Doodle4Google

The 2010 Doodle4Google competition logo.

Doodle 4 Google, also stylized Doodle4Google, is an annual competition held by Google to have children create a logo that will be featured on the Google homepage.

History

Google features logos on their homepage, usually for public holidays.^[1] In the past, events such as the beginning of spring, the anniversary of understanding DNA, or the invention of the laser have been celebrated.^[2] The original Google "doodle" was in 1999 when Sergey Brin and Lawrence E. Page were attending the Burning Man Festival, to show that they were away if the systems were to crash.^[3]

Submissions from all students in U.S. schools from kindergarten to twelfth grade (including homeschoolers) are accepted in the contest. Teachers are required to submit doodles for their students.^[4]

Prizes

The winner's doodle appeared on the Google homepage on June 9, 2014, and also receive a $30,000 scholarship to the college of their choice,a T-shirt with their doodle on it, a google chromebook, Wacom digital design tablet, and a $5,000 technology grant of tablets or chromebooks towards their school.

Themes

Google chose themes for the doodles to be based upon:

• What makes me...ME. (2015), Winner:
• If I could invent one thing to make the world a better place (2014), Winner: Audrey Zhang, New York, 4-5 grade level
• My Best Day Ever... (2013), Winner: Sabrina Brady, Wisconsin, 10-12 grade level
• If I could travel in time, I'd visit... (2012), Winner: Dylan Hoffman, Wisconsin, K-3 grade level
• What I'd Like To Do Someday... (2011), Winner: Matteo Lopez, California, K-3 grade level ^[5]
• If I Could Do Anything, I Would... (2010),^[6] Winner: Makenzie Melton, Missouri, K-3 grade level)^[7]
• What I Wish For The World (2009), Winner: Cristin Engelberth, Texas, 4-6 grade level
• "What if..." (2008), Winner: Michael King, Georgia, K-3 grade level
• "I love soccer/football"* for 2011

Regions

The competition ran across 10 regions:^[8]

1. Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont
2. New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania
3. Delaware, District of Columbia, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia
4. Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina
5. Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, Wisconsin
6. Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota
7. Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee
8. Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas
9. Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Utah, Wyoming
10. Alaska, California, Hawaii, Oregon, Washington

Doodle 4 Google India

Doodle 4 Google is also organized by Google India and the winning picture comes up on the Google homepage.

Contest (2009)

The first edition of Doodle 4 Google India was held In 2009. The theme for the year’s contest was ‘My India’. The winner, Puru Pratap Singh, a 4th standard student from Amity International School, Gurgaon, got to see his Doodle on the Google homepage on Children’s Day last year.^[9]

Contest (2010)

The theme for 2010 Doodle 4 Google competition is 'My Dream for India'. Google wants children to represent their views on what India will be like 20 years from today through Doodle 4 Google. Some outline points given by Google are given :

1. A cleaner, greener India
2. Freedom from poverty
3. Education for all
4. The world’s center of technology{bhayander}
5. Better roads, futuristic cities

The contest was won by Akshay Raj, a class IX student of St Aloysius High School, Mangalore.

Contest (2011)

The theme for 2011 Doodle 4 Google competition is 'India’s gift to the world'.The Children were requested to imagine their own version of the Google logo based on this theme. Varsha Gupta won this year's Doodle 4 Google competition.^[10]

The top doodles in India will finally enter an online vote on this Doodle 4 Google site. At this stage, the Indian public will help decide the winning doodles that best capture this year’s theme. Any student between class 1 and 10 from any school in India can participate. ^[11]

The contest was won by Varsha Gupta from Ryan International School, Greater Noida.

Contest (2013)

The Theme for 2013 'Sky's the limit for Indian women' Gayatri Ketharaman, a 15-year-old Pune teenager, emerged as the overall winner for this year's Doodle 4 Google contest.

Contest (2014)

The Theme for 2014 Doodle4Google competition is 'A place in India I wish to visit'. Out of 12 finalist, Vaidehi Reddy was declared winner on 12 November and her doodle 'Natural and Cultural Paradise – Assam' to be featured on Google's homepage on Indian Children's Day, 14 November.

Contest (2015)

The theme for 2015 Doodle4Google competition is '"if I could go to one countries it would be....". Nine year-old P Karthik from Visakhapatnam was declared as winner for his doodle titled "Plastic to Earth Machine." Karthik’s doodle featured on the Google India homepage on November 14 to celebrate Children’s Day.^[12]

Latin America

1. Mexico
2. Colombia
3. Argentina
4. Chile
5. Brazil
6. Peru

Asia

1. India
2. Philippines

References