The Google Logo

Here is a great article about how crappy the Google logo is... and how that makes it even more awesome:

In truth, the logo is weedy, corny and ill-conceived. It’s the same with the Google homepage — a brutal display of functionality. Clearly, no graphic designer has been near it. Compare it to the home pages of other large corporations, and its obvious that Google has avoided hiring slick design companies and serious branding consultants. It looks like they’ve just gone and done it themselves.

And yet, I think there’s something magnificent about Google’s lack of design. There’s something defiant, almost obtuse about its reluctance to indulge in the sort of oleaginous branding and design that is now the corporate norm.

I also love how they change the logo on the days of specific events. Apparently, a 23-yr old webmaster named Dennis Hwang does them all. What other company bastardizes its logo so brilliantly and with such positive results? Look here for all the different variations they come in.