Have you ever wondered how Google goes about manipulating its logo when you enter its website? Well, I was always interested in finding out myself, because I noticed during holidays or special events in history, Google's logo would have a design doodled that would create a pleasing visual to look at. It made users want to come back just to see if there would be a new design everyday. I found out that the Doodles are known as the decorative changes that are made to the Google logo to celebrate holidays, anniversaries, and the lives of famous artists and scientists. There is probably no other company that changes their corperate logo as much as Google. This is part of how they brand, and it illustrates the creative and innovative personality of the company itself.
"It all started in 1998, the concept of the doodle was born when Google founders Larry and Sergey played with the corporate logo to indicate their attendance at the Burning Man festival in the Nevada desert. A stick figure drawing was placed behind the 2nd "o" in the word, Google and the revised logo was intended as a comical message to Google users that the founders were “out of office.” While the first doodle was relatively simple, the idea of decorating the company logo to celebrate notable events was well received by our users."
"A year later in 2000, Larry and Sergey asked current webmaster Dennis Hwang, an intern at the time, to produce a doodle for Bastille Day. Pleased with the result, Dennis was then appointed Google’s chief doodler and doodles became a regular occurrence on the Google homepage. In the beginning, the doodles tended to celebrate largely visible holidays; nowadays, doodles represent a wide array of events and anniversaries from the Winter Games to the Mars Rover landing."
The doodles enrich the Google homepage. There have been 300 doodles created in the United States and 700 internationally. The team of designers work together and even hold contests and let the public submit designs. If you are interested the doodle team is open to user ideas; requests for doodles can be sent to proposals@google.com. If you are interested in seeing the logos created over the years here is the site www.google.com/logos.
Oh yeah, I completed forgot to show you how they go about designing these logos, and here is an example.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TOOY0xuQ3TU
That was very informative! I never knew Google would take doodle submissions.
ReplyDeleteI always thought it was pretty cool of them to take submissions like that. Nothing says capturing brand loyalty like showcasing customer's work!
ReplyDeleteIt is always a little treat when I open up google and see the change they made for the day.
ReplyDeleteThere's something to be said about the power of Google's logo that they can change it that much and yet still be recognizably be the Google brand. I think that it communicates that Google is "with the times", but without following fads.
ReplyDeleteI love the google doodles. I think they are so cute and clever and it gives their company personality and makes them seem more inviting. I never thought about it, but you are probably right that they are the only company that changes their logo so often.
ReplyDeleteSometimes the Google doodles are so abstract, that it is almost impossible to read the word "Google" yet we somehow still recognize the name. That is the power of brand recognition!
ReplyDeleteI too pay attention to the google doodles, they never disappoint!
ReplyDeleteNot only do I love that Google doodles all the time, it really does show their creative, fun side of such a huge corporation, but I love that it all started because they were attending Burning Man...awesome:)
ReplyDeleteIt's a really interesting concept to have a changing logo, and Google pulls it off effortlessly. I think it works so well for Google because of the extremely high traffic they receive everyday.
ReplyDeleteI like these a lot. I never knew that you could go back and look at old ones!
ReplyDeleteAfter going to the website that shows them all I realized that the logo renditions got so much more expressive over the years, with more illustrative qualities incorporated. I love that no matter how little they make follow the form of the letters of G-O-O-L-E people will always recognize. They are just that good.
ReplyDeleteI knew that you could submit to the Doodles as they have posted their contest announcements on Google. However, I also agree with everyone that it is a great way to show that a logo can be interchangeable and still recognized. Google is one of the few logos in which is always changing visually but fundamentally the same.
ReplyDeleteI always love how they change the logo for special occasions. The google logo is so simple and it would be pretty fun to think of different variations for holidays in my opinion. I feel pretty doubtful that my logo would be chosen if I were to enter seeing as they choose internationally, I wonder how many submissions they have received over the years...
ReplyDeleteone of the things i like best about google. its always interesting to see the new designs they come up with.
ReplyDeletenew thing to add to the bucket list, design a google doodle logo. what a great way to interact with customers- I love how great google is with their design. Also, the word itself is made of letters that are great to work with in terms of typography!
ReplyDeleteI also wondered about the google logo. Thank you for researching this. Its amazing exp cause you usually think of a logo as being one specific design and with them they are known for there ever changing one. I find myself checking the logo daily.
ReplyDeleteI like that they call them 'doodles' and not necessarily logos. It seems like a secondary way for them to experiment with their identity without actually changing their logomark.
ReplyDeleteI have always wanted to know who design the doodles, and how they decided which days they were going to change the doodles. I love going on google and clicking on the newest google doodle to see why they created it.
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