Google Doodles are modifications of the Google logo created by the company for use on holidays, birthdays of famous people, and major events, like the Olympics. They are displayed on the day of the occasion, and then removed and archived. Google Doodles were first initiated in 1999 for the Burning Man Festival and various other holidays. The tradition has continued to this day, with 167 different Doodles as of February 2005. The majority have been created by Dennis Hwang, although some were created by guest artists, including a Dilbert week created for Google by Scott Adams.

Born in Knoxville, Tennessee, he moved to Korea when he was about five years old. His hometown was Gwacheon where he had a very normal childhood. He went through public schools, spending six years at Gwacheon Elementary School and two years at Munwon Middle School. His doodles during these years were frowned upon, but are now his source of income and pleasure. On a return visit to Knoxville in 2003, Hwang was awarded an Appalachian Arts Fellow Award at World's Fair Park by then-mayor Victor 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 is also Google's international webmaster. "The doodles are only a small part of my actual job (as Google's international webmaster, I'm responsible for managing all our international site content, which keeps me plenty busy), but it's definitely my favorite."