Google logo

Google has had several logos since its renaming from BackRub. The current official Google logo was designed by Ruth Kedar, and is a wordmark based on the Catull typeface. The company also includes various modifications and/or humorous features, such as cartoon modifications of their logo for use on holidays, birthdays of famous people, and major events, such as the Olympics. These special logos, some designed by Dennis Hwang, have become known as Google Doodles. As of 14 February 2011, Google's own gallery features 1002 logos.

In 1998 Sergey Brin created a computerized version of the Google letters using the free graphics program GIMP. The exclamation mark was added, mimicking the Yahoo! logo. "There were a lot of different color iterations", says Ruth Kedar, the graphic designer who developed the now-famous logo. "We ended up with the primary colors, but instead of having the pattern go in order, we put a secondary color on the L, which brought back the idea that Google doesn't follow the rules.

In 2010, the Google logo received its first major and permanent overhaul since 1999. The new logo was first tested in November 2009, and was officially launched on May 6, 2010. It utilises an identical typeface to the previous logo, but features a distinctly orange-colored "o" in place of the previous yellowish "o", as well as more subtle shadow rendered in a different shading style.

The Google logo font is Catull BQ, and it was created for Berthold in 1982 by German designer Gustav Jaeger. Catull has a calligraphic feel with contrasting stroke weights and distinctive serifs.

Google Doodle

The first Google Doodle was in honor of the Burning Man Festival of 1998. The doodle was designed by Larry Page and Sergey Brin to notify users of their absence in case the servers crashed. Subsequent Google Doodles were designed by an outside contractor, until Larry and Sergey asked then-intern Dennis Hwang to design a logo for Bastille Day in 2000. Hwang has been designing the Google Doodles ever since. Clicking on a Google Doodle links to a string of Google search results about the topic, which can drive a lot of traffic to unsuspecting sites.

Google doodles have been produced for the birthdays of several noted artists and scientists, including Andy Warhol, Albert Einstein, Leonardo da Vinci, Rabindranath Tagore, Louis Braille, Percival Lowell, Edvard Munch, Nikola Tesla, Béla Bartók, René Magritte, John Lennon, Michael Jackson, Akira Kurosawa, H. G. Wells, Samuel Morse, Hans Christian Ørsted, Mohandas Gandhi, Dennis Gabor, Constantin Brancusi, Antonio Vivaldi and Jules Verne among others. Additionally, the featuring of Lowell's logo design coincided with the launch of another Google product, Google Maps. Google doodles are also used to depict major events at Google, such as the company's own anniversary. British novelist Roald Dahl has been featured, with the logo containing characters and items from some of his books, such as Matilda. The celebration of historical events is another common topic of Google Doodles including a Lego brick design in celebration of the interlocking Lego block's 50th anniversary. The anniversary of H. G. Wells' War of the Worlds has also been celebrated. On February 14, 2007, Valentine's Day, the Google doodle featured a chocolate-dipped strawberry that combined the second "g" and the "l" as its green stem. This design gave the appearance that the "l" was missing, thereby displaying "Googe". In response to several speculations the Official Google Blog, responded: "When you look at the logo, you may worry that we forgot our name overnight, skipped a letter, or have decided that 'Googe' has a better ring to it. None of the above. I just know that those with true romance and poetry in their soul will see the subtlety immediately. And if you're feeling grouchy today, may I suggest eating a strawberry." For the celebration of Earth Hour, the white background was transformed black to symbolize "the turning off of lights".

Google was criticized in 2007 for not featuring versions of the Google logo for American patriotic holidays such as Memorial Day and Veterans Day. That year, Google featured a logo commemorating Veterans Day.

Google unveiled a steady stream of Doodles in 2009, including one with Mahatma Gandhi's face on October 2, 2009, the birthday of Mahatma Gandhi, which is observed by the UN as the International Day for Non-Violence.

On Friday, May 21, 2010, Google created a doodle to celebrate the 30th birthday of Pac-Man. It is their first (possibly the world's first) playable logo. The logo contains an accurate re-creation of the Pac-Man game that can be played in a browser (it contains 255 levels).  On Sunday, July 11, 2010, the 2010 FIFA World Cup Final was commemorated by a Google doodle showing the stadium where the match was played that night.

On Tuesday, Feb. 8, 2011, Google ran one of its most interactive Doodles in honor of Sci-Fi writer Jules Verne's 183rd birthday. "Pulling" on a lever enabled viewers to get a Nautilus submarine's view undersea of everything from divers to treasure to sea creatures, including a coral formation in the shape of the logo.

On Friday, April 15, 2011, Google sported the first video doodle, commemorating Charlie Chaplin's 122nd birthday.  This doodle was a black and white YouTube video that, when clicked upon, started playing before redirecting to the usual Google search featuring the doodle's special occasion. All parts in this short film were played by the Google doodle team, and special behind-the-scenes footage was to be found on the Google blog.

Doodle4Google competitions

Google holds a Doodle4Google competition for students in grades K–12 to create their own Google doodle. Winning doodles go onto the Doodle4Google website, where the public can vote for the winner, who wins a trip to the Googleplex and the hosting of the winning doodle for 24 hours on the Google website. The competition originated in the United Kingdom, and now also exists in the United States. The competition was also held in Ireland in 2008. Google announced Doodle4Google competition for India in 2009 and the winning doodle was displayed on the Google India homepage on November 14. A similar competition held in Singapore based on the theme "Our Singapore" was launched in January 2010 and the winning entry was chosen from over 30,000 entries received. The winning design will be shown on Singapore's National Day on Google Singapore's homepage.

Colorless logo

From time to time Google shows a special colorless logo on a local homepage in recognition of a major tragedy, often for several days. The design was apparently first used on the Google Poland homepage following the air disaster that killed President Lech Kaczyński in April 2010. A few days later, the logo was used in China and Hong Kong to pay respects to the victims of the Qinghai earthquake.

On September 8, 2010, the doodle once again changed to a greyed-out Google logo that lit up with the standard Google colors as the first 6 letters of a search query were entered. It goes by the name of the Keystroke Logo.

Buckminsterfullerene logo

On September 4, 2010, Google replaced the logo with an interactive Buckminsterfullerene or "buckyball" doodle to commemorate the 25th anniversary of its discovery.

Google's Christmas Logo

On December 24, 2010, Google launched their holiday logo to celebrate Christmas. The logo was a combination of 17 images with each image referring to a cuisine,an instrument or a place, such as Nepal. It has 17 frames with each frame depicting something different which maximizes when you hover on any image.

Favicon

Google's favicon is a version of the lowercase "g" from its official logo, introduced in 2008, and originally intended to be a part of a larger set of icons developed for better scalability on mobile devices. The current version includes background colors red, green, blue and yellow. In June 2008, Google launched a contest intended to receive favicon submissions, and a design made by André Resende, a computer science undergraduate student at the University of Campinas in Brazil, formed the basis of the new design. From Official Google Blog: "His placement of a white 'g' on a color-blocked background was highly recognizable and attractive, while seeming to capture the essence of Google.

Google Dots logo

On September 6, 2010, Google added another interactive logo, which consisted of numerous coloured balls that fly near a cursor.