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May 13, 2008
Kids doodle 4 GoogleDennis Hwang is undeniably one of the most famous, yet unknown artists in the world. No, his work doesn't hang in any galleries or museums, but it has been viewed millions—possibly even billions—of times. We're talking about his Google doodles, the drawings that are designed on, around, and through the Google homepage logo. The 29-year-old Google Webmaster began celebrating events and holidays with his doodles in 2000. According to Wikipedia, the first logo for Google was in honor of Bastille Day on July 14, 2000. Since then he has created logos to commemorate Thanksgiving, Christmas, Earth Day, and unusual events such as Piet Mondrian's birthday. One of BoardBuzz's favorites honored Einstein's birthday.
Now Google, under Dennis' leadership, has brought their Doodle 4 Google competition to the U.S. It had previously been held in the United Kingdom and Australia. Doodle 4 Google is a competition where they invite K-12 students to reinvent Google's homepage logo. This year Google asked students to doodle around the theme "What if...?"
Google elaborates on the theme as follows:
At Google, we like to dream big, and we can't think of anything more important than asking students to do the same. We ask ourselves that same question – what if? – everyday, as we build our products, so it seemed like an intriguing and appropriate launching point to encourage students to explore their creativity. Questions are provided to help students start dreaming and doodling. Questions such as: "What if... I could see into the future? What if...I could live underwater? What if...I could build any invention I wanted?" We're really excited to see the range of creative interpretations that are submitted.
BoardBuzz is delighted to see such encouragement and support of our students' creativity. Arts are an essential part of public education. Preparing today's youth to succeed requires 21st century skills such as creativity and innovation. Kudos to Google for supporting the Arts!
Thousands of entries were submitted, and Google narrowed them down to 40 finalists. Four students in different age levels were selected as winners in each of 10 regions by a judging panel that included media professionals, Google users, and education officials. Now it's up to you to narrow down the field of 40 winners to the top four finalists. Yes, that's right, the winning artwork is on display and voting has begun.
Votes will be collected this week from May 12-18. The top four entrants (one from each age group) will win laptop computers. Then Google (Dennis Hwang) chooses an overall winner, who will earn a $10,000 college scholarship. The winner’s school also will receive a $25,000 grant for a computer lab, and the winner’s design will be posted on the top of the Google homepage for the entire day May 22. BoardBuzz can't wait.
The kids have done their part, and we've done ours by getting the word out. Now it's your turn, dear readers, to help out by picking your favorite doodles. Your votes will help select a national winner!
Posted May 13, 2008 2:11 PM | Students
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