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The best Google Doodle designs ever - chosen by their creator

Brilliant Google Doodles everyone should see

The best Google Doodle designs ever - chosen by their creator

By Marc Chacksfield

07 July 2019

Matt Cruickshank has one of the most important jobs at Google - everyday he designs the search giant’s front page, with a Google Doodle. Given Google’s homepages get trillions of searches a year, that’s a lot of eyes on your work.

Shortlist managed to get Cruickshank to put down his pencil for a few minutes and reveal his favourite-ever Doodles and the thinking behind them.

Here, in his own words, are the Doodles that mean the most to him, starting with his favourite....

The best Google Doodle's ever

1. Pac-Man

The PAC-MAN Doodle in 2010, was to celebrate the game’s 30th anniversary. As the first interactive doodle, PAC-MAN seems like a natural fit for the Google homepage. Both concepts are straightforward, disguising their complexity, whilst having a light-hearted, human touch to both of them.

2. Doctor Who

Doctor Who! It started life as a request from a huge fan at Google, and there was an online petition to create a Doodle celebrating Doctor Who by Google engineers. The idea seemed daunting -- 11 Doctors, 50 years of adventures, countless enemies and time travel, but we loved the idea of science fiction, technology and fun coming together. So we set about creating a multiple level game. The Doodle was a quirky and unique opportunity for people to control famous and much-loved characters.

3. Earth Day

The 2018 Earth Day Doodle, featuring ethologist, conservationist, activist, and animal-lover Dr. Jane Goodall, was a hugely touching moment for me. I had the opportunity to meet her; and she spoke about following her passion for animals and Africa to Gombe Stream National Park, Tanzania, where she began her landmark study of chimpanzees in the wild and immersed herself in their habitat as a neighbor, rather than a distant observer. I knew that it was a powerful message that we needed to deliver.

4. Altamira Caves

We celebrated the 139th anniversary of the first discovery of cave paintings, at the Altamira caves in Cantabria, northern Spain, a masterpiece of the prehistoric era, miraculously well preserved after some 36,000 years. The drawings were a human instinct to record history through art and symbols. Researching the artwork provided me with a profound inspiration.

5. Tour de France

My favourite Doodle was for the Tour de France, I love cycling and getting out in nature. I cycle to work everyday, it’s a great way for me to think about the day ahead and for that reason I wanted to celebrate the bicycle. The image came to me of using the two O’s in ‘Google’ as the wheels, and make it animated. The illustration for the 100th Tour De France was a great opportunity to take the Tour back in time to an era of moustaches and wheel tubing over shoulders! It was a moving graphic that points to the future yet recognises the nostalgia and heritage of early 20th century tour posters.