Google modified up its Chrome emblem earlier this 12 months, for the primary time since 2014. The new Chrome emblem has some delicate variations from earlier than, because of a scarcity of shadows, barely completely different proportions, and brighter colours. Most Chrome customers may not have even seen its introduction in Chrome 100, however Google had experimented with much more radical designs that didn’t make the reduce.

Some of the extra placing proposals included utterly completely different shapes for the Chrome emblem or separating the colours with white borders. “In the exploratory phase, we tried all kinds of ideas; softening corners, different geometries, whether or not to separate the colors with white,” explains Thomas Messenger, a visible designer at Google. “We also tried options that further departed from the overall shape we’ve been using for the past 12 years.”

Image: Google

One thought would have seen the Chrome emblem transfer to a extra burnt orange look (see above), which might look extra at house for Mozilla’s Firefox browser. Ultimately, Google performed it secure with a delicate redesign that stored the 4 recognizable colours of the Chrome emblem in place. “We knew how well the four Google colors and circular composition are recognized, so we decided not to deviate too much from that,” says Messenger.

Google did check out quite a lot of coloration, gradient, and proportion adjustments in numerous contexts and finally created OS-specific customizations. On Windows 10 and Windows 11, the Chrome icon has extra of a gradient, whereas brighter colours are seen on the icon in Chrome OS with out gradients. Google even went for a extra 3D look in macOS to match the remainder of Apple’s working system.

If you’re questioning whether or not the Chrome icon from 2014 would possibly make a comeback, Google doesn’t rule it out. “Never say never,” says Elvin Hu, a person expertise interplay designer at Google. “We’ve investigated custom app icons, and found that each platform has different levels of support for it. Maybe one day we will bring it back as an option on platforms that support it.”