Dennis Hwang | |
|---|---|
| 황정목 | |
 | |
| Born | Hwang Jeong-mok c. 1978 (age 46–47) Knoxville, Tennessee, U.S. |
| Education |
|
| Alma mater | Stanford University |
| Occupation | Graphic artist |
| Employer(s) | Google (former) Niantic |
| Known for | Google doodles |
| Awards | Appalachian Arts Fellow Award |
| Korean name | |
| Hangul | 황정목 |
| Hanja | |
| Revised Romanization | Hwang Jeong-mok |
| McCune–Reischauer | Hwang Chŏngmok |
Hwang Jeong-mok (Korean:황정목; bornc. 1978),[1] known professionally asDennis Hwang, is a South Koreangraphic artist currently working forNiantic,[2] who was the original designer of some of thefestive logos forGoogle.
Born inKnoxville, Tennessee, he moved toSouth Korea when he was about five years old.[3] His hometown wasGwacheon where he "had a very normal childhood".[3] He went through public schools, spending six years at Gwacheon Elementary School and two years at Munwon Middle School, before returning to Knoxville and graduating fromBearden High School.[3] His doodles during these years were frowned upon. On a return visit to Knoxville in 2003, Hwang was awarded anAppalachian Arts Fellow Award at World's Fair Park by then-mayorVictor Ashe. Ashe proclaimed, "Mr. Hwang's work is impressioned hundreds of millions of times each week, and reaches all corners of the globe. He is arguably Knoxville's most persistent artist."
He received a degree fromStanford in arts and computer science.[4]
During theBurning Man festival of 1998,Larry Page andSergey Brin designed Google's first "doodle" for the purpose of notifying users of their absence. Subsequently, Hwang was assigned to create special Google logos.[4] His first logo design for Google was in honor ofBastille Day,[2] on July 14, 2000, at the request of Page and Brin,[5] and he went on to design a great many specialty logos. By 2005, he was creating about 50 Google logos each year.[6] Hwang has designed Google logos commemoratingThanksgiving,Christmas, and other events such asPiet Mondrian's birthday. He also designed the iconicGmail logo on the night before its release.[7][8]
His position within Google was international webmaster, which made him responsible for all of their international content.[9]
