Google's Holiday 'Doodles'
Search Engine Dresses Up Its Logo for Festive Occasions
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The first Google logo illustration, created for the Burning Man festival, began a seasonal tradition for the Web site.
Credit: Dennis Hwang
Talk of the Nation, December 17, 2003 · It began when the bosses wanted to head out of Silicon Valley, and, along with thousands of others in the Black Rock Desert, set a 52-foot high wooden man on fire. So, when the founders of Google, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, left town for the annual Burning Man Festival, they asked their webmaster to edit their web site logo.
The updates have become a seasonal tradition, appearing on many holidays (Chinese New Year, St. Patrick's Day), on the birthdays of notable people (M.C. Escher, Monet, Albert Einstein) and on red-letter dates, such as the anniversary of the discovery of DNA and the Wright brothers first flight.
Talk of the Nation host Neal Conan speaks with the illustrator, Dennis Hwang, who is also Google's assistant webmaster.
Related NPR Stories
- Sep. 5, 2003Google Discussion on 'Talk of the Nation'
- Oct. 14, 2003The Founders of Google on 'Fresh Air'
- Google: A Dot-Com Success Among So Many Failures
- Oct. 24, 2003The Marketplace Report: Will Google Go Public?
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