If you’ve been to Google’s homepage today, you’ve seen a beautiful and possibly recognizable image above the search box (photo at right).
That’s because today is the 172nd birthday of French post-impressionist artist Paul Cézanne, who lived from 1839 to 1906 and loved painting still lifes, landscapes and portraits.
The Google logo made its first step “out of the box” in 1998 when the founders of Google, Larry Page and Sergey Brin went to a festival in the Nevada desert called Burning Man and added the symbol of the man behind the second “O” in Google (so old-school!) to tell everyone they weren’t in the office. Since then, there have been almost 300 doodles featured in the US and 700 on international Google homepages.
“The doodle selection process aims to celebrate interesting events and anniversaries that reflect Google’s personality and love for innovation,” Google execs told PC Mag. “We are aware that the list of doodles is not exhaustive, but we try to select doodles that show creativity and innovation.”
Google also wants to include youth in the creation of new logos. For the fourth year in a row, the company is calling on students in kindergarten through 12th grade to compete in the “Doodle 4 Google” competition. The winner will receive a $15,000 college scholarship and a $25,000 technology grant for his or her school.
Last year 9-year-old Makenzie Melton won for the theme “If I could do anything, I would.” She drew a rainforest, because “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.”
Today is the first day students can submit their art, and submissions will be accepted until March. Google has partnered with the Boys & Girls Clubs of America and the Girl Scouts of the USA on the theme: “What I’d like to do someday.”
“We know this crop of students will be the generation of tomorrow’s leaders and inventors, and we can’t wait to see what they come up with,” said Marissa Mayer, vice president of consumer products, on the official Google blog.
The winning doodle will be featured on the Google homepage on May 20.
Photo via Google.