September 13, 2012

Google Play Research


Google Play does not describe accurately the wide array of product's that it provides and misleads you into believing its game based. 

combining apps and games, books, movies, and music - simplifying! SIMPLIFYING IS POWER!

Google Play is a digital multimediadistribution service operated by Google. It includes an online store for music, movies, books, magazines, and Android applications and games, as well as a cloud media player. The service is accessible from the web and the Play Store mobile app on most Android and Google TV devices.[1] Purchased content is available across all of these platforms/devices.[2] Google Play was introduced in March 2012 when Googlerebranded its whole digital distribution strategy and merged the Android Marketand Google Music services into Google Play.[3]

UC - BRAND NEW ARTICLE:
Google branding straddles the line between great and bad. While it still struggles to find a consistent tone of visual voice, upgrades to the interface of YouTube and beautiful logo animations like the one for Google Chrome that you can see on their commercials prove that they are on the right track and have mastered the art of the not-so-annoying gradients. The logo for Google Play combines all of Google’s brand idioms in one place: the aforementioned obligatory gradients; a flat rendition of the serif logo; and General, the custom sans serif designed by Hoefler & Frere-Jones and Kevin Dresser. The elements come together nicely and almost seamlessly, now that we are getting used to Google’s logo lock-ups. The icon is first a play icon for, you know, “Play” — a somewhat lazy conceit that I’ve moaned about in the past but one that I guess is almost unavoidable with things named “Play” — as well as, perhaps, the idea of projection. It’s not groundbreaking, but it’s not bad either.
Nice summary of Google's internet branding. There should be college classes or books with all sorts of diagrams charting this mess, watching the internet slowly tame itself. It would be quite fascinating,

Google's branding overall is a meh to me. They keep trying to "improve" their pages and end up making them more complex and harder to use. Google.com look better now with a black bar at the top? Not at all. Youtube is a disaster. I used to be able to listen to songs on Youtube and play chess online, but now the Youtube video takes over Firefox for the duration of the video. It just seems as though now that Google is a big, dumb company that has forgot what its core values were and is getting sloppy about the basics. Makes me sad.
As for the logo in question, it's OK, but Google has so much crap all over the place that it's hard to keep straight. That's the real branding issue to me.

One of the things I really appreciate about Google is its evolution. They are growing up before our eyes. And as they grow they try new things that may not work. But those lesser products are pruned and the beautiful tree continues to grow.
It shouldn't surprise anyone to learn that Google is a GIANT multi-national organization. But Google is also strong on an individual scale, one where ideas like my friend J's design for a new Android figure is created and has become a coveted object. There are ideas that are embraced and given a chance, some successful, more not.
But this enormously creative company has a branding challenge unlike any other. It is difficult with an enterprise of this size to maintain a consistent visual identity. With the vast number of products being produced, it is difficult to maintain one vision conveyed by Google's graphic design.
This Google Play identity may be a step in the right direction, or merely a first step in trying something new. History points to the latter being more likely.
Full disclosure- Google is a client, a client I'm very grateful for.

Compared to all of Google's various logo efforts, I enjoy this one more than any others. I think they did some smart things here. The color scheme alludes to RGB without being harsh primaries. These colors absolutely map to the projection theme which also matches the playful analog contrast in the video. It's a lot of fun. It's not tacky. It retains some Google characteristics and yet feels fresh for this company.




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