If you’ve recently downloaded the latest Canary version of Google Chrome, you may have noticed that the icon is different. The change marks the first time in eight years that Google has redesigned the symbol representing its iconic web browser. At first glance, it doesn’t look all that different, but there’s more to the update than meets the eye. On a Twitter Thread discovered by , Google designer Elvin Hu details the thought process that went into the redesign.
Some of you may have noticed a new icon in Chrome’s Canary update today. Yea! we are updating Chrome brand icons for the first time in 8 years. The new icons will start appearing on your devices soon. pic.twitter.com/aaaRRzFLI1
— Elvin 🌈 (@elvin_not_11) February 4, 2022
If you look closely, you’ll notice that Google has removed the shadows that were part of the icon, opting for a flatter design in line with the company’s other products. It also changed the proportions of the symbol while brightening the individual colors that make it up. But the most impactful change the company has introduced is that it has added subtle gradients to the icon’s green and red segments. Hu says the company found that certain shades of these two colors produced an “unpleasant color flicker” when placed next to each other. You can see a more apparent example of the phenomenon that Hu talks about in this . Either way, the result of the change is a “more accessible” icon.
Depending on where you use Chrome, you will see additional subtle changes. That’s because Hu says Google has spent time customizing the icon to make it more comfortable on every operating system you can download Chrome on. On macOS, for example, the symbol will look more three-dimensional. On iOS, meanwhile, there will be a special version of the icon linked to the beta version of the software. According to Hu, we will see the updated icon roll out in the coming months.
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