Google's new logo actually has a functional purpose

Change is hard and Google, which has used the same recognizable four-color wordmark since 1999, is shaking things up with the introduction of a spiffy new sans-serif logo. Comfort yourself with this, at least: The new logo isn't here just to shake things up — it's actually got a real, functional purpose.

Losing the little "tails," or serifs, on the letters makes the font more legible when it's written in tiny sizes. Fast Company points out that if you're reading off of a 2.5-inch Android Wear watch, or a cell phone, the new font will now be just as readable as if it were projected on a 50-inch TV. The new logo is also animated, morphing into small dots that playfully circle each other on screen — which matches the playful look of the new wordmark, too.

And of course there's the fact that it's consistent. Now that Google belongs to the parent company Alphabet, which itself uses a sleek, modern, sans-serif look, the new logo keeps it all in the same (font) family.

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