Google: Next 2023

The next evolution

With hundreds of sessions on the future of AI, Cloud and Collaboration, Google’s annual Next event  explores the technological trends and advancements that will define how we live for years to come. 

Our friends at Google approached us for the second year in a row to create a motion identity, system, and series of applications that would set the tone for Next ‘23. The brief was to create motion that expressed the rapidly developing nature of technology, building on the themes of iterative design and work in progress. 

Google’s messaging was moving in a bolder direction, leaning into color and play to express the ideas of evolution, adaptation, iteration, and reshaping. The challenge was to create a language that expressed these themes in a highly dynamic, highly usable way for Next ‘23. 

Embracing rapid change 

We partnered with Google from motion identity to motion applications, culminating in assets that scaled from social to large-format digital displays. 

Since Next ‘23 aimed to address the ever-advancing nature of technology, it positioned the event as an opportunity to prepare for an ever-evolving future. The conversation around AI had recently reached a fever pitch, giving us an opening to reflect Google’s responsiveness in the face of exponential change. 

The end result was flexible, dynamic, and utterly alive, capturing Google’s ability to think and adapt in time with our technological revolution. 

A responsive design approach

To create a motion identity as dynamic as Google, we needed to create movements that expressed the nature of change. Based on the brief, we considered what types of movements felt iterative, capturing the imperfection of a work in progress. We built on our four core themes of evolution, adaptation, iteration and reshaping, with moodboards and tests to explore motion treatments that expressed change in different ways. 

Our exploration resulted in a set of four modular logo lockups that gave our identity the flexibility to come alive in limitless combinations. Aligned on our core lockups, we took a closer look at the ways they could play into each other across different touchpoints, leading to the motion treatments that would define our system. 

We approached this exercise in the context of Google’s larger visual design system, testing how our motion treatments could be extracted and applied to a series of animated layouts. Google’s existing designs were rich, colorful and textured, giving us range to create a system that felt deep, varied and ever-evolving. 

Working from our animated lockups and sample layouts, we defined the core elements that would inform our motion guidelines. Our team saw an opportunity to make this year’s system a touch more flexible than last year’s, leading us to shape the guidelines around tools – not rules – for successful use. 

With our guidelines in place, we moved into applications. Since we were involved in building the motion system from day one, Google’s team trusted us to expand on their designs from social assets to signage. Our final deliverables included a series of high-visibility assets, from socials to on-site creative that welcomed guests into the world of Next. 

Exploring together 

Our partnership picked up right where we left off after Next ‘22. Google placed their trust in us from day one, letting us build on our momentum from last year’s event. We acted as a true extension of their team from kickoff to final delivery, with regular check-ins and presentations that allowed us to discuss and refine our work in real time. 

Our partnership extended beyond Google's team to set designers and event suppliers, with some of our team on-site to ensure that digital designs matched the physical space perfectly. 

Google was as enthusiastic about the work as our way of working, making our partnership a welcome constant at a time of constant change.