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Google Buzz is undoubtedly the latest hype on the social media network. Ever since I saw the Buzz logo, I have constantly pondered on its mysterious logo design. It was one day while playing UNO that I finally figured why the Google Buzz logo design bewildered me so much. I discovered that the Google Buzz logo bears a startling resemblance to the UNO card game logo.
The four colors of the Google Buzz “conversation bubble” logo design are arranged in an almost similar manner to the UNO “Wild Draw-Four” cards. The circle on UNO logo is sliced into four equal triangles of red, green, blue, and yellow colors. Likewise, the Google Buzz conversation bubble logo design is also bifurcated into the same colors and proportions.
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March 8th, 2010 at 10:42 am
After looking at both logos, I think it is mere coincidence and should be left at that. For one: three primary colors AND green is not a unique color code. Unless the PMS is exact same across (which it is not, the Buzz colors follow standard Google protocol) they are just easy/friendly colors.
The buzz logo is a cross between the Google Talk logo and Google’s proper coloring. It is not a circle, there is no white stroke around it, and they even bevel it to keep it from looking dated and flat.
Sorry, but I believe you are barking up the wrong tree here.
@andyincolor
March 8th, 2010 at 11:40 pm
Interesting…definitively something fishy going on here.
Thanks for pointing it out.
March 8th, 2010 at 11:55 pm
I don’t think this was intended, however there is a striking resemblance between the two thats for sure.
I mean, if you think about it, Google has been using those four colours as part of their identity for some time now. They’re included in the identity of each of their products – from Wave and gMail through to Buzz.
I think this is just a coincidence but they sure are damn close. Trust Google to try and take on Uno – the mother of all card games!
JB
March 9th, 2010 at 12:07 am
I don’t know… They’re similar, but there are lots of logos that use these colors. Like the old MSN logo. I think Google has just decided to own all the shapes of these 4 colors except maybe the Windows logo…
March 9th, 2010 at 12:14 am
Well:
1) It’s not the UNO logo. It’s the top card on the deck
2) the colours are not in the same sequence
3) They are the colours from the Google logo
4) it’s a speech bubble, which has an obvious relationship to “buzz”, not a circle
March 9th, 2010 at 1:49 am
I agree with Stephen,
besides Google wont do something like that!!
March 9th, 2010 at 3:30 am
I’m suprised that no one has mentioned this yet, but maybe this was done on purpose? Google Buzz is a social media network, Uno was a terrifically fun social game.
March 9th, 2010 at 3:32 am
Stephen…not saying it is plagiaris, but that IS Uno’s logo.
March 9th, 2010 at 3:37 am
How dare you …. Google does NOT steal !!! HTC does but NOT Google.
Fishy …. plagarism ….. lawsuit …… Non !!! Non!!! (fingers in my ears & LALALALALALALALALALA)
March 9th, 2010 at 5:01 am
And why can’t Google copy? Just because they are a ‘big’ company? That’s no excuse. Seems fishy enough.
March 9th, 2010 at 5:10 am
Agree with S.Ling. Both share the same target audience – Everyone.
March 9th, 2010 at 5:26 am
Google images for “simon says” too. Nothing to see here move along people.
March 9th, 2010 at 6:03 am
Sure there are a few similarities, but those seem irrelevant compared to the number of differencies. I wouldn’t defend google, it’s always ‘just’ people who design the logo at the end, so copying is not 100% evitable, but in this case, I would say, it’s not the issue.
Check the comparison of Bacardi logo to Swiss Air Force and decide yourself if the similarities in buzz and UNO logo are big enough to deserve attention.
March 9th, 2010 at 7:48 am
There is nothing alike in these two logos other than the colors which anyone could use.
Sorry, but this is a news fail.
March 9th, 2010 at 7:48 am
I sometimes wish there was a database of all logos in the world. It is almost impossible to know that one is not copying an already made logo. Being inspired by a logo is one thing, but making one that is similar is something else.
I don’t think that the logo came about while a group of people were playing Uno. It’s more likely just a coincidence.
(One could say it is in Uno favor that it’s logo is similar, people light play it more.)
March 9th, 2010 at 7:49 am
I this is a coincidence, google has always used the primary colors as did uno, and the speak bubble makes since for the google wave application, just as a curricular speak bubble would make since for uno.
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Thanks and Regards
March 9th, 2010 at 10:31 am
Browse with patience, (at google?) and you’ll find thousands of logos with that color scheme and that form. As much as we like to blame big corporations, i think that certain situations are conspiracy theories.
March 9th, 2010 at 10:33 am
Google and Uno? Seriously? It’s not fishy. They are completely different entities and throwing the word plagiarism at it is just dramatic.
March 9th, 2010 at 10:44 am
I believe the bigger concern would be obvious overuse throughout Microsofts’ XP (Experience) color scheme inside most of their logos, which is even more similarly close to both (UNO and Google), as show in this table below:
Google: red-yellow-blue-green
Microsoft: red-yellow-green-blue (Set Program Access and Defaults icon)
UNO: red-green-blue-yellow
March 9th, 2010 at 11:43 am
Occam called, he seems to think you guys need a shave.
On that Note, I agree with Andy Stone, Jon Bergan and Stephen Akins, this is as much plagiarisnm as is using an envelope for gmail
March 9th, 2010 at 12:43 pm
It is true that the colors and the shapes are similar, but it isn’t clearly a copy. The concept behind the Google Buzz logo, as other people has already pointed out, is a bubble speech of pieces that fit together.
If we see it as just a circular mix of basic colors then you would find too many coincidences out there.
Anyway, people who want to stay away from every possible coincidence should also stay away from very simple concepts, as they lead to such kind of situations. That’s why modern logo design aims in several situations to more complex illustrations.
March 9th, 2010 at 1:35 pm
Yes there are similarities, but I fint it difficult to believe that Google or their creative agency wanted to leverage the brand recognition of a card game when the logo itself on the box is that of the manufacturer Matel and the images on the cards are not the logos.
What usually happens in cases of plagerism or where someone copys a style of photography, a story line or a brand logo, the one doing the copying is almost always not as successful as the one they are copying. In essence, they are borrowing success or recognition. I havent looked at the numbers but I struggle to think that Google, from a financial perspective needs to borrow or leverage the success or recognition of a cardgame.
March 9th, 2010 at 2:22 pm
The game “UNO” itself is a copy of a traditional spanish game so google is forgiven.
March 9th, 2010 at 4:43 pm
If there are 3 significant differences and the logo’s are applying to different trades, then it is not plagiarism.
Do you really consider that google looked at UNO’s face card, and thought that would be the best icon for their new platform? I am more inclined to believe that they started with their company colors, then worked them into a form which ended as a chat bubble .
What would be very interesting to see is a blog post outlining the raw process they took coming up with this logo. I’m sure it started with a bee. Not UNO’s face card.
March 9th, 2010 at 6:17 pm
clearly coincidence. Uno has green between yellow & blue. Buzz has green between red & yellow.
March 9th, 2010 at 6:48 pm
Last I checked, Uno’s logo is not that circle with the colors; it’s just the words UNO.
There’s also the fact that many logos are circular using the exact color combos but that doesn’t mean that these logos can be copyrighted/trademarked.
Sorry, but this isn’t plagiarism.
March 9th, 2010 at 11:09 pm
I agree with Cwik, honestly the uno logo is the words “UNO” in big gold letters. The box just simply has the card ontop. And honestly, there’s no way google is ripping from UNO. That’d be like saying every modern song was plagiarizing every classical song. Simply because they happen to use similar note sets.
God to assume google is stealing this logo is just sheer stupidity, this is the same kinda bs you see with people who believe something like the holocaust, or evolution never happened. Simply because the box looks kinda similar but honestly not really to the logo doesn’t mean anything…god…
March 10th, 2010 at 10:07 am
I thought I was buying UNO for my son’s birthday and when he opened the present it was Google Buzz. I was so embarrassed. Not only that, but it didn’t come with instructions and we’re still trying to figure out how to play.
March 10th, 2010 at 11:52 am
I agree with S.Ling. Google has it’s own, solid identity and doesn’t need to copy. I believe it’s a nod to Uno, a homage not an insult.
It gives me a warm, fuzzy feeling when I look at it ’cause I have fond memories of infinite Uno sessions with friends and family. It was and still is a tool for social gathering.
Uno brought us together as kids around a deck of cards and now Google Buzz brings us together as adults around this software. I see wit, humor, and nostalgia in the Buzz logo.
March 10th, 2010 at 6:43 pm
All google has to do is filter out all image and web searches for “UNO” and the game will eventually disappear from our collective memories. Thus rendering this point to be moot.
Seriously though, I think it’s pure coincidence and Stephen Akins has a great point: that the symbol/color palette isn’t even the UNO logo, just one of the cards in the game. On the flip side, any company that uses such a “generic” color palette in their identity is opening themselves up to criticism anytime one of these similarities surfaces.
March 10th, 2010 at 8:51 pm
Absolutely not, there is nothing “fishy” going on here. The only thing “revealed” in this article is the sad state of the way we think; always thinking litigious, how we can get one up on someone and so on. Seemingly ironic or hypocritical, that it is somewhat what I’m doing now, but I only intend on being honest, straight forward and informative.
I think this articles angle (“who do you propose to be blamed for logo design plagiarism?”) was chosen poorly for the “headline” effect of getting people to read it. Even though I could break apart the fact that the Google Buzz logo was taken from the already established Google logo colors and presented in an obvious comment bubble didn’t really take a rocket scientist or plagiarizing someone’s work, have you ever considered that multiple people can independently have the same idea. Haven’t you ever thought of an invention like “it would be easier if so and so…” and then you see it in a commercial or at the store and you’re thinking “hey, I thought of that”.
The bottom line of course is that there is no one to blame at all for anything here, it is completely a coincidence and even if Mattel caught wind of this and tried to sue for publicity/money it just wouldn’t happen, there is no case here as the logos are too different.
March 11th, 2010 at 2:44 am
Pfff…. The Buzz Logo and the Uno Logo don’t have any similarities except for using 4 colors.
This article sucks.
March 11th, 2010 at 8:21 am
I think they stole it from Simon! JK
Absolutely not, it is complete coincidence.
March 12th, 2010 at 10:25 am
i still think between them don’t have any similarities!!!
March 18th, 2010 at 4:04 am
There are no “original” creative ideas – everything is borrowed from something else. Sometimes we’re cognizant of what we’re borrowing from – sometimes it is just floating in our awareness and drawn into our ideas. Unless it is a direct manipulation of existing creative concepts – it is OK. This logo definitely passes that sniff test.
March 18th, 2010 at 12:34 pm
I think its totally coincidence.
The colour orientation is in fact different in both logos;
clockwise ;
google buzz : blue – yellow – green – red
UNO : blue – green – yellow – red
plus, as others have said: google buzz is not round, and doesnt have a white perimeter.
March 19th, 2010 at 5:21 pm
I agree that the similarity is likely a coincidence, although I’m not loving the fragmented feel of the Google Buzz abstract pie chart. I get that it’s the google colors, but I think they could have done better.
March 22nd, 2010 at 12:56 pm
They have certain similarities but I don’t think it was intentional at all. I think the Google logo has a hidden swastika in it, but it wasn’t plagiarized. Uno was such a fun game. Thanks for reminding me of it!
March 23rd, 2010 at 9:03 pm
to say they stole it form UNO is just silly on so many levels. number one: these are all very primary colors, so if it wasn’t the UNO emblem it would be something else. two the shape and position of colors is completely different.
p.s. its an *EMBLEM, not a *LOGO. this is a misnomer. I’m making a post to explain all the differences between the types of signatures soon, check out my blog. its linked via my name :]
March 27th, 2010 at 11:02 pm
This article is ridiculous.
For one, that’s not the UNO logo. That’s the design of the generic Wild card.
Second, that “logo” wasn’t introduced in 1971. The game was introduced in 1971, but that particular design has only been around the past 5-10 years (the cards used to have words on them), so the “research” in the table is completely bunk.
Is this blog really at such a stretch for worthwhile stories to come up with this sort of crap?
April 1st, 2010 at 2:26 am
First of all, I`m a logo designer too.
The Google logo it`s not just a circle filled with different colors, it represents something. What ? Well, in my oppinion, there you can see a communication bubble filled with different rooms in different colors. This room represent the user “place” where he can update news and can interact with other people around the globe to share, communicate etc.
No, I don`t think it`s copied from UNO logo.
April 2nd, 2010 at 3:15 pm
Any logo can be changed 30% to be legal to used. and from what I see its all fine to use this logo.. I wouldn’t think a company like google would copy something that was invented so many years ago. Actually i’m suprised google didn’t find design something better. I know I would.
April 6th, 2010 at 5:46 am
Even if the design is similar, the two uses for the design are totally different, so they wouldnt be registered in the same classes anyway!!
April 9th, 2010 at 11:48 am
What is a logo ? Its just a symbol of recognition. If someone recognises it, it becomes a mark of recognition!
April 9th, 2010 at 12:22 pm
LOL…. the Google Chrome browser is a mix of the Pokemon ball and Simon, the 80’s hand slapping game.
April 10th, 2010 at 4:07 am
Just because Google uses UNO color don’t make it like UNO logo.. there are only couple of standard colors to choose from
April 12th, 2010 at 2:26 pm
I actullau agree with ‘Andy Stone’ its seems to be ‘mere coincidence’ and I’m sure you can find similar logo and colour all over the place, esp. in primary colours.
April 14th, 2010 at 8:34 pm
[...] Google Buzz est sans doute la dernière hype sur le réseau social media. Depuis que j'ai vu le logo Buzz, j'ai toujours réfléchi sur sa conception de logo mystérieux. C'était un jour tout en jouant ONU que j'ai finalement compris pourquoi la conception de logos Google Buzz m'avait troublé autant. J'ai découvert [. . . ] URL article original: http://www.logoblog.org/wordpress/google-buzz-logo-plagiarism/ [...]
April 19th, 2010 at 6:15 am
Surely just a coincidence…Google’s colours are simply complying with their colour codes. Just because a company uses the same colours doesn’t mean they’re plagiarising.
And drawing a fine line between what is plagiarism, coincidence and ‘inspiration’.
May 14th, 2010 at 4:48 am
[...] konumuz tabiki de google buzz ile UNO kağıt oyun firmasının logolarında ki benzerliklerdir.Burada bir yabancının gözü ile google buzz logosunu tekrar inceledim ve hakikaten değindiği noktalar [...]
May 14th, 2010 at 8:26 pm
I am just making a blog related to this. If you permit, I would want to use some of your content. And with full refernce of course
Thanks in advance.
May 24th, 2010 at 10:14 pm
I thought I was buying UNO for my son’s birthday and when he opened the present it was Google Buzz. I was so embarrassed. Not only that, but it didn’t come with instructions and we’re still trying to figure out how to play.