Jessica Timczyk – Looking Outwards 01

Google Doodles embody one of my personal favorite user interactive, computing based art projects. Each design simultaneously reminds users of important dates, is visually stimulating, and all the while still allowing Google users to interact with the piece. Specifically one of my favorites, Google’s 155th Anniversary of the Pony Express Doodle, débuted on April 14^th, 2015 allowed searchers to play a game on the Doodle captured in colorful, western themed graphics. The most admirable aspect of the project though, comes in how the surprisingly complex game incorporates cartoonish graphics, while still maintaining Google’s branding. Maintaining all of those characteristics, making it new and fun for the user while still being complementary to Google’s logo would pose a difficult challenge for any creative team.

The video explains the inspiration behind the interactive animation and steps to its creation.

Seven different people were a part of the team that created this doodle:three engineering wizards: Mark Ivey, Kris Hom, Brian Murray, thebackground design: Kevin Laughlin, a project manager: Greg Capuano, a sound designer: Manuel Clémentand the art direction & character design/animation by Matt Cruickshank. This list included including three artists, where a normal Google Doodle would only require one. While this Google Doodle is incredibly unique, some inspiration was drawn from previous Google Doodles to keep the animation snappy, interesting and interactive. While not explicitly stated, the software/script of the animation appears to be novel and unique to this Google Doodle. Though this Doodle will not be reused, the level of intricacy and interactive-ness will and have inspired other important Google Doodle’s designs.