Google Old and New Logo: A Before-and-After Evaluation
Compare Google's serif-era wordmark with the 2015 geometric logo: construction, vector files versus raster previews, and what download rights actually cover.
Contents
What the old and new Google logos are
Google's current wordmark, introduced in 2015, is a geometric sans-serif lockup set in the company's custom typeface Product Sans. It replaced the serif wordmark drawn from Catull that Google used, with modest refinements, from 1999 until that redesign. Both versions spell the same six-letter name in the same four-color sequence: blue, red, yellow, blue, green, red. For vector work, the relevant comparison is construction: how the letterforms are built, and whether the file in hand is true outline artwork.
The 2015 system also added a four-color capital G icon that stands in for the full wordmark in app icons, favicons, and tight layouts. When someone asks for the old Google logo, they usually mean the Catull-based serif wordmark. When they ask for the new one, they mean the Product Sans wordmark, often paired with that G.
How each version is constructed
The older mark is a serif wordmark. Serifs, brackets, and contrast in the strokes produce more complex outlines. Later official revisions of that serif lockup used a soft drop shadow, which behaves like a photographic effect even when the letters themselves are paths. Recreating that generation as clean vectors means drawing those serifs accurately and treating the shadow as a separate production choice for that revision.
The 2015 mark is built from simpler geometric parts. The two o letters are circles. Stroke weight is even, and terminals follow a consistent geometric cut. That construction stays sharp at small sizes in true outline files, which matches the stated purpose of the redesign as a digital-first identity. Official current artwork is typically supplied as separate lockups: the full wordmark, the G icon, and combinations with product names.
Side-by-side differences that affect vector files
| Aspect | Classic serif wordmark (1999–2015) | Current geometric wordmark (2015–) |
| Letter construction | Serif forms derived from Catull | Geometric sans forms in Product Sans |
| Dimensional treatment | Some official versions used a drop shadow | Flat color fills, no shadow |
| Accompanying mark | Wordmark-led identity | Wordmark plus four-color G icon |
| Typical outline work | More complex letter paths; shadow may be an effect or a raster layer | Simpler closed paths; icon and wordmark as separate lockups |
| Small-size behavior | Serifs and shadow break up first | Geometry holds at icon and UI sizes |
| Current brand fills | Similar four-color idea; exact values varied by revision | Specified palette often given as blue #4285F4, red #EA4335, yellow #FBBC05, green #34A853 |
Vector artwork, embedded images, and raster previews
A usable vector logo is outline artwork: letters as closed paths, or live type that has been converted to outlines, stored in a format that preserves those paths. SVG, PDF, and EPS can hold that kind of artwork. The same formats can also hold a raster image. An SVG that places a PNG inside an image element is a bitmap preview in a vector wrapper. A PDF that flattens the mark to pixels is the same problem. A filename ending in .svg, .eps, or .pdf does not prove the file contains editable paths.
When you evaluate a Google logo file, inspect the actual objects. True vector versions of either generation show individual letter outlines you can select. A preview pixelates when enlarged. A flattened export, a screenshot, and a web-resolution PNG are delivery copies, not source artwork, for either the serif or the geometric mark.
Typefaces, outlines, and usage rights
Catull and Product Sans are proprietary. Substituting a lookalike serif for the old lockup, or a generic geometric sans for the new one, produces an approximation. Converting official letterforms to outlines is a production step. It is a way to freeze shape for print or fabrication; it is separate from any right to redraw, recolor, or combine the mark with other brands.
Permission to download a logo file is separate from permission to modify the artwork or to use the trademark. Google's name and logos are protected marks. Official brand assets typically allow the mark only in approved lockups, colors, and contexts—such as identifying Google as a product, partner, or source—and they restrict alteration, recoloring, and any use that implies endorsement. A clean vector of the old or new logo does not by itself authorize commercial use, modified versions, or merchandise.
Practical takeaway when you need a file
- Match the generation to the job: the serif wordmark for historical or retrospective work; the 2015 geometric wordmark and G icon for the current identity.
- Prefer official outline artwork over reconstructions, and confirm that letters are paths rather than embedded bitmaps.
- Keep the four-color sequence and proportions specified for that generation, and keep the serif letters with the serif-era lockup and the G icon with the current system.
- If a shadow appears in a classic-era file, treat it as part of that revision's look.
- Read the trademark and brand-asset terms before placing either version in a product, site, or print piece.
Public accounts of the redesign document the typefaces and the 2015 date of the change. They do not replace the outline data, spacing, and color specifications in Google's own brand materials. Where those materials are unavailable, you can identify which generation a preview shows. A homemade tracing remains an unofficial drawing until it is checked against official outlines.