Product Sans
 | |
| Category | Sans-serif |
|---|---|
| Classification | Geometric |
| Foundry | |
| Date created | September 1, 2015 |
| License | Proprietary[1] Apache License[2] |
Product Sans is a geometric sans-serif typeface created by Google for branding purposes.[3][4] It replaced the old Google logo on September 1, 2015. As Google's branding was becoming more apparent on a multitude of kinds of devices, Google sought to adapt its design so that its logo could be portrayed in constrained spaces and remain consistent for its users across platforms. A size-optimized version of Product Sans, called Google Sans, is also used as the display font of Google's customized and adapted version of Material Design, Google Material Theme.[5][6]
Design
The design team wanted to retain the simple and approachable styles in previous logos but also include geometric forms. The font nearly matches the Futura typeface.[7] The most notable difference between the two is the double-storey 'a', which was implemented to contrast the circular shapes of the other characters.[8] Product Sans prefers to end the stroke terminals at about 45 degrees, with the cut off being perpendicular to the tangent of the stroke.
Slight optical corrections were also made to the geometric forms. The uppercase "G" has its circular shape pulled inwards slightly where it meets the crossbar. The counters of the '6', '8', and '9' are almost perfect circles. These visual corrections were made for legibility.
License
The Product Sans font was not released as an open source font.[9] However, on 23 May 2018 Product Sans' regular weight was uploaded to GitHub in the repository for the iOS app for Google I/O.[10] This repository is licensed under the Apache License.[2]
Usage
The present Google logo is based on Product Sans. Slight modifications do exist in the logo compared to the typeface: the most noticeable is the slanted 'e'. The differences between the logo and Product Sans allows for distinction between the Google logotype and product name.[3] Product Sans is mainly used in the text of Google's numerous services' logotypes such as Maps, Drive, News, Earth, etc. The font is also used on the "Made by Google" website, which showcases Google products,[11] and in some versions of Android.
References
- ^ "Google Product Sans License". Google. Retrieved 2 March 2017.
- ^ a b LICENSE: "All image and audio files (including *.png, *.jpg, *.svg, *.mp3, *.wav and *.ogg) are licensed under the CC-BY-NC license. All other files are licensed under the Apache 2 license."
- ^ a b "Evolving the Google Identity". Google Design. Google. Retrieved 2 May 2016.
- ^ Swanner, Nate. "Google created an entirely new typeface (Product Sans) for its snappy logo redesign". The Next Web. Retrieved 2 May 2016.
- ^ Hall, Stephen (9 May 2018). "Now we know: Google Sans is actually a size-optimized version of Product Sans". 9to5Google. Retrieved 14 May 2018.
- ^ "How Google created a custom Material theme". Material Design. Google. Retrieved 2 October 2018.
- ^ "What Font is the New Google Logo? - Design for Hackers". Design for Hackers. 2015-09-01. Retrieved 2017-03-12.
- ^ "Product Sans Specimen" (PDF). Google Inc. 2015. Retrieved 12 March 2017.
- ^ ""Google Fonts: license for Product Sans".
- ^ https://github.com/google/iosched-ios/blob/master/Source/IOsched/ProductSans-Regular.ttf
- ^ "Made by Google". Made by Google. Retrieved 2017-04-20.
