"Following in the footsteps of our new red and white Google+ icon, the +1 button is sporting a fresh coat of paint," informs Google.
While the new buttons are more consistent and include the Google+ branding, the old buttons are more colorful and more descriptive. "+1" is bigger and more obvious in the old buttons and that made them more clickable.
Here's the tiny +1 button from Google+:
... and here's the +1 button from Google Groups:
The small +1 buttons are not legible and it's not obvious that you're supposed to click them. As Fernando Fonseca says, "I understand the need to have a button that looks like the new logo but the problem is that a white background with a thin red line is hardly eye catching and hardly says 'Click me'."
You can compare the different versions of the +1 (v1) and +1 (v2) using the corresponding sprites. I'd choose the old buttons.
Update: There's still time to improve the buttons. Share your feedback here and here.
{ Thanks, Yu-Hsuan Lin. }
I'd take the old button too. This new button is not distinctive enough and is less eye catching... :/
ReplyDeleteThe new icon looks fancier but the usability is down, of course. But eh, I don't feel strongly either way. I do like how stark it is, but I'm unsure of how I feel about Google+ becoming this red/white thing when it's supposed to be the next version of Google, which has always inhabited the whole color spectrum (which I loved.)
ReplyDeleteyah, i miss the blue.
DeleteI agree with Kevin, but I really don't care. As long as its there.
ReplyDeletei prefer the old one, it has a lot of in common with google at all than the red one.
ReplyDeleteUse the Google Wallet Style if you want to make the "g" of google appear fancy. I think it is pretty catchy.
ReplyDeleteI don't mind the larger button surrounded by white space, but the smaller one looks messy amongst all the blue links.
ReplyDeleteI don't like the new style... red is an angry color in general for text. If you kept the old style (blue +1, colors at the top) and added a blue stylized 'g' instead of a red one like in the new version, I think that would add a little more branding. Don't limit yourselves, Google, to one color.
ReplyDeleteI guess Google wants to distinguish themselves from Facebook "all blue" website (and buttons and other stuff like widgets)
DeleteSo... it's a pretty logical move from them.
Old is better!
ReplyDeleteI prefer the old one. The new button looks a bit to similar to the pinterest pin it button.
ReplyDeleteThey should stop changing the way things look so frequently. Subtle changes are okay, but it sends out a message that things aren't stable and going to be around for a long time. Personally, I liked the old button, and I liked the original Google plus icon rather than the red one.
ReplyDeletewhy on earth is there no dark colored button for dark website designs?
ReplyDeleteis that too much to ask for?
I don't care for new or old design, all I want is a simple dark +1 button that doesn't mess up my page design.
is that true that we dont have choice for black themes website ?
DeleteI like the new one as it is not distracting me while looking at the search results
ReplyDeleteI prefer the old one.
ReplyDeleteIt's more obvious that it is google +1.
I like the previous button design much more than a new one, especially for the small (15 px) button.
ReplyDeleteIs there any way to continue using the old sprite?
There are small differences. As long as the buttons are small and visible then its OK for me. But the first one seems a little more attractive.
ReplyDeleteI really liked the buttons above..
ReplyDelete