Martha Graham was born 117 years ago today and Google called on “motionographer” Ryan Woodward to honor the event with an animated Doodle. I was hoping for a Monty Python theme, but this logo could be a classic.
Graham was the pioneer of modern dance in the United States and her Martha Graham Dance Company has grown in to the Martha Graham Center of Contemporary Dance.
The animation was done by Ryan Woodward, the self-claimed ‘motionographer’ and popular artist. The combination of both creative skills culminate in the Doodle above. The images suggest classic shots of the dancer who contributed so much to world art.
Google is celebrating characters created by British children’s book author and illustrator Roger Hargreaves, who today would have turned 76. The characters featured in Google’s series of logos all come from two series of books written by Hargreaves — “Mr. Men” and “Little Miss.”
In case you missed it, reload Google enough times today and you’ll be treated to a total of 16 different Doodles. The last time Google put out multiple Doodles in one day for an individual was five for the 205th birthday of Hans Christian Anderson last April.
Happy Mother’s Day to Moms everywhere! Just as Google has done for the past 10 years, a Google Doodle has been posted in numerous countries today around the world that are celebrating mothers, including the United States, Australia, New Zealand, India, and many more.
This isn’t the first time the purple logo with the flower replacing the “l” has appeared on Google. The Doodle previously appeared in countries including Spain and Portugal, which celebrated Mother’s Day on the first Sunday in May — the same day Google’s World Fair logo appeared for the majority of the world.
Today Google is honoring the 160th Anniversary of the World’s First Fair. The event took place in Hyde Park in 1851 and was called the Great Exhibition. The event was invented by Queen Victoria’s husband Prince Albert to celebrate modern industrialism and was hosted at the Crystal Palace, a massive glass exhibition centre designed specifically for the event.
As noted on Earth day, Google Doodles are getting a lot more interactive. Today’s has a zoom feature that allows you to magnify portions of the doodle to find some neat little historical details.
In honor of the Royal Wedding of Prince William and Catherine “Kate” Middleton, Google has posted a special logo in select countries today, including the UK, U.S., Canada, and Australia. The logo features the London procession route, red, white, and blue confetti, and the horse-drawn royal wedding carriage.
The celebration also has carried over onto Google Maps. Maps mascot Pegman, dressed in a tux, has been joined by a Pegwoman in a wedding gown.
Google Maps has a special pegman for the royal wedding. The pegman is a bride and a groom, aka Prince William of Wales and Catherine (Kate) Middleton, as the pegman.
Google is celebrating the 226th birthday of John James Audubon, the French-American ornithologist, artist, and naturalist with a special logo. Fitting that Google is honoring Audubon, considering that in his day Audubon had a Google-like mission to paint every bird species in North America (Google’s mission today is, obviously, much larger: to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful).
Just as Audubon had a love of nature, Google also has been showing its “green” side, with massive investments in solar and wind energy. Google this year, as has been tradition for the past 10 years, also tried to raise awareness of the environment with a special Earth Day logo April 22.
Google Doodle logos are popping up in various Google sites around the world. While they are all different, they share a common theme: children.
Russia: Peter and the Wolf
A unique Google Doodle appeared on Google Russia. A three-frame custom Google logo, with graphic scroll buttons depict the 1936 orchestral children’s story, “Peter and the Wolf” by Sergei Prokofiev.
At the request of the Central Children’s Theatre in Moscow, Prokofiev wrote “Peter and the Wolf” as a musical symphony for children to cultivate children’s musical tastes from a young age. Many U.S. children still encounter this timeless tale in elementary school.
Google have raised awareness of Earth Day for the last 10 years with a new Doodle. The doodle designs have got more creative and complex with the years and have touched upon different planetary themes and concerns such as solar energy to polar ice caps.
This month, known as Earth Month, Google has really put it’s money where it’s mouth is by investing over $300 million dollars in clean-technology and alternative energy schemes. So, at SEW we have been expecting something a little bit special from the eco-conscious company.
Every year, without fail, Google celebrates Earth Day and SEW has been on the lookout for how Google will honor it. Earth Day is tomorrow, April 22, but the Google Doodle has already been sighted in New Zealand, Australia, and India.
You can get a preview of it below.
However, more exciting than the Earth Day logo is the massive investment Google has been making in clean energy this month.
Solar Energy
April 7th – Google agreed it’s first clean-tech investment in Europe, pumping $5 million into a German solar power plant based in Brandenburg near Berlin.
Richard Trevithick, British inventor of the first functioning steam locomotive, received a Google Doodle on Google UK for his 240th birthday. Trevithick was born in 13 April 1771 and died 22 April 1833.
Trevithick was the first to build a functioning steam locomotive engine using high pressure steam – which many were working on at the time. Motivated by the royalties being paid to James Watts for his steam engine used in mining, he worked on the engines at the Cornwall mine he worked at when he first joined the work force.
