Google has been going flat for a long time. Since the launch of Android 4.0 near the end of 2011, Google’s new style of user interface design, called Holo, has been making its way into every Google service imaginable. This Holo design language includes many things besides just a flat shading type of design; it also includes things like slide-out left-hand menus, additional settings stored within a button on the top right of the screen and other some such things as found in the Holo Design Guidelines. Google Now was the first major app that Google launched with this new flattened style, and since then they’ve rolled out a complete overhaul of their main Android apps including Gmail, Drive and others. In addition to Android apps, Google has also overhauled pretty much all their web apps, and today they are putting the finishing touches on this overhaul with the launch of their redesigned home page and logo.
The iconic Google logo has remained more or less what it was, but has received a completely flat design and a slight color change on a few of the letters. Gone is the late 90s shaded version of the logo, and the webpage itself has received a nice facelift too. It’s still mostly populated with a white background, but now the upper navigation resembles that of a mixture between Chrome OS and Google+. Instead of a black bar running across the top of the page with a text list of Google’s services, there is now an app drawer icon that contains what looks like apps for all of Google’s services. This helps create a more familiar look, and likely is a move on Google’s part to get more people used to the Chrome OS interface as well. We imagine Google will continue to update its apps and services with easier navigation and simpler styling. Holo Light and card interfaces seem to be where Google is going these days, and it likely gives us a look at just what the next big version of Android will look like as well. Whether or not that’s Android 4.4 Kit Kat or Android 5.0 remains to be seen. The new Google homepage is rolling out to users in waves, so if you haven’t received the update yet you should in the coming hours and days.