Google Doodles: Dennis Hwang, the First Doodles and How to Play Them

Google Doodles are the special logos that replace the usual Google logo on the homepage to celebrate holidays, anniversaries and famous people. The man who turned them into a regular feature was Dennis Hwang, Google’s first long-time Doodle designer. This article explains who he is, how Doodles began, and how to find and play old Doodles today.

Quick answer: Google’s first Doodle appeared in 1998, when the founders added a Burning Man figure to the logo. Dennis Hwang drew the Bastille Day Doodle as an intern in 2000 and went on to become the chief Doodle designer. Today a whole team makes Doodles, and every past Doodle can be browsed on Google’s official Doodles archive.

How Google Doodles began

In 1998 Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, then Stanford students, put a stick figure behind the second “o” in the logo. It was a playful signal that they were away at the Burning Man festival. Users loved the idea, and holiday logos started appearing now and then.

Dennis Hwang: the man behind early Google Doodles

In 2000 Dennis Hwang, then an intern, was asked to design a Doodle for Bastille Day. It went down well, and he became Google’s main Doodle designer, creating many of the holiday and event logos people saw on the Google homepage in the early 2000s.

In a 2004 post on Google’s blog called Oodles of Doodles, he described the nerve-racking moment of showing his mockups to Larry and Sergey for a thumbs-up or thumbs-down, and how much he loved that his little niche at the company had turned out to be so creative.

Doodle for Google: the student contest

Google also invited students to design Doodles. When we first wrote about Doodles, ZDNet UK had reported that a London schoolgirl won a “Doodle for Google” challenge open to around 4,000 pupils at 25 London schools, judged by Dennis Hwang, to mark the launch of a new Google office in London. Google has run Doodle for Google contests for students in several countries since then. This video from Google shows how a Doodle is drawn:

How Google Doodles are made today

Doodles are now made by a team of illustrators, animators and engineers at Google rather than one designer. Over the years they have grown from simple drawings into animations, short films and playable games. Some Doodles appear worldwide, while others only show in one country.

Several Doodles became so popular that people still search for them years later, such as the Pac-Man Doodle. Google even shows a special birthday Doodle to signed-in users on their birthday.

How to see and play old Google Doodles

1. Go to the official Google Doodles archive.
2. Use the search in the Doodles library, or browse it to find the Doodle you remember.
3. Open a Doodle to see the artwork, read the story behind it and, for interactive Doodles, play it in your browser.

Want more hidden fun from Google? Check our list of Google Easter eggs that still work.

Can you use the Google logo?

Doodles and the Google logo are Google trademarks. If you want to use them on your own site or product, read Google’s official brand permissions guidance first.

FAQ

Who created Google Doodles?

Larry Page and Sergey Brin made the first Doodle in 1998. Dennis Hwang made them a regular feature after designing the Bastille Day Doodle in 2000, and a full team makes them today.

What was the first Google Doodle?

The first Google Doodle, in 1998, was a Burning Man stick figure behind the second “o” in the Google logo.

Where can I find all Google Doodles?

Every past Doodle is listed in Google’s official Doodles archive, where you can search and play them.

Can I still play Google Doodle games?

Yes. Many interactive Doodles, such as Pac-Man, can still be played from the Doodles archive.