What It’s Really Like To Be A Google Doodler

Megalith

Megalith

24-bit/48kHz
Staff member
Joined
Aug 20, 2006
Messages
13,000
Why are they spending two or three years on a doodle that shows up on the main page for 24 hours?

Meeting those deadlines has become more challenging as Google’s Doodles have evolved from simple drawings to more complex designs over the years, says Leon Hong, an artist on the Google Doodle team. “As an artist, trying to put something on paper within a certain time frame is very difficult,” says Hong. “Especially when it’s interactive and you have to define all of these things.”
 
I think that the time frame is from idea, to conception and eventually implementation. Since it lies on the primary source of income for Google / Alphabet I imagine that there is a lot of testing. Not only to insure that the Doodle works as intended but also to insure that it does not interfere with said revenue.

You have to remember just how much income they'd loose even for a second of downtime or significant bad press. You also have to remember that this is a global product and they don't want to offend anyone. I'm sure that there's general testing, user testing, A/B testing, use case scenario testing psychoanalyzing, etc of the Doodles up the wazoo.
 
The dates are usually historical that they have special events for, so it could be planned well in advance. It sounds like a failure of management if there are frequently tight deadlines for the artists.
 
Shows they have too much money if they spend that time to a single image that most people don't even notice.
 
After as much flack as they have taken on various doodles, surprised they even do it at all (thanks SJW's). But some of their shit takes off and people goto google just to play with a doodle so I guess it works.
 
working backwards from what's actually accomplished, they should be the product of weeks, not months to years.

Google has become a government grade corporate bureaucracy.
 
jpm100 said:
Google has become a government grade corporate bureaucracy.
Click to expand...

My argument has always been that while countries go nationalist and then regional, companies go from individuals to nations. It's become keen to point out that companies are treated as individuals (popularized over a decade ago, but it takes a while to become mainstream) but the reality is they've already moved into 'nation' status. Large companies like Google aren't a person, they're now people; they have an international sovereignty that rivals nations (e.g., anti-trust in the EU) along with the accounting to back that up. A burgeoning bureaucracy isn't a symptom of government, it's a symptom of organization.
 
jpm100 said:
working backwards from what's actually accomplished, they should be the product of weeks, not months to years.
Click to expand...
A lot of these doodles are games, and require extensive design. I am sure these designs are mulled over while others are being created. A lot are regional as well, so take the national holidays of other countries topped with the research required, art, sound, design, concept, code, it can take months, and I can see a year in some instances.
 
Kwaz said:
I think that the time frame is from idea, to conception and eventually implementation. Since it lies on the primary source of income for Google / Alphabet I imagine that there is a lot of testing. Not only to insure that the Doodle works as intended but also to insure that it does not interfere with said revenue.

You have to remember just how much income they'd loose even for a second of downtime or significant bad press. You also have to remember that this is a global product and they don't want to offend anyone. I'm sure that there's general testing, user testing, A/B testing, use case scenario testing psychoanalyzing, etc of the Doodles up the wazoo.
Click to expand...

The doodle is not their source of income...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top