Before there was a Dennis Hwang and his changing the Google identity to reflect holidays and various international events, there was one Ruth Kedar, who is responsible for the design of Google's original logo. By way of 30gms, we found this interview over at WebProNews with Kedar about how the branding gig came up for one of the most iconic identities of the decade and about her process in developing it. There's no information about how much she was paid for creating it early on in the company's history, so we're thinking, since there are no expletives to be found anywhere in the interview, that a) she's really good about such things and doesn't care a lick about how much she received for creating something that's seen a billion times a day or b) they paid her a lot right off the bat and/or she got another big check once pay dirt was hit. Whatever the case, it's an interesting read. Here's a bit:

Times-Roman was the font of choice for the web at that time, while sans-serif fonts were the darling of the printed world. I wanted the readability of a serifed font, but looked for a typeface that had the same qualities we were looking for -- subtly sophisticated, but with some humor and irreverence . The chosen typeface is a based on Catull, an old style serif typeface. Catull borrows elements from traditional writing instruments such as the quill and the chisel with a modern twist. Search, by nature, is an activity that requires we look into the past. Therefore Catull's historical ties seemed appropriate, as did the bridging between the old analog world and the new emerging digital era.