February 5, 2010

Doodle 4 Google

Google invites kids across the nation to design a new logo for its homepage

By Vickie An

Calling all students: Google wants your doodles! The online giant kicked off its third annual Doodle 4 Google competition this week. The contest asks kids in grades K-12 to use their scribbling skills to create a new design for the familiar Google logo. The top doodle will be spotlighted on the search site's homepage on May 27. Teachers must register their classrooms to enter the contest by March 17. Doodles are due on March 31. For official contest rules, visit google.com/doodle4google.

CHRISTIN ENGELBERTH—GOOGLE Last year's winning doodle, "A New Beginning," was created by Christin Engelberth, 12, from San Antonio, Texas.

Think Big!

This year's theme is "If I Could Do Anything, I Would..." Students should start by brainstorming all of the things they would do if anything in the world were possible. Would they walk on the rings of Saturn? Would they find a cure for cancer? Would they travel back in time? They can then use the ideas as inspiration for their doodles.

Google hopes the contest will encourage kids to "think big and dream big." A panel of expert jurors will help judge the doodles this year. The group is made up of well-known illustrators, cartoonists and animators. Eric Carle, creator of the best-selling book The Very Hungry Caterpillar, will also be a judge.

The grand-prize winner will receive a $15,000 college scholarship, a laptop computer and a trip to the Google office in New York City. A $25,000 technology grant will be awarded to the winner's school. The top 40 regional doodles will also be showcased in a special exhibit at the Smithsonian Institute's Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum in New York City.

Doodle Beginnings

The first-ever Google doodle appeared on the company's homepage in 1999. It was created by Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin. They were attending a festival in Nevada and wanted to tell the website's users where they were. The doodles have been a hit ever since.

Google's chief doodler is webmaster Dennis Hwang. He has been creating logo designs marking holidays and world events since his days as an intern in 2000. Here are a few helpful hints from Hwang on how to get started on your doodle.

1) Make sure your design complements the shape of the letters in the Google logo, but don't let that restrict your creativity.

2) Experiment with different media to see which one works best for your design (you can even create your doodle on your PC or Mac).

3) Don't over-complicate your design—simpler images often have the most impact.

4) Remember that your design could end up on the Google homepage, so imagine how it will look on a computer screen.

5) To find inspiration around the "If I Could Do Anything, I Would..." theme, try thinking about the future and how you would like it to differ from the present.

6) Remember to use color well and think about how it interacts with a white background.

7) Avoid commercial or copyrighted images.

8) Think outside the box—try to create a doodle that's different from your classmates and hasn't been done before.

9) Feel free to use the space behind and in front of the Google letters, but try to maintain your design's overall balance.

10) Have fun! Doodle 4 Google is all about creativity and enjoying designing fun things. Think about how you want to change the world.

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