Doodling for Google
by Rachael Taylor
Say Google to almost anyone and they’ll know what you mean. OK, so great grandma Ruby may look at you vacantly, but that’s about it. Google has become synonymous with the web and the term ‘google it’ is now an everyday phrase. Google became the No. 1 brand in the world in 2007, according to Millward Brown Brandz Top 100.
But start to talk about the Google logo to someone and they will immediately have a favourite. A version of the logo which has stuck with them. They may have hovered over to see what it’s all about, clicked through to find out more or discussed it with colleagues and waxed lyrical about how clever it all is.
The first ever doodle was produced by Larry Page and Sergey Brin, the founders of Google. They used a drawing of a stick man on the homepage to alert searchers to their absence when they attended the Burning Man festival. However, since his internship at Google in 2000, there has been just one man who holds the crown of Google doodler.
Meet the man behind the logos
Special versions of the logo which you may see on public holidays, famous birthdays or random events throughout the year are called Google Doodles and are the responsibility of one man – Dennis Hwang. Now Google Webmaster, Hwang did his first doodle in 2000 for Bastille Day when challenged by the Google founders. Since then, he has designed up to 50 logo variations each year and this is officially 20% of his job.
When asked in an interview by the Korea Herald, Hwang cited his favourite letters to manipulate as the ‘o’ and the ‘l’ – with the ‘e’ being generally forgotten about. He’s also lost count of the variety of turkeys and pumpkins he has developed over the years. Sometimes he has weeks to prepare for events, other times he gets just hours before his work goes under the spotlight of the international masses.
For instance, when the ‘missing link’ fossil Ida was discovered recently, it took Google a matter of hours to turn the logo into something timely and relevant to this groundbreaking discovery.
Controversial 'doodle' for the Ida Fossil
Doodle Removal
But these doodles do not always put a smile on everyone’s face. The appearance of the ‘Ida’ doodle received a massive backlash from Christian ‘Googlers’. With Google hailed as Satan for its perceived pro-evolution stance.
The Artists Rights Society has been behind the removal of two Google doodles where Miro and Dali versions were accused of breaching copyright.
Google also continue to anger Americans with their refusal to develop Memorial Day and Veteran Day logos and the company make it clear that they will not make logos for religious holidays such as Christmas, Ramadan or Eid.
The most prolific doodler in the world
Hwang has become a worldwide celebrity through his artwork which flashes up almost everyday on a screen near you. He has been the subject of news items, blogs and You Tube videos. This video shows 400 google logos since 1998 flashing before your eyes.
Watch Hwang in action here:
Let me have a go!
Unsurprisingly, the general public likes to get in on the act and he receives masses of feedback and ideas on both occasions and logo generation.
One Google user, a French astronomer alerted him to the Venus Transit, where Venus casts a shadow on the sun every 122 years. During this time, a black dot moves across the sun and Hwang was quick to incorporate this unusual event into the Google logo during this time. Using such ideas makes the logo itself a bit of an education as you can’t help finding out just what it’s all about.
But if you don’t fall within this age group, don’t worry. You can create your own Google style page on pimpmysearch.com or shinysearch.com.
Clicking through
Cartoon office worker Dilbert enjoyed a week of Google fame when he adourned the Google home page. The logo allowed click throughs for fans wanted to purchase coffee mugs – proceeds of which went to the American Cancer Society.
In June last year, Robin Goad a Hitwise Intelligence analysis was looking at ‘fast moving search terms’ and came across a group of unexpected search terms. When inspecting the sudden top ten appearance of ‘Walter Gropius’ and ‘Charles Rennie Mackintosh’ he came across the answer – Google! Both Gropius and Mackintosh had been subject of the Google doodle, seriously impacting the volume of searches for such a term.
To see a gallery of some great Google doodles click here http://www.perfnova.com/.
Bing.com
I wonder what Microsoft challenger brand Bing.com will have up its sleeve to rival the charming simplicity of the Google logos? Now in Beta testing stage, Bing is using some of the most amazing imagery as a backdrop to it’s equally simplistic search page. I suppose we’ll have to watch this space.
If you’d like to find out more about Google’s logos or would like to have a logo created for you, give Red C a call on 0161 872 1361 or click here
Tags: Advertising, Bing.com, Dennis Hwang, Google, Google Doodle, Google Logo Variations, Larry Page, Marketing, Sergey Brin
