Google’s new Dr Seuss look
Google recently replaced their “big G” favicon with a “little g”. At the same time, they made it transparent, which I think was probably a mistake because it doesn’t look consistent and is hard to read against some backgrounds.
The “little g” is has a kind of archaic, quirky feel. While its used a lot in print, the “looptail” version its not so common in screen fonts which I guess makes it distinctive. Unfortunately, I’m immediately reminded of the typography of Dr Seuss.
Now this is not necessarily a bad thing, but I wonder if that’s what they intended.
Update: The Official Google Blog shows some of the 300 designs they tried. It also confirms the Dr Seuss connection - maybe there’s a fan in the design team. Personally, I think the old one was fine - its immediately recognisable which is all a favicon should be. For the disgruntled, there’s a campaign to bring back the old Google favicon. Or if you have a better idea, Google are inviting submissions.