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| Google Doodle History and a Nostalgic Showcase Posted: 23 Jan 2012 01:00 PM PST The concept of Google has changed little since its inception. Google is a user-friendly and very useful tool for online searches. We know what to expect of Google already: a search bar to enter the necessary keywords and then in a single click, relevant results are returned. The site is simple and minimal, so it can get ho-hum every once in a while, until Google doodles are born. Google doodles, in a few words, are modified versions of the classic Google logo. They are often seen on special holidays and or for memorable events. Google doodles are a fun and pleasant surprise, because you never know what you’re gonna get. But do you know the story behind Google doodles? Let’s explore them together, and look at the most memorable examples of all time.
The History of Google DoodlesThe first doodle was actually in 1998, to commemorate the Burning Man Festival. There is a stick figure behind the ‘o’ in Google. This is to indicate that the founders of Google took part and attended the festival. The design was a nod to the users that the founders were ‘out of office’. Google doodles became a huge hit, and appeared more and more on other holidays: Christmas, Valentines Day, Thanksgiving, Easter, just to name a few.  Google doodles during the Christmas holidays throughout the years Soon doodles started to commemorate lesser known events such as: ‘Pi’ day, Hans Christensen’s birthday, the anniversary of Sesame Street, and even the invention of the barcode. Google is a company with a great sense of humor. Every April Fool’s Day, Google makes hoaxes and pranks that are sometimes silly, sometimes absurd, and always hilarious. One prank in 2007 was the introduction of the Google TiSP, which is a wireless router that runs through the toilets. Moreover, Google promised that the TiSP has 24 hour, on site technical support in case of backup problems, brownouts, & data wipes. Another elaborate prank was on April Fool’s of 2006. It was published with the introduction: Dating is a search problem. Solve it with Google Romance’. The search engine tool is used for ‘Soulmate Search’ so users can have a ‘Contextual date’. Interactive and Flashing DoodlesRecently, Google doodles have gone interactive, and thus, have become more fun. The first interactive doodle was a clickable slideshow of a Halloween candy.   Since then, there have been many unique doodles such as a game, a short film, and more, all on the Google page. The Pacman Google doodle is a fun game that celebrates the classic Pacman game. If you missed it when it was on the website last May 22, 2010, you can check and play the game here. Google celebrated Jim Henson’s 75th birthday on September 24, 2011 with a really funny Google doodle. It’s a pretty nifty doodle, where you can create your own puppet show. If you missed it, you can still see the Muppet Google Doodle here. Probably my favorite of all Google Doodles is the Les Paul guitar one. The Les Paul doodle commemorates Les Paul’s 96th birthday. The doodle is extremely fun, it’s playable and you can create and record your own tunes with it. Some of the Best Google Doodles throughout the yearsHere are the best Google doodles from 2001 to 2011.
A tribute to Dilbert, a famous comic strip celebrating every working man. The Google doodle ran for five days, from Monday to Friday, with a funny comic strip feature everyday.
Google in Braille for one day, in celebration of Louise Braille’s birthday.
The Google doodle for Valentines day of 2011 is inspired by Robert Indiana’s renowned LOVE sculpture. The original sculpture has been on exhibit at the Indianapolis Museum of Art since the 70s, but now the sculpture has been reproduced in all types of media and colors and is on display around the world.
Doodle your Google Now!Google Doodle is currently accepting submissions until March 23, 2012. This time there will be winners for all States!     |
| Why Every School Must Teach Design Posted: 23 Jan 2012 02:00 AM PST Do something for me. Stand in front of the mirror and just look at your physical beauty. Can you imagine the immense amount of thought that would have gone into designing something as complex as a human being? I believe in evolution, and if you look at it, it looks a lot like the process a design might use to get to a final design. Imagine how the first human being came into existence. Think about how Earth was designed in a manner that it will have day and night. Humans were designed to work during the day and rest (as in sleep) during the night. Can you see how every design of nature relates to each other? Every design is so beautifully crafted that you won’t notice anything unless you actually look at it the way I want you to. Design is such an integral part of everything that it must be taught to humans from the time they start school. It is simply mandatory.
So, why a complete article on this topic?Agreed. Why would I want to write a 1200+ word article on a simple to understand topic? Well, I want to because we might understand the importance of design, but somehow we haven’t implemented it in our education system yet. Look, I am not sure if your country (or your school) teaches design to every student or not, but believe me this isn’t very common. Most educators still think along the lines of – “Teach design to a science student? Are you crazy?” – which, really, is not at all that weird. Actually, I understand their issues, this example here sounds a bit unrealistic doesn’t it? I want to put forth one more point before I move forward. I agree that the readers of 1WD have very little free time, but it is my sincere request that you read this article. True designers are hard to find and the time is very near when all that we will have are designers who imitate someone else’s design. We have to pave way for the real designers and innovators. At Least Teach Design Thinking?One needs to understand the thought process that is involved in design in order to come up with original designs. Design is an art that truly cannot be taught, but what one can teach is the design process. This approach which might help the other to develop an eye for true designs. I imagine a world where every school teaches designing. It need not reside in a particular school. Rather, every school should understand the creative reasons behind design teaching and bring design into their daily teaching process. Be it a science student or a Math student, one must understand the importance of Design Thinking. What is the fun in being a science student when you cannot relate to the beauty of Pluto’s cold temperature or Amoeba’s style of multiplying itself. Also, what is the fun in being a Math wizkid when you haven’t yet mastered the art of calligraphy? Remember that each curve and each bent in lines has a fixed angle. Calligraphy isn’t as easy as it might look like. Angles matter a lot and who could be a better student than a Math wizard when it comes to angles? So, What is Design Thinking?Design Thinking will not be a topic of discussion that you can find in books. There is nothing like D-school (though they have started to pop-up nowadays) like our B-schools.
But, Only Design-Thinking Won’t Do!All this time I was preparing you for the real thing. If you are still sticking around then let us dive into the last section of our discussion which will actually make more sense to all of us. We started with Design Thinking as that was the first step into the world of Design Learning. But, that is just a step. I agree that Design is the art of finding meaning in haystack but that isn’t it. Design is a lot more than just vague ideas popping out of nowhere. Visit the Vatican once and you will know how complex designs can a human mind generate. They just keep getting better with every passing minute in the Vatican. Installing the craze for Design Thinking is like giving a dream to an aimless child. You cannot just ask the child to dream, can you? Rather, you have to help the child understand the process which will help him achieve that dream. Get the point? This is where it becomes important to enhance the teaching process. Like, including the process of crafting along with thinking. Let me pick up the example of Math student once again. You opened the eyes of that Math student towards Design Thinking but do you think he will be able to love Designing unless he knows how to actually design? This is when the overall process of creating typography comes in. You taught Design Thinking. Now teach Designing. What I am trying to convey is that we are not looking for MBA style designers who can sell any design but aren’t aware of how to bring that design to life. We aren’t discussing the process of creating Design Leads or Design Managers. Rather, we are dreaming to create Designers who can be their own leaders. Their own inspiration. Be Raw. Real. ConclusionMy idea behind this article was the hint that I have been getting lately. The attention to detail seems to have lost in D-schools and upcoming designers. They concentrate more and more on hefty paychecks and less on jaw dropping designs. What we are searching for here are those new genre of designers who are meaningful and who make some sense. I ain’t looking to generate glossy flash artists. Rather, I am looking for staggering designs by stunning designers. Let’s be stylish. What say?   |
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