Category Sans-serif Foundry Google License Proprietary | Classification Geometric Date created 2015 | |
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Similar Kruti Dev, Chandas (typeface), GNU FreeFont | ||
Product Sans is a geometric sans-serif typeface created by Google for branding purposes. It replaced the old Google logo on September 1, 2015. As Google's branding was becoming more apparent on a multitude of devices, Google sought to adapt its design so that its logo could be portrayed in constrained spaces and remain consistent for its users across platforms.
Contents
Design
The design team wanted to retain the simple and approachable styles in previous logos but also include geometric forms. At first glance, the font nearly matches the Futura typeface. The most notable between the two is the double-story 'a', which was implemented to contrast the circular shapes of the other characters. Product Sans prefers to end the stroke terminals at about 45 degrees, with the cut off being perpendicular to the tangent of the stroke.
Slight optical corrections were also made to the geometric forms. The uppercase "G" has its circular shape pulled inwards slightly where it meets the crossbar. The counters of the '6', '8', and '9' are almost perfect circles. These visual corrections were made for legibility.
Usage
The present Google logo is based on Product Sans. Slight modifications do exist in the logo compared to the typeface. The most noticeable is the slanted 'e'. The differences between the logo and Product Sans allows for distinction between the logotype and product name. Product Sans is mainly used for the of Google's numerous services such as Maps, Drive, News, etc.