Google's new (again) favicon: a whole lot of fuss over 256 pixels
Posted on Wed Jan 14 2009
When you're a huge brand and don't really advertise much, people tend to dissect every little thing you do. How else to explain the controversy around Google's new favicon?
A favicon, for those who don't know, is the little image that appears next to the URL in a browser's address bar. This month, Google rolled out a new one—its second redesign in eight months (after using the original cap-G for eight years). The new icon looks a bit like a lower-case "g" as seen through a stained-glass window.
Some reviews have been pretty harsh. "Google Gets a New Favicon and It's, Uh, Colorful" says a headline on TechCrunch. "A little sloppy," muses the writer of a blog called Koodoz Design. In a Facebook status update, Marc Schiller, CEO of Electric Artists, dubs it "god fucking awful."
Well now, let's not be too harsh. You should see some of the favicon designs that didn't make the cut.
—Posted by Todd Wasserman
