One of my close friends recently started a job as a programmer at Google! I’m mad proud of her for landing one of the hottest jobs on the planet, and hearing about all the cool perks makes me want to work there too. However, the minimum requirement of a programming career at The Goog is a Masters in compsci. I can barely set up my DVD player. Division of labour is a key economic concept for a reason!
So, I invented the Google manicure in her honour. It’s inspire by the company’s iconic homepage, and their adorable favicon. I call it the Google Boop (because I didn’t know that the image to the right of your URL bar had a name until the one I invented for it was already imprinted into my vocabulary).
The Boop was my first thought when trying to translate a grouping of pixels into nail art.
There were a few things I wanted to keep in mind while coming up with this design.
- It would have to look good on short nails. As a computer based job, being an engineer at Google makes keeping long, gorgeously painted nails impractical. Typing chips your polish like mad, and you get gunk under your nails at the end of the day. I actually had to file my nails down for the sake of this just to make sure I had it right.
- As a general rule, it’s tacky to have logos all over your outfit like you’re a billboard instead of a proper person and that style rule includes nails. Instead, I let the general principles of their favicon guide me: whitespace with 5 colour blocks.
You know what has 5 sections around a distinct shape, right? The negative image of cartoon stars! Cate has technical marketable skills, and I’ve become a repository of artistic inspiration. We all need to have specialities in this world, man. This is the final result of all these considerations:
The Google (Inspired) Manicure:
The left and right hands are slightly different for a reason, which I’ll explain in a moment. It took two hours (this is not something I’d recommend for when you’re in a rush) from the first layer of base coat to the final spot of top coat. I was getting really impatient by the end, which is why the edges got a little messy, but otherwise, this manicure stays entirely true to Google Boop’s design principles:
- Liberal use of whitespace, like in their iconic homepage (hence why my index finger and thumbs are left blank).
- In the Boop, blue is on the left, and it takes up two sections.
- Red is at the top right.
- Yellow’s at the bottom.
- Green’s beneath red on the right.
- Financial prosperity and success, represented by the gold star. No really, that’s why it’s there! I spent 3 days drawing out concepts in my notebook, and researching the company’s principles. I don’t half-ass artistic inspiration man!
Wanna know how this is done? Read on!