Google a doodle do

A Google search a day brings colour and creativity to our search results, says Christina Goggi.

Every day, we trawl the internet for an infinite list of reasons. Mostly, it’s to search for something. How often have you asked a question and received the response: “Google it”? On my part, I can say that a Google search whenever I have a query has become almost instinctive.

Yet most of us probably take for granted all the hard work that goes into making this search engine not just efficient but also appealing to users. We all notice the Google logo changing on certain holidays, anniversaries and major events, but let’s dig deeper and take a few moments to really look into this aesthetically pleasing feature.

Known as Google Doodles, these logos were first featured in 1998, when designers Sergey Brin and Larry Page created the first doodle commemorating the Burning Man Festival.

Since then, a countless array of colourful and generally playful designs have given our daily online searches something extra – the remembrance of an episode, person, game or anything else which has had an impact on the world in some way.

As local designer and illustrator Derek Fenech rightfully notes, Google Doodle “engages the user, whether it’s the Pac-Man Google where you find yourself playing the classic game or a design that prompts research into the subject it refers to.

“Google Doodle stimulates curiosity and interaction, and brings in a bit of the human element to what is intrinsically digital. It also shows the visual power of the Google brand where the typographic characters of the logo are replaced by illustrations and still manage, in most cases, to be recognised.”

Although Brin and Page triggered this chain of creative work, most of the Doodles we have seen since July 2000 have been designed by the great graphic artist Dennis Hwang.

The other designs are by the Doodle4Google competition winners – a competition for students, whereby they create their own Google Doodle which would be exposed on the Doodle4Google website for the general public’s vote. If they win, they bag a trip to Googleplex and their design will be used on the Google website for 24 hours.

If you run a search for ‘Google Doodle’ you will find the hundreds of versions that have been used over the years. Selecting the best six was incredibly difficult, particularly because I felt so strongly about many of the fictional characters, artists, writers and great historical figures featured. I can only imagine how much harder it must have been for Derek and Alexia to choose just one favourite.

Christina Goggi chooses her six favourite Google Doodles

Pac-Man’s 30th anniversary

This doodle makes it to the first place for a number of reasons. It’s Google’s first interactive logo, created in association with Namco Bandai Games Inc. Whoever visited the Google website between May 21 and May 23, 2010, could play the classic arcade game on the actual logo.

Then there’s the way the typographic characters of the Google logo are featured on the Pac-Man maze, together with the ‘I’m feeling lucky’ button being replaced with ‘Insert coin’ to make it look more authentic.

Finally, I couldn’t help smiling at the way the logo actually mimicked the original sounds of a game that was all the rage in my childhood.

This doodle was such a hit that Google released a permanent Google Pac-Man site on the same day to reach the great user demand for the playable logo.

John Lennon’s 70th birthday

This doodle celebrates one of the greatest musicians of the 20th century through a 32-second-video clip which plays John Lennon’s highly inspirational song, Imagine.

The way this is done is impeccable – different black and white images are generated, starting with a few leaves drifting away freely, then turning into a butterfly, and so on until the sequence comes to a halt at a groovy black and white Google logo with Lennon’s cartoon face substituting the oo’s.

Charlie Chaplin’s 122nd birthday

Another animated logo makes it to third place, this time the one commemorating Charlie Chaplin’s 122nd birthday. Why is this so special? Its creativity mixed with a humorous note that captures the heart of the great figure.

50th anniversary of the Lego brick

In fourth position is the appropriately simplistic Lego brick doodle. Appearing as though it was built with Lego pieces and keeping Google logo’s traditional primary colours, this doodle celebrates the toy bricks that made our childhood play fun and creative.

Happy Holidays from Google 2010

Although this doodle is hardly resonant of the Google logo, it is of great value, as during this special time of the year it brings together different cultures and places through the images which link to a cuisine, instrument or place representing every nationality – the true spirit of the festive season.

Vincent Van Gogh’s birthday

My final choice is slightly subjective as this doodle is dedicated to my favourite artist, Vincent Van Gogh. It recalls the great Impressionist’s painting Starry Night through the wavy brush strokes, the splashes of yellow emitted from the second ‘o’, as well as the choice of colour, while still retaining Google logo’s primary colours.

Derek Fenech

Derek Fenech has two favourite doodles. The first was published very recently to celebrate the anniversary of American modern dancer Martha Graham’s birth. It involved a choreographer and a dancer to produce the final animated logo. Derek says the illustration beautifully evoked the figurative style of Graham and he found the process of creating the sprite quite fascinating, a great collaboration that brought together people from different artistic disciplines.

His other favourite, of which he has nostalgic memories, is the Google Pac-Man, where users could interact with the logo to play the classic Namco game.

Alexia Chopping

Graphic designer Alexia Chopping’s favourites list of Doodles is a simple one of Queen Elizabeth, celebrating her visit to Google’s UK headquarters in London. Alexia found this very fitting for the occasion without being too fancy, but with a crown on the ‘e’ in ‘Google’ being a nice touch.

Ms Goggi is an English graduate currently working as a web marketing copywriter.