Everyone knows doodles , those modifications that the Google logo adopts to commemorate significant events, international days, holidays or events. They can even be interactive, becoming games with which to spend hours of entertainment in front of your computer screen.
The origin of doodles
Regarding its origin, we know that in 1998, even before the company was founded, the concept of doodle arose when Google founders Larry and Sergey began to fiddle with their corporate logo to confirm their attendance at the Burning Man festival. Instead to send an automated email indicating that they would attend the festival, and therefore they would be “out of the office”, what they did was put the festival logo in the middle of the Google logo.
Two years later, in 2000, Dennis Hwang was commissioned to create a doodle that commemorated the Day of the Taking of the Bastide. It was such a hit with users that Dennis was named the official Google doodles creator from then on. Today there is a full team of illustrators and engineers we call doodlers behind each ingenious creation. They are not the only ones who are in charge of devising and designing them, users can also contribute their suggestions and ideas for new doodles via doodleproposals@google.com . You will have to keep your fingers crossed and trust that the team will respond to the request, as they receive a large number of proposals every day.
Throughout its history there are already more than 4,000 doodles that Google has created and they continue to add up every day, but there are some that have marked a before and after penetrating very deeply in the users of the most powerful search engine of all time.
Doodles that are not forgotten
The demand for creating doodles has been increasing over the years. They have covered topics such as the anniversary of the birth of John James Audubon, the 50th anniversary of the first man’s trip to space, the ice cream Sundae or the amazing tribute that have been marked for the 32 years that DJ Avicci would have turned yesterday. As we say, some small graphics that make our searches more pleasant and that with the passage of time some still come to mind.
Surely we each have our own list of mythical doodles that have made history and that we can never forget, some of them, you may love them, but you haven’t seen them yet. In case you missed any or just want to remember them, here are some of the most remarkable ones so far.
1. Pac-Man
Who has not ever played Pac-Man? On May 21, 2010, Google released a doodle commemorating 30 years of Pac-Man. An interactive doodle in which we can live a game experience with the graphics and sounds of the original video game. In addition, Google incorporated a novelty: Mrs. Pac-Man, a figure that allows us to play with another person.
2. Commemoration of the Day of the Taking of the Bastide
As we anticipated before, the doodle that Dennis Hwang, current webmaster of the company, created to commemorate the Day of the Taking of the Bastide was the first doodle that had an impact worldwide . As a result of its creation, there have been numerous events and anniversaries for which Google has created a doodle.
3. 122 Anniversary of the birth of Charlie Chaplin
In 2011, Google dedicated a short film of about two minutes in length to Charles Chaplin on the occasion of the 122nd anniversary of the birth of the legendary British comedian, screenwriter and director of silent films. The silent video featured the entire doodle team starring Doodler Mike Dutton . In order for the filming to have the essence of the original Charles Chaplin films, the team used the same setting where many of his silent films were filmed.
4. London Olympics 2012
As far as sporting events are concerned, during the London Olympics held in 2012, Google created different doodles based on the different disciplines of the Olympic Games. Among the sports to which Google dedicated a doodle are synchronized swimming, athletics or rhythmic gymnastics.
5. International Women’s Day
It is true that Google has commemorated International Women’s Day on many occasions, but in 2017 the commemoration went further. Google taught the world the unknown story of 13 women who were pioneers and who have changed the world. Among them was Egypt’s first female pilot.
