Doodle 4 Google: Why a pirate stormed Google's homepage today
The annual Doodle 4 Google had students finish this sentence: "If I could travel in time, I'd visit..." The winning Doodle 4 Google drawing shows "Pirate times."
The annual Doodle 4 Google had students finish this sentence: "If I could travel in time, I'd visit..." The winning Doodle 4 Google drawing shows "Pirate times."
Today's Google doodle doesn't follow the normal trend. It's not for a holiday, a great artist, or聽science celebrity. That's because today's drawing comes from Dylan Hoffman, a聽second-grader in聽Wisconsin.聽
He won this year's聽Doodle 4 Google contest, an annual competition between student artists. The winner gets his or her drawing pinned up on the biggest fridge in the world: Google's homepage.聽
Each year, Doodle 4 Google聽picks a theme. This time,聽Google聽wanted to know, "If I could travel in time, I'd visit..."
Students drew聽dinosaurs, ancient Egypt, and visions of the future. Dylan prefers a life at sea. His submission, "Pirate Times,"聽holds all of the聽swashbuckler聽trappings: parrot, skull flag, bandana,聽treasure, a deserted island. And, like the professional doodles, everything fits neatly into the classic Google logo.聽
Dylan will聽receive聽a $30,000 college scholarship and a Chromebook computer (a laptop with Google's own operating system). His elementary school in Racine, Wis., will get a $50,000 grant for technology. Four聽finalists聽will receive a $5,000 college scholarship.
Exploration was big this year. Beyond Dylan's adventure at sea,聽Cynthia Cheng from聽Edison, N.J., drew a giant octopus attacking a Viking ship.聽Susan Olvera of聽Lafayette, Ind., depicted a galactic journey with aliens.聽Talia Mastalski, from Indiana, Penn., showed聽a girl tumbling through "The Wormhole of Life."聽The fourth finalist,聽Herman Wang of聽West Covina, Calif., drew an聽intricate聽"Retro City."
Doodle 4 Google pulled in 114,000 submissions this year. From there, millions of votes narrowed the selection to one image in each age group from each state. You can see all of the finalists on the聽Doodle 4 Google website聽鈥撀爋r at an exhibit in the New York Public Library from聽May 18-July 19.
Last year, the top honors went to "Space Life," a wonderfully weird drawing created by聽Matteo Lopez, a seven-year-old from聽South San Francisco,聽Calif.
And in 2010, nine-year-old Makenzie Melton聽said that her Doodle 4 Google drawing, called "Rainforest Habitat,鈥� aimed to raise awareness that "the rainforest is in danger and it is not fair to the plants and animals. I love everything except spiders and snakes, but I would still save them.鈥�
For more on the intersection of technology and daily life, follow Chris on聽Twitter @venturenaut.