June 21, also known as summer solstice, is a special day as it is the longest day of the year and marks the onset of summer in the northern hemisphere. Google, continuing its trend, celebrates the day with a beautiful doodle designed by Japanese artist Takashi Murakami. The colorful logo, titled ‘The First Day of Summer’, is embedded with floral designs and has two gaping mouthed characters – a typical Japanese anime.
The summer solstice normally falls on June 21 in the northern hemisphere and December 22 in the southern. The solstice happens twice in a year, one each during summer and winter. Solstice occurs when axial tilt of the Earth and moon is most inclined towards the sun.
Japanese artist Murakami is highly popular for his excellent art works, and his commercial endeavors have also been popular. In 2008, Murakami was included in the Time magazine’s 100 most influential people.
Search engine giant Google never misses a chance to swap its logo for a doodle. Recent Google doodles, mostly interactive and beautifully designed, have been highly popular. The doodles also remind us about some forgotten artists and scientists and their contributions.
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Though the ‘The First Day of Summer’ doodle is static, recent doodles have been pretty interactive and animated in nature. One such doodle, which honored legendary musician Les Paul, resembled an electronic guitar and even allowed users to play tunes through keyboard. It was one of the most complex and interactive doodles ever. Google took a step further to mark the recent lunar eclipse with a lively doodle that allowed live streaming of the natural phenomenon.
Many believe Google’s doodle endeavors are attempt to retain users’ interest in the search engine as Bing, its arch rival search engine, is increasingly becoming popular. Bing is gradually creating an impact on users with its innovative features and applications. Though Google’s share has marginally dipped, the search engine giant has continued to come up with unique and high end features.
Recently Google refined search options by launching “Instant Pages” and “Search By Image” features. Instant Pages predict the link that users want to browse and begin to retrieve the data – even before the user has clicked the link. On the other hand, Search By Image option allows users to begin search using an image.
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