12 of our favourite Google Doodles from 2012

Google did well this year, coming out with some pretty darn good doodles. Many a five minutes have been wasted getting lost in the creations of some the search giant’s talented team members. A brilliant doodle can bring a special brand of happiness to a person’s day.

Google has kept us mesmerised with its ability to translate the simplicity and pure elegance of its logo into sometimes adventurous or contemplative doodles.The first doodle dates back to 1998, before Google was incorporated, and founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin played with the logo to commemorate attending the Burning Man festival.

This year there have been some very interesting doodles, such as the company’s tribute to Ada Lovelace, which celebrated one of the world’s first computer programmers’ 197th birthday. Google has also kept things dynamic with animated doodles such the one dedicated to Heinrich Hertz, who was the first to conclusively prove the existence of electromagnetic waves and the story of Little Nemo and his adventures in Slumberland.

Google has managed to transition its doodles from the first rudimentary designs to creations that tell stories and entertain. It’s hard to pick from a year-long catalogue of doodles and no doubt there are some that you love that we may have missed, but below are our favourite dozen. You can explore all of this year (and past years’) doodles here.