Google Design’s Best of 2018
Our annual review highlights the year’s noteworthy design projects
This was a big year for design at Google—our biggest yet? We launched a series with People + AI Research on designing with artificial intelligence, the Google Hardware team celebrated their Milan Design Week debut, and projects by Creative Lab, Daydream, GSuite, the Expression team, and many others made our noteworthy list. We even got kudos from the likes of AIGA and Fast Company for the work Google put out into the world. As we wave 2018 goodbye, we’re taking a moment at Google Design HQ to reflect on some of the year’s emergent themes, and the programs and products that deserve your attention. We’ve organized our retrospective into three categories and there’s plenty of design to enjoy. So without further ado…
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09/26/2018
Google is FastCo’s Design Company of the Year
“We have world-class designers across key areas… There’s alignment around shared values and approaches but diversity of thought and opinion.” — Sundar PichaiWhen Google was incorporated in 1998, it was synonymous with technology and search engines. But design? Not so much. Today, Google is Fast Company’s 2018 Design Company of the Year. Clearly, a lot has changed over the last two decades. In a new interview with Sundar Pichai, our CEO discusses Google’s design evolution, challenges, and legacy—revealing how we landed the first Fast Company award recognizing high-quality, ambitious design work in an organization.Read more over at Fast Company
08/22/2018
Google Fonts launches Japanese support—and makes loading large fonts even faster
Japanese fonts are both complex and very large—spanning well over ten thousand codepoints across four writing systems. This poses a unique challenge when it comes to the web, since downloading a Japanese font as a single “block” would make page load unacceptably slow. Google Fonts' innovative delivery system circumvents this problem by splitting the large fonts into roughly 100 “slices” based on an analysis of online language patterns. This intelligent approach was first used earlier this year for Korean fonts, and is now extended to support Japanese text with six web fonts for designers and developers. Try all six fast-loading Japanese kanji fontsWant the latest fonts first? Join the Google Fonts Early Access Program
08/15/2018
Announcing SPAN Helsinki, 1 Nov 2018
This year, our annual design conference is heading to Helsinki. Join 250 makers and technologists for a a day of thought-provoking talks, hands-on workshops, and experiential sessions in Finland’s capital city. We’re thrilled to host world-renowned speakers and Finnish designers working at the intersection of AI, art, and design for a single day of diverse programming. Registration is now open, please visit design.google/span2018 to learn more and follow #SPAN18 for updates on the speaker lineup (and more) in the days ahead.Tickets are free, but spots are limited! Register now for SPAN 2018
08/02/2018
Open call for 2018 Material Design Award nominations
A design system only comes to life when it’s used to create meaningful experiences. The annual Material Design Awards celebrate these experiences, showcasing best-in-class designs from our talented community.Are you working on a product that exemplifies Material Design? Nominate yourself or your team for a 2018 Material Design Award and help us highlight what brings the Material Design system to life. This year’s categories for nomination: Expression, Experience, Adaptation, and Innovation. We’re looking for products that push the boundaries of Material Design and incorporate its expressive capabilities to create brilliant, meaningful experiences, no matter the platform. Start by filling out an entry form—and if you need some inspiration, take a look at the 2015, 2016, and 2017 winners. The deadline for nominations is August 31, 2018 and Material Design Award winners will be announced on Google Design in October.
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Google Design is a cooperative effort led by a group of designers, writers, and developers at Google. We work across teams to publish original content, produce events, and foster creative and educational partnerships that advance design and technology.

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