off a youthful laidback vibe. They wanted it to be as minimal as possible and they really pulled it off hence making it the longest-serving logo from 1999 to 2010 when it was changed again.

Where simplicity met class

The latest logo for Google was designed in 2015 when a bunch of designers from the company met in New York City for a design sprint that lasted a week. The logo was changed drastically but in several stages and variations, for example the colorful “G” that maintained the search engine’s original playful color palate is really appreciated by many. The designers were trying to come up with something contemporary and mild and this they did. This was probably because of the need to keep up with the ever changing diverse times we are in now.

I’m not lying when I say that looking at the new Google logo makes me think I’m hanging out with a friend I’ve known for some good time or that if that logo was human, we would really be good friends because I’m attracted to easy-going laidback vibes…and that’s exactly what the logo designers were going for.