Why Google's logo got a makeover

Google on Tuesday debuted a new look for its familiar logo.

The letters in Google's name are still in the same four colors — yellow, blue, red and green — but the font has been updated to lose its serifs and evoke a cleaner, more modern style.

The new logo, according to Google, is supposed to match its broad reach across multiple devices, rather than the desktop computers of old. The company also has updated many of its other symbols, including the small blue “G” that appears as a thumbnail on its services. The letter is now four colors.

This is the fifth time the company has changed its logo since it launched in 1998. Google invented its own typeface, called “Product Sans,” as part of the redesign. Like the logo, it draws its inspiration from the text some may remember from old schoolbooks. The font and the logo have been designed to look polished and unique at any screen size.

The old logo being wiped away and the new one being created can bee seen at Google.com, the company's main search page. The new look comes just a few weeks after the company introduced a new name — Alphabet — and a new corporate structure.

From the company's blog post: “So why are we doing this now? Once upon a time, Google was one destination that you reached from one device: a desktop PC. These days, people interact with Google products across many different platforms, apps and devices _ sometimes all in a single day.”

Google's new look falls in line with other major tech rebrands in recent years, at least in terms of the font. Microsoft similarly went for a sans-serif, upright typeface when it rebranded in 2012 after 25 years with its former logo. Yahoo similarly went super-clean with its new logo, although it did retain its quirky exclamation point.

Google's new design is mostly straight up-and-down as well, although it does have a self-consciously tilted "e." Symbologists, read into that what you will.