I recently saw a tweet about Google's latest logo design.  Before even clicking the link, I was excited to see it. Based on other clever Google logo alterations I'd seen, I knew I wasn't going to be disappointed.  When the feet of my favorite childhood character, Big Bird, popped up on my screen, a huge smile flooded my face.  I was so happy that I made the visit.  Since then, I've been loading the <a href="http://www.google.com" title="Google page" target="blank">Google page</a> to search instead of using the form in the upper right hand corner just to see if there is a new design that day.  Could this be part of why Google is so successful?  Could the anticipation of seeing a new logo most days be enough reason for a user to visit their site instead of another?  Yeah, yeah... Google has that PageRank thing that everyone wants to be at the top of and massive listings and etc... but you can't deny that their logo altering doesn't have at least a little to do with their top spot.

Now, I can't just sit here and rave about altering a logo without stating the obvious.  Google has broken the #1 brand guideline rule there is: Never alter your logo (ie: change the color, add elements, move elements, etc...).  I'm fully aware of that, but rules are made to be broken -- and Google has broken this one fantastically!

Here are some of my favorites -- for your enjoyment. : )

<img src="http://www.trendyminds.com/images/blog-news/brooke-google.jpg" width="388" height="600" />