We’ve already got used to the fact that companies make their logos simpler and flatter. One more example of this trend has recently been presented by Google. Releasing a new version of its Photos app, the web giant has also shown a refreshed icon for it. Those Android and iOS users, who have updated Google Photos on their mobile devices, can already see it.
The Google Photos pinwheel has received a roundier design. Keeping their colors – red, blue, green and yellow – but in lighter shades, its blades have become half-circular, and as they don’t have the two-tone shades, which were in the previous emblem, the new logo looks flatter. Overall, the four elements are perceived as abstract figures, and you wouldn’t identify them together as a pinwheel, in case you didn’t see the old Google Photos logotype.
Perhaps, it’s no surprise that such a simplification from Google caused a backlash on social media. People were saying the new logo is too simple, to the point where it loses identity, and the previous Photo emblem wasn’t so complicated to change it. It was also noted that the semicircles are similar to those in the logo of the Giant food supermarket chain.
Anyway, the new Photos icon is not so ugly. With its rounded forms, it fits well the logos of the other Google services – the Maps and Chrome. Users just need time to adjust to this emblem.
As for the updated Photos application itself, it features a new library allowing to assign photos to different categories, search system, which will make easier to find pictures with people, animals, buildings etc., and also an interactive map displaying the places where that or another photo or video was taken.
