Battle of the Search Engine Logo Re-Design

It looks like this month is shaping up to be the battle of the search engines and their logo re-designs. Earlier this month we posted on Yahoo's re-design and readers were not shy about sharing their thoughts on that subject. Well now it's Microsoft's turn with the re-branding of their search engine Bing.

I have to say Bing comes out swinging - and in my opinion, its a KO in the first round. Scott Erickson, Senior Director, Brand and Creative shares some insight on the project in a recent blog post. "A new visual identity doesn't just happen overnight. We spent months looking at ways to update the look of Bing to represent what the product offers today, while achieving visual parity with Microsoft’s over-arching new look for the company. We worked with product, graphic and user experience designers to create a look that matches and grows with the product."

Call me crazy but this seems to be calling out Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer and her post on bringing a new logo to life in a weekend brainstorming session with her design team and intern.

Let me be clear, I am not a branding expert - I leave that to the professionals. However, it does seem apparent to me that Mr. Erickson's approach was considerably more thoughtful and integrated.  The logo redesign set out to reflect the evolution of Bing from a mere search engine to a psychic magic eight ball - "delivering answers as users need them, via the products used every day even before users ask the question and improving the user experience."

They gave careful consideration to a logo that would reflect who they are today while blending well with Microsoft's new look. They reflected on their parent company's new identity, studying motion, font, color, size and form - settling on a look they deemed "simple, real and direct."  I have to say I think they have achieved that.

bing.com

bing.com

The font is a customized version for Segoe - keeping the lowercase "b" as a nod to their past logo. The kerning was closely studied to give the logo some unity with the Windows mark. The color, while reminiscent of the previous Bing orange, is a bit more current and connects well with the palette in the flag of the Microsoft logo.

bing.com

bing.com

To me this is so very different in every way to the process employed by Yahoo for its redesign. Clearly the new Bing identity is poised to weather the evolution of the brand and more importantly, I believe, accomplishes what Bing set out to provide its users with - clarity and insight. I say job well done to Mr. Erickson and his team, but in the end I am still a Google loving girl.