The redesigned font for Google's home page is the first change since 2013, when the letters were flattened onto a straight plane, and the first major change since 1999. Google screenshot hide caption

itoggle caption Google screenshot

With a wave of the hand, or a Google Doodle version of that gesture, the tech company has unveiled its first logo update since 2013. The font, a sans serif typeface made in-house and called Product Sans, has a cleaner look but retains the familiar primary colors of the previous design. According to Google's blog, by making this change, "We think we've taken the best of Google (simple, uncluttered, colorful, friendly), and recast it not just for the Google of today, but for the Google of the future."

The announcement says the redesign also addresses a need for the logo to work across multiple platforms — A "G" using the logo's swirling colors will replace the blue "G" icon that now appears on mobile devices — and to illustrate the functionality of each platform. For example, animated dots in the color of Google's logo will now appear on screen when a spoken command is given.

Design watchers say this new version is the most strikingly different since the company removed the exclamation point from the logo in 1999.

The style change comes as Google reorganizes under a holding company known as Alphabet that also includes Life Sciences, a health company that will work on detecting and treating disease.