Google has announced its third annual “Doodle 4 Google” contest in the U.S.
Google doodles created by the talented team of doodlers at Google have helped celebrate events and anniversaries ranging from the birthday of Van Gogh to Valentine’s Day. And since 2008, “Doodle 4 Google” has given K-12 kids the opportunity to create their own logo and have it displayed on the Google homepage for hundreds of millions of users to enjoy for a day.
In addition to the winner's art appearing on Google.com on May 27, 2010, a $15,000 college scholarship, a laptop computer and a $25,000 technology study will be up as prizes.
This year's theme is "If I Could Do Anything, I Would..." and it is all about pushing the limits, dreaming big, and seeing what you can accomplish in life. When coming up with inspiration for this year's contest, Googlers, including Ed Lu, a former astronaut, were called upon for the idea.
Ed typifies this year's theme in action, and shares an inspiring anecdote:
“On my first mission STS-84, one of my crewmates and I were having dinner aboard the Space Shuttle Atlantis. After all our work for the day was done, we decided to eat "upside down" on the ceiling, gazing out at the Earth moving by below our feet. As we flew around the Earth, watching the continents go by, my crewmate remarked how amazingly large the Earth really is. But at that same time, it also felt small to us. There we were, flying at 18,000 miles per hour around the Earth in a machine built by humans, with a crew made up of astronauts from all over the world. Both of our observations were true at the same time. The world is indeed a big place with many challenges. But by using science, technology and the power of people working together, nearly anything is possible.”
For even more inspiration, there is last year's winner, Christin Engelberth, a sixth grader at Bernard Harris Middle School in San Antonio, Texas. She titled her doodle "A New Beginning" to express her wish that "out of the current crisis, discoveries will be found to help the Earth prosper once more."
This year Google has also assembled a panel of well-known "Expert Jurors," including creative directors, cartoonists and famous animators ranging from Sesame Workshop to Pixar Animation Studios. These Expert Jurors will help narrow down the cream of the crop to 40 regional finalists, who will come to the Google office in New York City on May 26, 2010.
For the second year, Google will also be partnering with the Smithsonian's Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, where the top 40 regional finalists will get to have their artwork displayed in a national exhibit. And for the first time this year, Google will give out eight Technology Booster awards to schools that submit maximum number of doodles per school by March 10th and have students in the 400 State Finalists.
All doodles must be submitted by March 31, 2010.
For more information and entry requirements, visit www.google.com/doodle4google.
Want to see what 24 hours of creative awesomeness look like? Click here.
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