The origin of Andy the Android green robot
We see it every day. We have it on our phone, in the logos of the blogs I read regularly, in the case that protects your smartphone, in pins, dolls, robots, stuffed animals, posters and even in the catalogs of many shops. But who is Andy?
For those who have not yet realized who I mean, Andy is our beloved green android. The Android operating system logo. Andy, to which we are accustomed to seeing in many locations, first came to light back in 2005, when the big G bought a small company called Android Inc. Since then, it has become Google reference image, in terms of smartphones and tablets are concerned.
The idea
There are many scenarios that were run on the original idea that led to the current Andy. Because, as we all know, every design requires a process of "sketch, discard and improvement" that leads the designer to make countless designs (pun intended) to see which best captures what the client wants to express. In this case, Google wanted the logo for its new mobile operating system was a social and technological icon. Something like Tux, the Linux penguin .
The truth is they did not expect the good acceptance and the impact it had, from the outset, the above green robot. Although there are theories that relate to R2D2 or the novel of Philip K. Dick : " Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? "(which later would adapt to the movies as Blade Runner ), the truth is: the first statement is totaly false and the second hypothesis is true only in name and OS the device 100% Google is concerned. I mean, yes, built on this novel to call the operating system Android and Android terminals 100% "Nexus". But then, what about Andy? Where does the green robot?
Origin and development
The most credible theory is that puts a lot like Andy robotito in a game of the nineties. Exactly, the Gauntlet: The Third Encounter for Atary Lynx . In this game, we can find some characters like a pirate, a nerd (Nerd), a cowboy, a Valkyrie, a samurai, a magician or a rocker. But among them is one that leaves us a clear clue if Andy is a copy or a 100% original design. The truth is that the similarities between the two are striking. Since the antennas, to form regordita, reaching limbs. If not for the blue ribbon in the torso ... Moreover, the two names are the same, Android. And I have to remember that we are talking about a game from the early nineties.
In the video below we see the aforementioned. At minute 0:24 leaves the character "Android".
At that time, the project was commissioned designer Irina Blok. In a statement made recently, we learned why he drew a green robot with a curious way.
This logo is designed to be international symbol for Android, and it is open source, just like the platform itself. There are no references to any other culture or cultural icons characters ... The process was very simple - We Talked to the founder of Android and did a research on the whole android / robot theme. It was clear That the logo needed to relate to the name, and the first step was to create a huge mood board with all kinds of droids, robots That Were Inspired by the android operating system. Next step was to explore a variety of visual languages and directions - ranging from pixel based, realistic to cartoony. There were 2 designers working on this - but at the end my sketch was selected ... It Is That The Most Basic ironic symbol was chosen. In fact this was my first sketch That I created in 5 minutes, and after we spent weeks That ideating and sketching more. I think the simplicity of this mark really made a statement, This Became an international symbol of android (just like airport signs: men, woman, android) ...
Blok, also brought the first series of sketches, spoken in previous statements. In these representations we see how the idea was always linked to the robot world. It should be a robot to represent the word Android. And the truth is that they succeeded. While on the way to stay some pretty promising designs (personal capacity). Who knows if we will see any on a fork.
As a result of that choice, the logo resonated strongly consumers and developers. Blok says that Google considers "[...] anything that does not resemble traditional marketing [something like] cheesy and unworthy of attention [...]", a typical representation was not enough, so that Blok and his team came up with a malicious presentation method to ensure that the logo made its appearance in the right direction.
This scheme of "guerrillas" to leave was based on a piece of paper with the logo in certain tables by the offices of Google, where he knew it would get attention and see if workers left boqueabiertos Mountain View. Indeed, he did. So much so that Blok says the logo was a viral. He knew he had achieved something great when he saw a huge statue of Android, while driving to work, and thought: "[...] This is great, how can something that have created life itself?".
The next step in the evolution of Andy was the launch of the design source within the company. Thus, engineers can modify and adapt the design to create alternative versions (as below). These versions produced by engineers seem a bit clumsy and poorly made. Especially the blue, that seem alien coming to conquer our smartphones or Stewies badly drawn.
Blok said that the green color used in the logo of Android is set to print in color PMS 376C standard, with hex code # A4C639. And also stresses that "[...] was selected because it resembled the color of nostalgia, which stands on the dark background."
A nice story that reminds us why our android is like and, also, because its shape conveys good cheer and happiness. I hope this story about our beloved Andy has been useful and that it will become the symbol Irina and Google wanted, symbolizing the Open Source and wanting the user to create a connection with the brand. The latter, I think I have fully achieved. Though never ends good.
What do you think of the story? Did you know who he was and where it came from Andy? Tell us your thoughts in the comments!
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