Google Summer of Code (GSoC) is a global, online program focused on bringing new contributors into open source software development. GSoC Contributors work with an open source organisation on a 12+ week programming project under the guidance of mentors.
The program had been running since 2009 and was still using the old brand styling across online campaigns and merchandise. So Google approached us to give Summer of Code an urgent need of a web and brand refresh, to appeal to the wide audience of developers.
I studied Google’s library of symbology and combined icons to represent the brand name, that could easily be understood without text.
My design featuring Google's icon for brightness used in Android applications, combined with the open/closed bracket for code was the final selected design with the GSoC team.
However, being a global campaign I soon realised that it isn't always summer for all the participants during the program. So, instead of using summer themes as previous designs had, I expanded the global concept and incorporated the space theme which in turn symbolised the program 'launching' as a rocket would into space!
The original GSoC website was cluttered and confusing, so working alongside the development teams I created low and high-fidelity wireframes and designs including timelines and dashboards for the vast areas of the site, due to mentors, students, and organisers all being able to contribute to the competition.
Playful designs such as alien spaceships, planets, and telescopes were used in email templates and banners, as well as detailed, dark, neon landscapes throughout the website and featuring across Google prizes and merchandise including bags, t-shirts, and laptop stickers.
The redesign was well received, Google had the highest number of student registrations with over 20,000 and counting.
Our team went on to create an archive of all the previous years of the campaign, with the new styling applied.
Role: Branding, UI/UX & Illustration
Agency: Potato London
Client: Google