Since their arrival many blue moons ago, the customised Google logos (or 'Google Doodles' to give them their correct adopted name) have become a staple part of using the search engine. From retro arcade games to famous figureheads in science and music, there have been few areas of popular culture that the Google Doodles have not ventured into celebrating. Here are the ten coolest variations of the doodles.
Les Paul
Some thought went into this one. As a huge Les Paul fan, this doodle bought a smile to my face the first time I saw it. This was even before I realised the interactive nature of the thing meant you could 'play' the doodle by dragging your mouse across the strings. What's more you could record what you played and then play it back (and you can still have a go at it here). This seems like it probably more of a homage to Les Paul's electrical innovations for the instrument rather than actually the aesthetics of a Les Paul guitar. If they'd bought out a second one in the series that actually looked and sounded like a Les Paul when you played it that would have been awesome. If something like this exists, please let me know.
Pacman
This doodle was originally created as a tribute to the thirty-year anniversary of the game. The doodle was a fully working version of the game, but the really cool thing is you can still play it at www.google.com/pacman.
Comic Con
All your favourite comic book characters here; Batman, Robin, the green guy, the stretchy neck man. Ok, so I only know who half of them are but it doesn't matter, you've got to enjoy a bit of nerdy indulgence when you can and this doodle is a prime example. Made for a Comic Con convention, the illustration on this is aptly excellent.
First Day of Summer
This unusally anime-style doodle was done by Japanese artist Takashi Murakami. Google also got him to do a second doodle based around an opposing winter theme.
Jules Verne
As a celebration of the 183rd birthday of sci-fi author Jules Verne, Google came up with this rather nifty under-water logo, which is a hats-off to the author's novel 'Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea'. When this doodle came out I was amazed by how interactive it was and how far the underwater landscape kept changing for as you moved along. You can also still see a more expanded out version of the logo, focusing solely on the underwater exploring here.
Lego
The logo is Lego. Lego is cool. Therefore, the logo is cool. I can't decide if the little lego man standing on top the second 'g' adds something to the doodle or not. But with or without the seemingly inebriated lego man, this was a simply but really effective design.
John Lennon
This John Lennon tribute Doodle showed a nice ending illustration in itself but this was part of animation build for occasion which you can check out here.
Escher
Google here cleverly used the instantly recognisable 'hands drawing into each other' theme from Escher's work. The original by the artist shows two drawn hands in turn drawing themselves and building each other up from the wrist downwards. This was nicely adapted to the central 'o's of the Google logo.
Tetris
This doodle was to celebrate twenty-five years of the gaming icon. This is probably one of their braver logos just from illegible the logo is. But this only goes to show how and familiar the logo is that it can be distorted to this extend and still be instantly recognisable.
Dr Suess
In honour of Dr.Suess's birthday Google launched this celebratory doodle comprised of the major characters. The best one? The Grynch! ...obviously.
If you know a doodle that should have made it onto this list then leave it in the comments box below.
by Chris Fiander
