Tumblr offers a new take on the classic Google Doodle

Love Google Doodles? Well, now Tumblr has its own version, and the reason why goes back to its most recent redesign.

The Tumblr logo was quietly redesigned last October, and the change was so slight that many didn’t even notice it. Tumblr tells VentureBeat, however, that the logo almost lost its punctuation mark — interesting if you consider Tumblr owner Yahoo’s famous exclamation mark (a subject over which many still gnash their teeth).

Tumbr’s creative director Peter Vidani considered getting rid of the dot entirely but ultimately decided to keep it around as a design element that the company could swap out for icons — not unlike the Google logo. Click the icon and you’ll arrive at a relevant page or search term.

Tumblr is kicking off the program for Valentine’s Day and will create numerous Tumblr Dots per month for special causes (as in the case of Typhoon Haiyan) and holidays (such as Star Wars Day).

Of course, this isn’t a world-shaking move. But it is a curious design decision that should answer a few questions for all of you punctuation-hating designers out there.