Gmail Gets A Refreshing New Minimalist Look, Here’s How To Activate It
With the release of Google+ (Google Plus), Google’s attempt to take on Facebook, Google has bought in a minimalist and refreshing new look across many of its services. The combination of black navigation bar with the blue search buttons or orange buttons looks nice to the eyes. First it was Google search, now its time for Gmail. This new refreshing look is now available to all Gmail users from today.
The new Gmail look as of yet is available as Gmail Theme and is thus optional to all. Two new themes: “Preview” and “Preview (Dense)” are now available for users to test out the new look. You can easily switch to the new look by accessing the Themes feature of Gmail.
First, Log in to your Gmail account and click on the gear icon present on the top right corner of the page, select “Settings” from the drop-down.
Click on the Themes tab, scroll down and select the theme named Preview or Preview (Dense), whichever you like. The new theme will be applied.
If you don’t like the new look, you can always go back to the old Classic look or whichever theme you were using.
Here’s what the thread list looks like:
And in conversation view:
Here’s what Chris Wiggins, Creative Director, Google has to say about the Google design and experience:
The new Google experience that we’ve begun working toward is founded on three key design principles: focus, elasticity and effortlessness.
Focus: Whether you’re searching, emailing or looking for a map, the only thing you should be concerned about is getting what you want. Our job is to provide the tools and features that will get you there quickly and easily. With the design changes in the coming weeks and months, we’re bringing forward the stuff that matters to you and getting all the other clutter out of your way. Even simple changes, like using bolder colors for actionable buttons or hiding navigation buttons until they’re actually needed, can help you better focus on only what you need at the moment.
Elasticity: In the early days, there was pretty much just one way to use Google: on a desktop computer with an average-sized monitor. Over a decade later, all it takes is a look around one’s home or office at the various mobile devices, tablets, high-resolution monitors and TVs to see a plethora of ways to access the web. The new design will soon allow you to seamlessly transition from one device to another and have a consistent visual experience. We aim to bring you this flexibility without sacrificing style or usefulness.
Effortlessness: Our design philosophy is to combine power with simplicity. We want to keep our look simple and clean, but behind the seemingly simple design, use new technologies like HTML5, WebGL and the latest, fastest browsers to make sure you have all the power of the web behind you.
What is your opinion about all these changes? Do you like the new look?