Kelly McCabe, Doodle 4 Google winner 2014 (photo by Marc O'Sullivan Photography)
Kelly McCabe from Scoil Carmel Junior National School in Firhouse, Dublin, will soon see her design grace the homepage of the world’s most popular search engine as the winner of the sixth annual Doodle 4 Google competition.
Almost 2,400 students entered this year’s competition, whittled down to 75 finalists by a panel of judges including Imaginosity marketing manager Ciara O’Shea, Irish artist Christine Crotty, and Jim Fitzpatrick, creator of the iconic red and black 1968 Che Guevara poster.
These designs were then put up for a public vote, and over 120,000 people chose their favourites from each category.
It was then down to professional Doodler Katy Wu to crown the champion. “This is my first year to judge the Doodle 4 Google competition and I was blown away by the talent and creativity shown by the entries; it was a tough job trying to choose an overall winner,” she said. “Kelly’s Doodle stood out to me with its fun design and bright colours.”
McCabe, who is just eight years old, was both surprised and delighted to have won the overall competition, and will take home a Chromebook plus a €5,000 scholarship while her school will receive a €10,000 technology grant and teacher Teresa Lea also won a Chromebook.
The prizes were presented today at Google’s EMEA headquarters in Dublin by Wu, who flew in from the company’s HQ in Mountain View.
The theme for this year’s competition was ‘My Adventure’ and McCabe’s jungle adventure incorporating elephants, lions and snakes will appear on Google.ie on Wednesday March 26th.
Describing her doodle, McCabe said, “The jungle is where you can find lots of exciting things, just like Google.”
Overall winner and Class Group 2 (ages 7-8) winner – Kelly McCabe, Scoil Carmel Junior National School in Firhouse, Dublin:
Class Group 1 (ages 4-6) winner – Cian Mangan, Cloghan’s Hill National School, Tuam, Co Galway:
Class Group 3 (ages 9-12) winner – Emma Doyle, Ballyduff National School, Camolin, Co Wexford:
Class Group 4 (ages 13-15) winner – Naiara Abad Sánchez, Carndonagh Community School, Carndonagh, Co Donegal:
Class Group 5 (ages 16-18) winner – Oisín O’Byrne, Ashbourne Community School, Ashbourne, Co Meath:
