2003 was the year that saw Google open their first office in Dublin with just five employees. So to mark 20 years of Google Ireland, we are looking back at one major addition Google has made to our browsing experience, the Google Doodle.
Doodles are the fun, surprising and sometimes spontaneous changes that are made to the Google logo to celebrate holidays, anniversaries and the lives of famous artists, pioneers and scientists. The Doodle has always been synonymous with Google and so, to celebrate the anniversary, Google will be holding a Google Doodle art competition open to 3rd-6th class primary school students in Ireland. The competition will invite children across the country to submit their very own Doodle creation based on what they think Ireland will look like in 20 years’ time. 20 lucky winners will then be selected to attend a Google Doodle masterclass in Google.
The lucky budding Doodlers will attend a workshop with a master doodler Matthew Cruickshank on 1st November in Google Dublin. Matthew, a Professional Doodler, will travel from Google HQ in Mountain View, California to meet the young artists and give them a taste of what life is like at Google and what it takes to become a master Doodler!
So how did the Google Doodle first come about? Back in 1998, Google founders Larry and Sergey placed a stick figure drawing behind the 2nd "o" in the word, Google, and the revised logo was intended as a comical message to Google users that the founders were "out of office" to attend Burning Man Festival. Nowadays, creating doodles is the responsibility of a team of talented illustrators (or doodlers) and engineers who get together regularly to brainstorm and decide which events will be celebrated with a doodle. The doodle selection process aims to celebrate interesting events and anniversaries that reflect Google's personality and love of innovation.
How to enter the art competition:
Parents and guardians of 3rd - 6th class students can enter students here.
