That cute bug-eyed Android logo wasn’t always so adorable.
On Google+ Wednesday, Dan Morrill, a Google employee, posted the first ever Android designs -- and boy are they scary. We're glad the spiral-eyed robots with square teeth and mandible digits didn’t come out with the first Android phones, although it's possible they could have inspired the creepy 2009 Android/Verizon Droid advertisements.
Morrill explains the results by recounting how he was tasked with creating the first Android logos. “See, we were prepping for an internal developer launch (meaning, we were going to ask Googlers to start fooling with the APIs and give us early feedback), and I had no eye candy for the slides we were putting together. Hence these guys,” he wrote on Google Plus.
The original Androids were apparently designed on Inkscape and were momentarily popular before designer Irina Blok presented her design -- which Morrill describes as “the bugdroid we all know and love.”
But Morrill isn’t displeased that his designs were replaced, and his rationale for posting the original Android says as much. “I am doing some spring cleaning on the ole NAS server, and dug these guys up. I figured I'd share them so you can experience a thrill of terror at what might have been, and thank your local patron deity for Irina's incredible home run.”
It’s worth noting that Google isn’t exactly known for its good design, unlike its sleek and savvy rival Apple. The original Google logos were not nearly as sophisticated as the current one, and rumors abound that the company simply “doesn’t take design as seriously” as Apple or other rival tech behemoths.
What do you think? Does Google have a design problem? And do you prefer the current Android robot to Morrill's originals? Let us know in the comments, or tweet us @HuffPostTech.
[h/t The Verge]