Google’s “Gumby” Genuflection
Google’s tribute to Arthur ‘Art’ Clokey, 12/10/2011
Google is, at this point, well known for its one-day reinventions of its logo to commemorate holidays, special occasions and cultural anniversaries. Today’s marks what would have been the 90th birthday of the late claymator Art Clokey, whose immortal creation Gumby has been revived alongside his companions Pokey, Prickle, Goo and the Blockheads. The specially-made claymations make up an interactive Google logo on the search engine’s main page today, to join the ranks of the 1000-plus reinterpretations in its archive.
With a Stateside design team headed up by Dennis Hwang alongside a wealth of international illustrators and designers, Google’s atypical impulse to playfully modify its own logo has been part of the company’s MO since 1998.
As well as today’s homage to Clokey, other animated versions of the logo have include tributes to Martha Graham (by animator Ryan Woodward), John Lennon and the 80s cultural institution Pac-Man.