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The Winning Doodle

Sixteen-year-old Sophie Araque-Liu is the winner of the 2022 Doodle for Google contest!

Illustrated Google logo with second O replaced by an illustration of a mother and daughter hugging
Sophie Araque-Liu/Google
Sophie Araque-Liu’s winning design is called “Not alone.”

Sixteen-year-old Sophie Araque-Liu of Martin County, Florida, is the winner of the 2022 Doodle for Google contest. The theme of this year’s contest was “I care for myself by….” Araque-Liu’s winning artwork is about the importance of accepting help and support from others.

The artwork, called “Not alone,” depicts Araque-Liu sharing a hug with her mother. It’s meant to represent the love and care she has received from her mom throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“I care for myself by letting other people care for me…,” Araque-Liu told TC Palm newspaper. “It’s just amazing to know you still have people supporting you, and you don’t need to try to do everything on your own.”

The annual Doodle for Google contest is open to students in kindergarten through 12th grade who live in the United States or one of its territories. According to the contest rules, artists can work with any material, “from crayons to clay to found objects.” Judges select state and territory winners first and then choose one winner from each of five age groups. Finally, the national winner is selected.

As the winner of the top prize, Araque-Liu got to have her work displayed on Google’s homepage for 24 hours and received a $30,000 college scholarship. The prize also included $50,000 to fund a computer lab or technology program at her school.

“I’m not used to all the attention,” Araque-Liu told TC Palm. “But I’m so happy and so excited.”

Did You Know?

Just how popular is Google? 

There are 5.7 million searches conducted on Google every minute, according to Statista.

1
searches per minute

Google’s Doodles

A Pac-Man board with the word Google embedded into the layout.
Ryan Germick & Marcin Wichary/Google

The doodle for the 30th anniversary of the Pac-Man video game was a working version of the game.

Animation of Toni Stone catching and throwing a ball with a crowd and a scoreboard behind her.
Monique Wray/Google

This 2022 doodle recognized Marcenia “Toni” Stone, the first woman in history to play Major League baseball.

Shanti Rittgers/Google

This 2021 Google doodle celebrated the 91st birthday of Olympic gold medal-winning bodybuilder and coach Tamio “Tommy” Kono.

Cey Adams/Google

This 2017 doodle featured an animated movie about the history of hip-hop and let users become DJs.

Since 1998, Google has produced more than 5,000 “doodles.” Google doodles are versions of the Google logo that are designed to celebrate important days or to honor artists, scientists, and other notable people. Most Google doodles are designed by Google’s team of artists and engineers.

Google doodles range from beautiful illustrations to animated shorts to fully playable games. In many cases, it’s impossible to tell what kind of experience a Google doodle will give you until you click on it.

If you want to submit an idea for a doodle, Google will welcome it, although most suggestions won’t be turned into doodles. The company gets thousands of doodle suggestions every year—way more than it could ever use!

How It All Began

An animation showing the features of Virtual Fieldtrips, Chrome Music Lab, and Experiments With Google.
Animation Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Google is more than just a search engine. Websites like Chrome Music Lab, Google Experiments, and Virtual Field Trips let users explore a lot of what the planet—and their own brains—have to offer.

Learn more about the origins of Google at Britannica School!

WORD OF THE DAY

depict

PART OF SPEECH:
verb
Definition:

: to show (someone or something) in a picture, painting, photograph, etc.

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