Google Changes It’s FavIcon After 8.5 Years, But Is Open To User Submitted Designs

In the last couple of weeks Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) introduced a new icon that appears right next to the website URL.  Right now the icon is a purple, cursive, lower-case G.  We were so used to a capital G, Why did it change suddenly?  Marissa Mayer, VP of Search Products & User Experience explained why in The Official Google Blog.

“The design process we went through was rigorous and interesting, so we thought we would share more of it here,” stated Mayer. “We tried in total more than 300 permutations. It was much harder than we thought at first. We wanted something distinctive and noticeable, so we aimed toward transparency or semi-transparency, so the image would have a more distinctive noticeable shape than just a block.”

Below are some of the samples:

While the purple, cursive, lower-case G is the default right now, Google is currently accepting submissions for other favicons.  To submit a new icon, go to:
http://www.google.com/faviconideas/

Designing icons internally has been tough for many companies.  From what I’ve noticed, people need years and years of experience to create the perfect icons.  One of the more renown icon designers I’ve heard of is Susan Kare.  She designed the deck of cards in the original Solitaire program for Microsoft, helped Steve Jobs design fonts for the original Macintosh, created Facebook Gifts icons, assisted with the design of Glam.com, and is currently building with the look & feel of Chumby (small-sized web television device).

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