The “Doodle 4 Google” Contest is held every year and is open to all students attending a school in India and the submission deadline for the doodles was 31st October. The doodles were judged on the basis of the following criteria:
- Artistic merit – based on age, drawing skills, and use of color.
- Creativity – based on the representation of the theme and use of the Google logo.
- Theme ‘Unity in Diversity’ – how well the concept of the theme is expressed.
- Supporting statement – how the vision of the doodle is explained.
The contestants were shortlisted by a panel of experts from various art schools in the country and three winners were announced by an online vote. Apart from that, a panel of judges which included cartoonist Ajit Ninan and film and theater actor Boman Irani and the “original doodler” Dennis Hwang decided the overall national winner whose doodle is displayed on the Google India homepage (www.google.co.in) as the official Google logo on Children’s Day – November 14th, 2012.
The theme of this years’ contest was “Unity in Diversity” and Google was looking for doodles that bring alive the things that are uniquely diverse and different yet they unite India. And surely four bright young minds brought this vision of a united India into the doodles they created.
Arun Kumar Yadav, a student of Kenderiya Vidyalaya, Chandigarh was announced the National winner. He drew a mind-blowing and creative doodle called “A Prism of Multiplicity” and is deserving of being showcased on the site’s homepage.
Equally creative were the category winners Vasudevan Deepak of Devgiri CMI Public School, Calicut who drew “The Great Banyan”, Shravya Manjunath of Mitra Academy, Bangalore who drew “Unity in dance disperses vibrant colors” and S.Preetham Paul of Sri Prakash Vidyaniketan, Vishakapatnam who drew “Striding forward the unity”.
The kids were given a number of resources to help them with their doodles such as sample doodles, templates, and tips.
However, nobody does it quite like the “original doodler” Dennis Hwang. Google doodles are drawing the Google logo on the search pages which are the creation of this 32-year-old Google Webmaster. Since 2000, Dennis began celebrating worldwide vents and holidays and his work has been seen by millions of people and reached cult status. Fans await his doodles with bated breath. Here are his top tips for aspiring doodlers:
- Make sure your design complements the shape of the letters in the Google logo, but don’t let that restrict your creativity.
- Experiment with different media to see which one works best for your design (you can even create your doodle on your PC).
- Don’t over-complicate your design, simpler images often have the most impact.
- Remember that your design could end up on the Google homepage, so imagine how it will look on screen.
- Remember to use color well and think about how it interacts with a white background.
- Avoid commercial or copyrighted images.
- Think outside the box, try to create a doodle that’s different from your classmates and hasn’t been done before.
- Feel free to use the space behind and in front of the Google letters, but try to maintain your design’s overall balance.
- Have fun! “Doodle 4 Google” is all about creativity and enjoying designing fun things.
Do check out the winning doodle by the young creative student from Chandigarh, Arun Yadav, and do share your thoughts with us in the comments below!
