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The Google Logo – A Semiotic Analysis

INTRODUCTION
The study of signs and symbols with their interpretation is
how Semiotics is defined. In the business world, the first thing
that pops in someone’s mind is a company logo. The logo of a
company is a symbolic representation of the vision, mission
and brand positioning. It is a visual connection that a company
has with its customers.
In this article, I did a semiotic analysis of the Google logo by
dissecting the brand values and positioning of the brand and
the representation of these in the logo.
Google Logo Evolution
The word ‘Google’ has become a verb now. Google is
equivalent to the word ‘search’. The brand is international,
user-friendly and extensive. It stands for making things easier
for the user. Searching on Google is the simplest thing and this
people-centric and ease-of-use approach is what the brand is
known for. Therefore, the logo of such a brand needed to be
simplistic as well. The evolution of the logo was as follows –

The Brand and its Repositioning

The mission statement of Google is “Our mission is to organize
the world’s information and make it universally accessible and
useful.” With the use of Google’s colours to emphasis on the
key points. The vision statement is “to provide access to the
world’s information in one click.” The vision emphasis on the
ease-of-use and simplicity in the technology. The
representation of all these elements of the vision and mission
statement can be seen in the logo.
When one enters the website, the visual emphasis is on the
centre of the website. The eye moves from 1 – 2 – 3 and
completes the visit of the page. In cases of changing the
language the additional movement is added 1-1a-2-3. Unlike
the other search engines, Google doesn’t clutter its homepage
with news, ads or any other information except what it is
known for – being a search engine. The page uses minimal
text and minimal colours with minimal data. This is the
minimalistic design that attracts millions of users and has
worked in Google’s favour for years.
The Current Logo
The axiological level, it can be represented with words such as
it being an information provider, knowledgebase, simplicity,
user-friendly searches, mass service, keyword finder,
navigation tool, covers everything under the sun, organised,
digital encyclopaedia etc. At the semi-narrative level, I find
the ‘Google Assistant’ as someone who is extremely
knowledgeable, easy to talk to, always ready to help and a
great companion for finding answers to all the queries. Google
recently underwent a rebranding, the changes from the
previous one seemed insignificant but these little tweaks
made a huge difference. The analysis will be done by using
Saussure’s two-part model of the sign – Signifier and Signified
as well as Peirce’s triadic framework of signification
(representamen-object-interpretant).
Google Visual Analysis: Here, the signifier is the bold colourful
text written on a white background which signifies that the
text needs to stand out and simplicity was the main theme
that the designer wanted to focus on. The angular ‘e’ in the
end is inclined to show a movement upwards which signifies
linear growth and improvement as well as breaking the rules.
Google Colours: The signifiers are the bold and distinct colour
choice. All the colours chosen are primary colours, except
green which signifies that Google loves being an outlaw and
loves innovation. These primary colours have been a part of
the logo since a very long time. There were slight changes in
the colour. Except the shade of blue, the rest three were
toned down a shade. This signified the lightness to the eyes
and minimalism in approach.
Google Text: The signifier is the geometric sans-serif typeface
called Product Sans which is a Google customised font type.
This signifies simple, geometrical and approachable style. The
text is extremely comprehensible and has evolved with time,
as the world is moving towards minimal and simplistic design
so is the Google font type – with no serifs or intricate edges to
the letters.
Google 'G'

Google came up with a new favicon (short for favourite icon)

which was a shift from the previously used ones as this
favicon integrates the whole logo in one letter – G. The text
font style and the colours of the logo are maintained in this
favicon. In my opinion, this is not just a favicon but Google’s
way of making the logotype into a graphic which can be
recognised as representing a visual identify for Google (like
the tick is associated with Nike).
The Imperfections in the Google ‘G’.

The imperfections as identified in the images are as follows –

1) The outer shape is not a perfect circle.
2) The inner shape is also not a perfect circle.
3) The backward slash line is coinciding on both ends, but this
is not the case with the forward-slash line. There is a little
extra addition towards the end of the red region.
4) The horizontal line is cutting the G in the centre, but the
width of the blue surface above and below the dotted line is
not equal but wider below the line.

After identifying these imperfections in the logo, I recreated

the Google G logo with all the rectifications that could be
done. The resulting logo is completely symmetrical with
respect to the following – both inner and outer shapes are
perfect circles, the division of the colours in the logo is
completely identical, the end tip of the G is also inclined
perfectly and the width of the tail of G is also symmetrical
from the centre.
Perfecting the Imperfections

The first two images show the segregation lines I drew to get a
perfectly symmetrical shape. In the third image, I filled the
colours according to the existing logo but here all of them
occupy the same width. The fourth is the final ‘perfected’ logo
of Google. The logo doesn’t visually appeal to the eye because
the ‘imperfect’ logo was designed such that there is more
visual weight added to the logo. Along with this, the colours
were filled in a manner that the movement of eye flows
through the logo in a smooth manner. These elements make
the user love the ‘imperfect’ yet aesthetically appealing logo
for Google G. Themes that a logo has are (1) Direction toward
the Future, (2) Identity with Viewers, (3) Instant Recognition
and Distinctiveness, (4) Consistency throughout Evolution, (5)
Invocation of Change, and (6) True Representation of
Corporate Identity. The Google logo seems to check all the
boxes with the graphical logotype and the Goggle G.

DICTATION:
 https://www.occultspeak.com/google-logo-analysis/?
utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=goo
gle-logo-analysis
 https://insideiim.com/google-logo-a-semiotic-analysis-1
 https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Barthess-Semiotic-
Analysis-on-Google-Logo-2_tbl2_365152542
 https://www.academia.edu/8750002/
Logomorphism_and_Liquid_Logos_An_Analysis_of_Googl
e_Doodles