Google's 2011 New Year Logo and the Most Interesting Doodles of 2010

Google couldn't miss an opportunity as New Year's Day to do something special with its homepage. Continuing a tradition started in 2000, Google had a custom logo to mark the start of the new year in most places around the world. The 2011 doodle was quite similar to the previous one, but it featured roman numerals to spell out 2011 inside the Google logo.

The previous year was a plentiful one when it comes to custom Google logos. The main homepage was used to mark quite a lot of special birthdays and celebrations and there was also an increase in localized doodles, not only for national days but also for events or people of interest to only one or a few countries.

The 2011 New Year doodle isn't particularly spectacular but it's an interesting one nonetheless.

Besides the necessary fireworks, which provide the background, the doodle spells out 2011, written with Roman numerals 'MMXI' which replace 'oogle' in the regular logo. The colors and the use of fireworks make it very similar to the doodle from 2010.

2010 was ripe for doodles and Google delivered, outdoing itself in some cases. The Winter Olympics and the Fifa 2010 World Cup were obvious choices as well as the traditional holidays like Halloween and the winter celebrations.

Some less traditional celebrations were marked last year as well, the international Pi day, for example, dedicated to the most famous number in mathematics, was highlighted by Google with a special logo.

Classic popular literature was celebrated as well, with doodles dedicated to Mary Shelley, the creator of Frankenstein, Agatha Christie, the popular mystery novel writer, and Jane Austen.

Classic cartoon characters were also a popular theme this year, with a doodle dedicated to the Flintstone's 50th birthday and a Scooby Doo-themed Halloween doodle series.

By far the most spectacular and most popular doodle of the year though was dedicated to the 30th anniversary of Pac Man. The doodle was an actual, playable Pac Man game inside the Google logo which was so popular it is said to have ruined productivity for that day at many companies. You can still play the Pac Man doodle game at its permanent home.