Dennis Hwang, 31, Google Inc.’s webmaster, is better known for the logos he designs for the company’s homepage. In India to hand out an award for a Google ‘doodle’ competition, he spoke about what it takes to keep the ever-changing logos a top-of-mind item for Google users.
Sometimes we hear about a cool idea and have less than a day to design something. But every few months we get together to discuss and plan. (Then,) we get messages all the time from users saying you should do this or that.
Our work process is pretty informal. Mostly, we’ll know it’s a significant event in a country or we’ll be told. If it’s an artist’s birthday, it’s easy. Sporting events like the World Cup and the Olympics are easy, too. Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin are into pushing the boundaries… the crazier the idea, the better.
The driving force behind the institutionalisation of the logos is the Google brand itself. We’re putting out good products, providing information to people. We just try to keep it fun and come up with new ideas, keep users saying “aha.” A lot of other companies have started changing their logos, too, which is the greatest form of flattery.
