Google Has It

If you have read my About page you know I am passionate about design…all sorts of design. I worked my way through architecture school as a draftsman quickly switching majors when I discovered that a large portion of my time as an architect would involve staring at uniform building codes, electrical and plumbing plans, and all that really important non-design stuff to which I was highly allergic.

In my quest to quench my creative thirst, I found myself writing, producing, and hosting entertainment news pieces and television shows, a career that spanned 17 years of pure enjoyment. While interviewing directors, producers and actors was very rewarding, what I enjoyed the most was to be in the edit bay watching my scripts come to life. I knew exactly what I wanted to see on screen down to the frame and to that end I relied heavily on my editor, Wayne Reese, whose fingers pranced upon hundreds of buttons in order to unlock my story. Together we braved many 20+ hour edit sessions in which every transition, no matter how short, was well thought out and required patience to develop.

My years in those artistic posts underscored my awareness of how much time goes into developing anything worthy of being created, from writing to architecture, conceptual art to graphic design. I am always in awe of simple concepts with the power to move and don’t let the lack of perceived complexity fool me into believing that there was not much work leading up to the final design.

Case in point - Google doodles

I remember the first time I saw one of those little masterpieces and thinking that whoever was behind that clever doodle must be pinching him/herself every day to get to doodle for a living.

Today my son and husband asked me to join them in watching the World Cup. At half-time, I turned on my computer and on the Google homepage I saw an animated version of this:

The manner in which Father’s day and World Cup Soccer are woven into a single design is simple yet captivating. I am certain that there were many meetings, hours of brainstorming, lots of rejects and much doodling leading up to this winner.

That said, I also appreciate arduously intricate labors of love, like my all time favorite, Debussy’s Claire de Lune, which is more of a motion picture than a doodle. I don't know about you, but to me Google is not just a search engine, it's a canvas for the clever.