Official Google Blog: Evolving the Google design and experience
The new Google Home page - I'm using a Google-supplied background image.
Description of the impetus behind Google's recent changes to the design of the home page, Search, Gmail, and other Google online properties.
I had noticed over the last few weeks minor changes to the bar across the top of my Gmail window, and that appears to be the new focal point for maintaining an omnipresent link to other areas in the Google universe. I'm not sure yet how much I like the bar being black - I sort of liked the soft blue bar that was before - but maybe that's something we can control as users at some point.
