Google Doodles

I’m sure by now you’ve noticed the different logos that Google has released on special days such as holidays, major events, anniversaries of inventions and famous birthdays. What you may not know is that these logos actually have a name.  They are called “Google Doodles” and Google has a staff of artists whose only job is to create them.  According to Google’s website, the doodle team has created more than 300 doodles in the United States and more than 700 internationally.  This year has seen more interactive doodles with a Pac Man game and more recently, bouncing balls that moved around with your mouse.

Google will gladly take suggestions for what doodles they should create. You can even create your own fan doodle and submit it.  This year they sponsored a contest for grades K-12 where they picked one student doodle to be posted on the home page for a day.  The winner received a $15,000 scholarship, a new net book computer and $25,000 technology grant for a computer lab for their school.  Not too shabby!
This is a pretty cool recent one celebrating Agatha Christie’s birthday:


We talk about branding and the importance of it a lot here on UnderCurrent.  In most corporations the logo is something that is sacred and should not be altered.  Not at Google. They have found a fun way to incorporate change and engage their users while maintaining their brand and image. Everyone knows that multi-colored logo, but many people, including myself, look forward to what the next doodle might be.  Google has always approached things a little bit differently and people have come to expect this of them.  We wouldn’t want them any other way!