11 Oct Google’s new Gmail logo says goodbye to the red envelope
Google has launched Google Workspace, a new umbrella name to house all of its productivity apps, and the rebrand includes an update to Gmail’s classic red envelope.
While physical workspaces aren’t quite a thing of the past yet, the majority of our communications, whether that’s with colleagues, businesses, and even family and friends, is now online. With that in mind, Google has decided to roll out Google Workspace, a complete rebrand and repositioning of what was formerly known as G Suite.
Touted as, “everything you need to get anything done, now in one place”, Google Workspace will house all of Google’s productivity apps that we’ve become accustomed to, such as Gmail, Calendar, Drive, Docs, Sheets and many more. The belief is that the merging of its apps into one central space will better compete with Microsoft Office and Outlook email.
As well as a new home for all these apps, the rebrand also sees an update in both the function of some of these apps and in appearance. The main change is a new design for Gmail, which bids farewell to its recognisable red envelope.
In its place is now a soft M made out of Google’s core colours of blue, red, yellow and green. Without the envelope, the new logo is a closer match to Google’s other logos such as Maps, Chrome, and Google itself. Though this does make it harder to differentiate between them, especially as Google has also upgraded its Calendar, Docs, Sheets and Meets logos to align with the new Gmail look.
Speaking to Fast Company, Google creative director Margaret Cyphers said the need to create something new yet still recognisable was the biggest challenge, seeing as the logo hadn’t really been updated since its inception. “It’s a hard balance, for sure. When you have strong brand equity, that’s something you have to be very respectful of and cautious [about],” she said.
Though the interface of these individual apps will remain broadly the same, the aim is to better integrate the apps so that they can be used within each other, rather than separately. For instance, in Google Chat the plan is to be able to paste in a doc or a spreadsheet and work on it in real time without opening up the connecting apps.
Google’s spent the last ten years creating apps to increase productivity and solve distinct challenges. Workspace continues to encourage the use of these apps, while also highlighting their new and improved flexibility.
“Our new Google Workspace brand reflects this more connected, helpful, and flexible experience,” writes Javier Soltero, VP and GM of Google Workspace, in a Google blog post. “[It] represents our commitment to building integrated communication and collaboration experiences for everyone, all with helpfulness from Google.”
By Rebecca Fulleylove @ Creative Review