Who knew that search, email, online tools and other online services won’t be enough some day for a giant like Google. Recently, the brand has been quietly exploring the area of mass media and has released an online magazine, or rather a book, as Google calls it, entitled ‘Think Quarterly’.

“Think Quarterly is a breathing space in a busy world. It’s a place to take time out and consider what’s happening and why it matters”, this is how the team behind the new magazine explains its mission.

The exterior looks of the new publication perfectly reveal its designation: it’s a stunning piece of work edited and designed by the creative agency The Church of  London. Think Quaterly is a Flash-based application «with Google’s quirky sensibilities and the in-depth writing you might find in BusinessWeek or Salon”, says Ben Parr of mashable.com in his article dedicated to the release of the magazine.

“…I can say that it might be the most good-looking online magazine I’ve seen. The design is quite Googley: clean lines and attractive minimalism mixed with big, colorful art/images. You might say it’s a shining example of what online publishing can look like without Google AdSense cluttering up every page,” said Matt McGee in his article on searchengineland.com.

The first issue of the magazine is dedicated to the data — a huge amount of small bricks that constitute the modern-day information world and its society. How to get the essential pieces of information? How to filter it without missing something important and deal with data overload? Those questions are raised and answered by Google’s employees and freelancers contributing to the magazine.

Another interesting point about ‘the book’ is technical implementation that allows a reader to choose from the variety of reading modes: you may view it as a 62-page magazine (for large screen monitors) or as traditional online publications.

The second edition is slated for release in May 2011.

Ready for reading? Roll over to www.thinkquarterly.co.uk!