I’m more of an admirer of Google’s Material Design than a true fan, but I have to admit that the company is commendably dogged in its ambitions to become a leader in design. Their products started out looking defiantly ugly, struggled their way towards respectability, and now seem poised to achieve a distinctive aesthetic that’s all their own. This may not happen for a year or two yet, or it may happen later today, when Google’s annual I/O developer conference kicks off, if the countdown page on the event’s site is any indication:

The style of this counter is, if not wholly unique, at least very particular to the visual language that the company has been nurturing for the past year or two. Though the styling is novel, it nevertheless looks unmistakably like a Google production, something extrapolated from their specific values and priorities, and not like something derived from ideas borrowed from elsewhere. That’s good design.