Google is rebranding Arts & Culture with new ampersand logo

Google is preparing to rebrand its Arts & Culture app with a newly trademarked ampersand logo, replacing the classic museum.

This morning, two new Google trademarks appeared online, each one showing a “stylized ampersand.” The only difference between the two filings is that one is in Google’s signature four-color design, while the other is simply black.

On its own, the logo doesn’t really explain the purpose for which Google would intend to use this new ampersand design. Luckily, in the last few days it seems Google has itself posted the new logo onto Wikipedia in the page for Arts & Culture, listing it as the 2022 logo.

The trademark filing for the logo also further confirms the intended Google Arts & Culture rebranding, with mentions of existing features like virtual galleries, VR tours, and more.

&™ trademark registration is intended to cover the categories of downloadable software for providing access to and searching for images, audiovisual content, video content, audio content, information, virtual tours and virtual reality content, all in the fields of art, music, culture, history, architecture, entertainment, media, science, and emerging technologies; downloadable software for identifying and providing information about artworks; downloadable software for editing and modifying photos; Downloadable software for providing access to computer games.

As it stands today, the logo for Google Arts & Culture on Android and iOS devices is modeled to look like an old-school museum, complete with pillars at the entrance. This older icon was well suited to Google’s older style of Material Design logos, especially with its use of shadows. Meanwhile, the new icon is distinctly a Google design, for better or worse, looking just like every other app the company provides.

So far, neither the web app or mobile app have been updated to the new ampersand logo, but it’s surely only a matter of time. What do you think of the new logo for Google Arts & Culture? Let us know down in the comments.

More on Google Arts & Culture:

• Google Arts & Culture launches ‘Giga Manga’ web app that lets you create manga characters using AI
• Google follows up ‘Art Selfie’ with new camera mode that matches your pets to famous portraits
• Google’s AR Synth web app puts you in a virtual electronic music studio