Google Doodle Retrospective Feature: First Google Doodle Series (2000)
When Google celebrated 20 years of Google Doodles, I was deeply honored to be mentioned in their official retrospective. In the article, Google makes a clear distinction between the first Google Doodle (the original one-off from 1998) and the first Google Doodle series—a five-day sequence titled “Google Aliens, 2000.” In that “First Doodle series” entry, Google credits me by name as the illustrator.
Sincere thanks to Ryan Germick, Principal Doodle Design Director at Google, for the generous mention—and to the entire Doodle team for continuing what we started back in 2000.
The official Google retrospective (2018)
Google’s article is here: Doodle me this: 20 notable Doodles from Google history (Google blog).
“In May 2000, five Doodles by illustrator Ian David Marsden…”
First Google Doodle series: “Google Aliens” (May 2000)
Google presents “Google Aliens” as the first multi-day Google Doodle series. The story unfolds across five consecutive days, using the Google logo as the setting and advancing one beat at a time.
Official archive links:
- Google Aliens — Day 1
- Google Aliens — Day 2
- Google Aliens — Day 3
- Google Aliens — Day 4
- Google Aliens — Day 5
Google Doodles by Ian David Marsden (2000) — curated gallery
While the retrospective quote focuses on the “Google Aliens” series, my work for Google in 2000 covered a broader range of Google Doodles, including single-day illustrations and other multi-day runs. The complete curated gallery is here, with direct links to the official archive wherever available:
Google Doodles (2000) — Ian David Marsden: gallery, series links, and archive references
