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TECH A LOOK

What do the colors in the Google logo mean? The REAL origins revealed

GOOGLE has one of the most recognizable logos in the world – here's how it came to be.

Since the first Google logo was created in 1997, it has donned an eye-catching design that has become synonymous with the company's innovative contributions to the tech industry.

Google has gone through seven variations of its logo since 1997.
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Google has gone through seven variations of its logo since 1997.

When Sergey Brin and Larry Page first started Google in 1995, it was initially called "Backrub."

Two years later, Backrub turned into Google, a company that would soon revolutionize the internet.

Since its rebranding in 1997, the tech giant has gone through seven variations of its logo.

And while the font might have changed, all of the logos maintained a fairly similar color palette.

The first logo - 1998

The first "official" version of Google's logo was created by Page using a free graphics program called GIMP.

The design showcased the mixed-color concept that would carry over into future designs, however, the arrangement of the colors was quite different from the current logo.

In Page's logo, which used the "Baskerville Bold" font, the initial "G" was green.

At one point, the logo also featured an exclamation mark similar to Yahoo's, which was the biggest internet site at the time.

The main logo - 1999 to 2015

Google changed its logo again in 1999 and that version would become the popular one most people think of today.

Ruth Kadar was brought on board as the main graphic designer and the basis of her design would last until 2015.

Kadar's logo, which featured a Catull typeface (with a slightly projected shadow), stripped off the exclamation mark and switched up the color arrangement, with the initial "G" changing to blue.

When asked about the color choices, Kadar said: “There were a lot of different color iterations. We ended up with the primary colors, but instead of having the pattern go in order, we put a secondary color on the 'L,' which brought back the idea that Google doesn’t follow the rules.”

Subsequent logos

Later versions of the logo remained quite similar to Kadar's initial design, featuring just slight font variations.

In one version, the shadowing was removed from the letters.

And in the current logo, which was released on September 1, 2015, the typeface switched to a more modern font called Product Sans, which was actually created in-house at Google.

Google's logo evolution over the years has featured seven differing designs.
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Google's logo evolution over the years has featured seven differing designs.
Google's latest logo was released in 2015 and features an in-house typeface.
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Google's latest logo was released in 2015 and features an in-house typeface.

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