On Monday, May 28, 2007, Google once again failed to create a special logo to mark Memorial Day -- exactly as they fail to do every year, despite the fact that they mark dozens of lesser or contrived "holidays" with special logos.
Google's so-called excuse for this behavior is laughable:
If we were to commemorate this holiday, we'd want to express reverence; however, as Google's special logos tend to be lighthearted in nature, this would be a particularly challenging design. We wouldn't want to create a graphic that could be interpreted as disrespectful in any way.
Considering that Google has a large staff of professional graphic designers -- just how difficult could it be to come up with a respectful design? They've even featured many logos submitted by Google users.
The goal is to create a logo that is respectful, tactful, and reflecting the spirit of Memorial Day. For inspiration, go to this page and click on "More Holiday Logos" at the upper right to see all the previous special holiday logos that Google has ever used. This page explains the meaning and history of Memorial Day : "This holiday commemorates U.S. men and women who have died in military service to their country."
Winning entries will be displayed here as they are selected.
My favorites are the Iwo Jima logo and the wall in DC that lists all the Vietnam vets.
