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New Google Favicon Deja Vu All Over Again?
theodp writes "Last June, Google rolled out a new favicon, the small branding icon that graces your URL bar when you visit Google. Which, as it turned out, bore a striking similarity to Garth Brooks' Circle-G logo. Well, Google went back to the drawing board and has come back with a new favicon, which it says was inspired by — not copied from, mind you — its users' submitted ideas. Some are also seeing inspiration elsewhere for the new favicon, which consists of white 'g' on a background of four color swatches. Take the AVG antivirus icon, for instance. Or everybody's favorite memory toy, Simon. Or — in perhaps the unkindest cut of all — the four-color Microsoft Windows logo, shown here with a superimposed white '7'. Anything else come to mind?" What comes to mind for me is just how obsessed many people are with the Google favicon.
What comes to mind for me is just how obsessed many people are with the Google favicon.
You mean like the Slashdot editors who think it's important enough to put on the front page?
The Garth Brooks one is particularly ridiculous---the only similarity appears to be that both have, at various times, used a lowercase 'g' in an entirely unremarkable font as a logo. Yes, congratulations, two instances of a lowercase 'g' can look similar!
The rest aren't much more convincing. Google uses some simple arrangements of primary colors, and, amazingly enough, so do some other companies, even some other tech companies. But they don't even look particularly similar (especially the Windows one).
10 PRINT CHR$(205.5+RND(1)); : GOTO 10
...because lynx does not support favicons, you insensitive clod!
It is dangerous to be right when the government is wrong.
looks like someone tossed 4 colors on a square LOL
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and im getting annoyed at:
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To confirm you're not a script,
It's pretty ugly. Favicons are very useful when you have a decent number of tabs open, and now I miss the old Google icon. The new one confuses my brain; it looks too much like the AVG logo.
This is just a great example of Slashdot Fanboi Masturbation. I mean, GOOD GRIEF! Top story! New Google Fav Icon! Stop the fucking presses!
This is such important news. Man, the people at the New York Time s are going to be kicking themselves if their morning paper has already been sent out to the printer.
Web Hosting: Unlimited storage and bandwidth: $5/month
What comes to mind for me is just how obsessed many people are with the Google favicon.
Maybe editors are so hard up for pageviews that they'll post whatever inconsequential slop comes to mind, and internet users are just so hard up for interesting news that they'll comment on whatever garbage the editors feed them.
If the tech sites puked out story after story about motherfucking lolcats apparently Timothy would take the comments to indicate mass obsession with them, which, shit... bad example.
But seriously, who is actually obsessed with Google's favicon and who is just bored?
is that all the idiotic designers think GUIs are a playground. From 1988 to 1995 Icons changed only marginally with time, but since the web-culture has spoiled the idea of consistent, clean UIs, i prefer to turn on the icon name whereever possible.
Almost a direct copy of an Austin-based printing company's logo: http://www.ginnysprinting.com/
How many different ways can one make a trashcan icon?
a small additional note:
it is especially annoying that nowadays there are a lot of "circular icons, where some kind of arrow or direction indicator hides a letter or a circular sign which carries a letter". These take a lot of space, and force you to remember the color which is which if you wan to click fast.
... the "S" in Slashdot looks similar to the "S" in MicroSoft!
What comes to mind for me is just how obsessed many people are with the Google favicon.
I'm always amazed at the sheer number of people that are obssessed, period. It seems to be a mark of distinction nowadays if you're just completely gaga about some particular product or brand (Apple owners come to mind, for some reason.) Well, unreason seems to be a defining characteristic of modern civilization, so I guess this should come as no surprise. Too bad psychiatrists are so expensive: there are a lot of folks that could use a little therapy.
The higher the technology, the sharper that two-edged sword.
Looks like a blotch of random colors. I had no idea there was a lowercase "g" in it until I read the article here.
IMHO, the old favicon was much better - knew right away what it was. A bunch of random colors brings to mind websites about photoshopping, psychology (think blotch tests), or even a pet supply site, since it looks kinda like a paw print.
Ron
which is chinese search enginge
I like it. More distinctive than the other one while pleasing to the eye. Hey, just think, it could have had LOLCATZ... *shudder*
N/A
...is that now I know it's a lowercase 'g'...
I was cleaning up my Firefox extensions yesterday when I came across "favicon picker". I uninstalled it because I thought to myself "...well, I haven't actually changed an Icon for anything in ages, may as well get rid of it" and literally minutes later, Google's favicon changed.
They mock me.
let's all talk about it. Seriously, anyone else tired of the 15 Google stories/day?
Haha the first thing I thought when I saw the new logo was "wow... that looks like the AVG logo."
Everyone knows that it's spelled Micro$oft.
Looks like a red-beaked parrot to me.
You're right, it is an inkblot test. And apparently I have some repressed issues with parrots.
Yes, as far as I knew that is what it is called.
What I have learned so far from this article is:
What falls in the what else is new category:
PK
Engineers arn't boring people, we just get excited about boring things.
Who can forget the image of the Google "g" atop the tower in the destruction of Isengard?
http://rocknerd.co.uk
All I see is a blotch of red green and yellow, with a smidge of blue and some indistinct wavy white marks. At least the old icon had a clear G.
I noticed this the other day when I was using google.co.jp ... I thought it was just the Japanese one. My first thought was 'Oh wow, that's ugly.' Now I see it's going to be used for google.com, too... Ugh.
The user-submitted ones in the blog look way, way better, including the one they took the concept from. What were they thinking?
"If you make people think they're thinking, they'll love you; But if you really make them think, they'll hate you." - DM
There's only so much you can do with a 16x16px square. How unique do you think the favicon can be? Either way, I dislike the new logo.
It's very clear that Google is pimping its Chrome browser (see color scheme).
;) It's about time that standards-deviant monstrosity was put to pasture.
Google is now pulling a Microsoft and may put other browsers out of business, or at least seriously undercut revenues.
See: Mozilla Foundation Google current awkward relationship. What's to complain about tho? Mozilla existed Google supported it.
I find it really nice that Google's try to kill MS IE 6 tho
Cheers!
-Naz
http://www.object404.com
While I don't exactly agree with your first post, at least I can understand the argument you're making. But this second post makes no sense to me at all. Can you give some examples of all these round icons you're referring to?
I can't stand it, the g that is entirely reprasentative of the company doesn't stand out anywhere near clearly enough, the entire thing is just a blob and it makes tracking Google tabs in firefox a nightmare.
The user submitted favicons FTFA by by Hadi Onur Demirsoy, Lucian E. Marin and Yusuf Sevgen are all considerably better.
That it's 2009 already and Google are having trouble nailing down a favicon is pretty silly to me. This is something you see in companies that are too immature to understand that Engineer != Designer != Writer != Marketer != Salesman and so on.
Naturally I'm bitter because I'm a graphics person, and I've seen so many engineers try to do "design wheelies" with the drawing tools in Excel and get hopelessly stuck on the role of decoration in design during lunchroom conversations...but come on. Your opinion matters as far as your experience does. At some point you have to admit that the designer with an MFA did actually learn a thing or two and your brain can't always make up with ingenuity what it lacks in experience.
Yank the engineers out of the identity process and get somebody who looks in from the outside and does the real research on identity with *real* experience. Hire the Paul Rand or whoever and get it over with already - this blog-friendly approach to identity is so democratic that it makes you look like a bunch of indecisive hippies who take my graphic design class rather than the ultra-innovative next-generation types you aspire to be. sorry...
This new favicon is simply awful. Terrible.
I never noticed the white "g" until I read this on Slashdot.
I really thought it was one of those different Google logos or special occasions but they wanted to do this to the favicon instead. I thought today was maybe the birthday of some famous artist (it resembles blobs of paint).
Andre Resende got it right in the first place.
The purpose of a website's icon -- or any icon, for that matter -- is to provide a visual way to quickly find something in a list. Sometimes, the icon represents some abstract concept; in most applications, the "save" icon is a floppy disk, even though they're nearly obsolete. However, if the icon is unique, experienced users have no trouble connecting it with what it represents. I use icons exclusively for my bookmarks toolbar.
Of course, this only works when the icons don't change. Google has recently changed their icon again, just as I was getting used to the second one. Call me old-fashioned, but I happen to like the original Google icon.
I can understand changing the logo on the front page for special holidays (which seems like just about every day now), but icons shouldn't be changed just for the hell of it.
(C&P from my blog)
The original (the old old) logo was way better.
Amen to that. I thought I was the only one that thought the original blue G on white background was great. It was simple, clean and unmistakable. Now it is getting worse and worse with each iteration.
-Em
RelevantElephants: A Somatic WebComic...
How many ways can you create a 16x16 pixel image? At what point does trademark/copyright no longer apply?
I guess we see how that really works, now don't we.
Firstly, Andre Resende's version looks far more clear & easily identifiable to the eye. The currently useed one looks like complete garbage. what is it? pushing the 'g' over to the side looks terrible - who made that decision? What the hell were they on? To be honest it looks like some balls. Secondly, what's with the square with 4 colours overuse everywhere? Microsoft Windows, AVG, Code::Blocks, Codecharge, Google, IBM, Sony, Panasonic, Toyota all look EXACTLY the same. Anyone who disagrees is entirely wrong.
E.g. click on the preinstalled dearch bar in firefox.
creative commons, amazon, ask, google have a dominant circle-like feature
A pet peeve of mine: "Deja Vu" has a perfectly good meaning, it doesn't need to be doubled up with "all over again". Yogi Berra used the phrase with his tongue firmly placed in his cheek, laughing at the stupidity in which people use and abuse the English language. http://www.quotedb.com/quotes/1304
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3430/3189837806_6f5367125b_o.png
in other news, apparently Garth Brooks hold the copyright to a lowercase "g"
It's the AVG logo rotated 90 degrees CCW with a G on it without the 3D light and shadow.
http://www.avg.com/
Still, I like the old favicon. The new one isn't that great.
It reminds me of when Silicon Graphics Inc. changed their name to "SGI", and the horrid logo they used. I'm actually a fan of the letter g, so I don't think I am very prejudiced.
SGI, a company that a few years before seemed solid enough, went to oblivion, and that's associated with the logo change. Just sayin.
Speaking of Google, I never applied there because I'm pretty sure I'd walk out of the interview if someone asked me how I'd move a mountain range or to give a solution to the Optimal Marriage Problem on the spot.
About your article: who cares? Stop wasting front page space with shit like this. Better not quit your day job fixing our McMuffins, writing might not be for you.
Trackball users will be first against the wall.
The question on my mind is what the new string to be changed in google.xml is? If I have to use this favicon for the rest of my firefox experience, I may as well change it in the search bar, too. Unfortunately I can't seem to find info on what to change that long garbled string to. Any info?
... it just looks pathetic. I started noticing this at the weekend, and just thought : Why are they using such an amateur looking icon. The firefox search bar icon is so much better.
the icon is gay.
I'm colorblind.
Turned 90 degrees I see a wedge being driven between two people.
16x16 pixels in 256 colors... that would be about the roundest number 65536.... which is well below the number of registered domains....
It probably pays better than blog comments for Microsoft. Gotta make sure yer not in the 10%!
Who cares anyway. I can't even see it, since there is no link rel in the code.
Quick way to get 30% Funny 70% Troll: defend Opera browser on
Its better than the slashdot one, which was reputedly inspired by a sideways on view of Cowboy Neil's erect penis.
The first one was the best one... Looks like they're maybe trying to be a bit abstract etc. But it just isn't working.One would think google had better designers at its disposal.
This is slashdot!
Oh boy. It's 2009 and we're still judging women by paper-baggedness. :(
OK, I'll update it for the 21st century: I could probably give Miriam one without wearing my VR goggles.
the release favicon will be along soon
The new favicon is terrible anyway, it's becoming more difficult to see that it's a "G" in the favicon.. How much money do they put into that thing anyway! Just go back to the old obe!
"We hope you like the new favicon, which nicely integrates all of our original criteria: distinctive in shape, noticeable, colorful, timeless, and scalable to other sizes. While I'm sure we will update it again..."
Hey guys, thefaviconshomepage.com already hosts the brand new google favicon!
It wasn't broke, but somebody in Marketing just had to fix it.
I do really pretty favicons :)
Like this one
or this one
then there is this one
and this one
now this one was a gift in exchange for a link
If you need a favicon contact me.
The new favicon looks like some painting by Miro, except better. He should have made all of his awful art on a 16 px-wide square instead of canvas, it's less hideous to the eye.
There's only so much you can do with an icon that small.
I don't like the new inverse/transparent G as at first glance you can't even tell it's a G. But whatever. Someone at Google needs to feed their family so if Google is willing to pay someone to come up with this crap then more power to them.
- It's not the Macs I hate. It's Digg users. -
Only CC has it in my Firefox 3.0.5 on XP, and their logo really is round. Google is boxed and the others have nothing, unless you count the Amazon smile as round.
"By no means is the one you're seeing our favicon final; it was a first step to a more unified set of icons. However, we really value feedback from users and want to hear your ideas that we may have missed."
Google: even our logo is beta.
Get me a meat pie floater!
Seems a bit silly to me. He's basically saying that all icons using rounded elements look the same to him. It's pretty easy to tell that he's not a designer and that he has very little design sense.
How am I supposed to tell all those plain-old-google, googlemaps, googlecode, googleimages, ... tabs apart? The only exception is gmail, it stands out to the point of no relation at all, using an M instead of a g. They should just call it Mmail. Wait, that's taken a million times. So call it Mmmmmmmmmmail, in analogy to Gooooooooogle.
"inspired by" Yeah google. At one time they were having a contest to create a FreeBSD google logo. Well since the FreeBSD mascot is copywritten, I drew my own version that was basically the same character and integrated him into the logo. A few weeks later I noticed they had a logo with the copywritten image layed out exactly like my submitted logo. I to this day am still pissed they didn't even send me an email thanking me for the idea...
As with Google's last favicon change, I didn't notice this new one much and got used to it really quickly (probably because I spend an order of magnitude more time staring at the old Google icon in Firefox's search bar). Now that you mention it, the new logo is really difficult to look at, probably because of the hodgepodge of bright, saturated colours.
that's the only sane explanation of this.
or maybe, "we the people"?
Uno! Yeah, haven't played that in a loooonnnnnggg time... especially since my dad wore the damned game out on me!
I think it's time for Google to change the finance.google favicon from an upward trend chart.
hmm.. Hust a little more observation of that tiny icon...
I feel like they have placed their small caps 'g' over inverted chrome icon(offcourse not full chrome icon but only a part of it)... Can you see the blue center circle on top left, and the curve between green and red..
I tried searching net if someone else thinks like me.. but not found anyone yet.. :)
What comes to mind for me is just how obsessed many people are with the
Google favicon.
So obsessed they'd even create a Slashdot article about it, apparently.
I am not devoid of humor.