Ever wonder how Google ended up with the logo that they did? The designer of the logo, Ruth Kedar recently talked about what went into the process and even shared some of her early ideas. Surprisingly it started out more complicated and ended up as the more simple logo that is known around the World today. Wired has the full scoop, so if you’d like to see a more complete collection of prototypes, go over there and check them out. Below you’ll find a few of the logos that stood out for us.
When Kedar was hired to do the job, Sergey Brin and Larry Page told her that they wanted something unique that would set them apart from the other search engines that were popular at the time. Below is one of the first prototypes that Kedar came up with. The pattern had a purpose and it was to imply that “something goes on ad infinitum.”
Eventually, a magnifying glass and cross hairs came into the picture but Google co-founders thought it was a little too much to have both at the same time.
When Kedar knew that Brin and Page liked the magnifying glass and the cross hairs, just not at the same time, she tried out a magnifying glass only approach. This logo is actually one of our favorites, but didn’t make the cut because they decided they didn’t want the logo to signify that search was the only route Google would take. The smiling mouth was supposed to represent “happy results and a positive search experience.”
After experimenting with different colors and different angles of the letters, they ended up settling on the current Google logo. As most of you know, the primary colors are red, yellow, and blue which they went with, but they also threw in a little bit of green to show that “Google doesn’t follow the rules.” And so there we have it, the Google logo that is simple and is known around the globe. Times-Roman font with serifs was used so that it would be easier to read. Even though I like the logo above, it’s a good thing they ditched the magnifying glass and went with what they did (below) because they are so much more than just search at this point.
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Tags: Google
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@Ashley:
“Times-Roman font with serifs was used so that it would be easier to read.”
After reading Wired’s scoop, I understand Ruth Kedar used the Catull typeface to define the Google brand. Is Times-Roman font with serifs the same thing as Catull typeface?
Would appreciate your clarification. I think these are two different fonts. Of course I could be wrong, not being a graphical artist expert.
Regards,
Omar.-
The font thats in the logo now is called Catull if anyone was wondering.
And if you’re at a school and want to submit a Logo check out Doodle 4 Google at http://www.google.com/doodle4google/
I write all my papers in Catull.
Huh, and it’s so close to Times New Roman
I guess you’re a true Google fan then.
I’ve always thought that the Google logo and name was way too much like Yahoo!s - Its just a colorful fun font and a funny made-up name with a double-o in it.
I think the two brand identities have always been embarrassingly similar.
Huh, I never looked at it like that. Now that you’ve said that I do think that there are a lot of things similar about them.