Product Sans is a geometric

sans-serif In typography and lettering, a sans-serif, sans serif (), gothic, or simply sans letterform is one that does not have extending features called "serifs" at the end of strokes. Sans-serif typefaces tend to have less stroke width variation than ...

typeface A typeface (or font family) is a design of Letter (alphabet), letters, Numerical digit, numbers and other symbols, to be used in printing or for electronic display. Most typefaces include variations in size (e.g., 24 point), weight (e.g., light, ...

created by

Google Google LLC (, ) is an American multinational corporation and technology company focusing on online advertising, search engine technology, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, consumer electronics, and artificial ...

for branding purposes. It replaced the old Google logo on September 1, 2015. As Google's branding was becoming more apparent on multiple device types, Google sought to adapt its design so that its logo could be portrayed in constrained spaces and remain consistent for its users across platforms.

Design

The design team wanted to retain the simple and approachable styles in previous logos but also include geometric forms. It has been suggested that the design of Product Sans is inspired by Futura. The most notable difference between the two is the double-story 'a', which was implemented to contrast the circular shapes of the other characters. Product Sans prefers to end the stroke terminals at about 45 degrees, with the cut off being perpendicular to the tangent of the stroke. Slight optical corrections were also made to the geometric forms. The uppercase "G" has its circular shape pulled inwards slightly where it meets the crossbar. The counters of the '6', '8', and '9' are almost perfect circles. These visual corrections were made for legibility.

License

Product Sans is proprietary and was not released under an open source license.

Usage

The present Google logo is based on Product Sans. Slight modifications do exist in the logo compared to the typeface; the most noticeable is the slanted 'e'. The differences between the logo and Product Sans allows for distinction between the Google logotype and product name. Product Sans is mainly used in the text of Google's numerous services' logotypes such as

Maps A map is a symbolic depiction of interrelationships, commonly spatial, between things within a space. A map may be annotated with text and graphics. Like any graphic, a map may be fixed to paper or other durable media, or may be displayed on ...

Drive Drive or The Drive may refer to: Motoring * Driving, the act of controlling a vehicle * Road trip, a journey on roads Roadways Roadways called "drives" may include: * Driveway, a private road for local access to structures, abbreviated "drive" * ...

News News is information about current events. This may be provided through many different Media (communication), media: word of mouth, printing, Mail, postal systems, broadcasting, Telecommunications, electronic communication, or through the te ...

, and

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to Planetary habitability, harbor life. This is enabled by Earth being an ocean world, the only one in the Solar System sustaining liquid surface water. Almost all ...

. The font is also used on the

Google Store Google Store is a hardware retail store operated by Google that sells Google Pixel devices, Google Nest products, Chromecast dongles, Fitbit devices, and accessories such as earbuds, phone cases, chargers, and keyboards. It also sold Nexus, ...

, and in some versions of

Android Android most commonly refers to: *Android (robot), a humanoid robot or synthetic organism designed to imitate a human * Android (operating system), a mobile operating system primarily developed by Google * Android TV, a operating system developed ...

Variations

In 2018, Google created Google Sans, a size-optimized version of Product Sans used as the display font of Google's customized and adapted version of

Material Design Material Design (codename Quantum Paper) is a design language developed by Google in 2014. Expanding on the "cards" UI that debuted in Google Now, Material Design uses more grid-based layouts, responsive animations and transitions, padding, an ...

, the "Google Material Theme". Sometime between 2018 and 2020, Google also created Google Sans Display, a variation of Google Sans. In 2020, Google introduced Google Sans Text, yet another variation of Google Sans featured in some used products, with the most notable difference being the added

spur A spur is a metal tool designed to be worn in pairs on the heels of riding boots for the purpose of directing a horse or other animal to move forward or laterally while riding. It is usually used to refine the riding aids (commands) and to ba ...

on the capital letter "G".

References

External links

Product Sans Specimen by Google

Product Sans Demo (All Weights and Sizes)
{{Google LLC Geometric sans-serif typefaces Corporate typefaces Display typefaces Google