A talented 14-year-old Colombian artist wins a nationwide competition to design an alternative logo for search engine Google.
Following a search across Colombia, Google selected Yennifer Valderrama Castaño, from the north-western department of Antioquia, as the winner out of 96 finalists who entered the competition “Doodle 4 Google.” Valderrama Castaño’s doodle – based on the Google logo – will be published on Google Colombia’s site on July 20, the day of Colombia’s Bicentenary of Independence.
Valderrama Castaño, known at school as a talented artist, was encouraged by her teachers to send in the doodle. “I drew the Google logo in stone to give the feeling of antiquity, and the background image shows our islands, with a Spanish ship and the flag of Colombia as a sign of freedom “, said the young artist, who regards her participation in the competition as “an opportunity for thousands of people to see my art and follow my dream of becoming known as an artist.”
Alongside Valderrama Castaño, 9-year-old Natalia Isabel Cuevas was named winner in the 6-9 age category, whilst the 13-year-old Camilo Fernandez del Portillo from Bogota won in the10-13 category.
Each entry sent in by a child or school automatically donate money towards the Antonio Restrepo Barco Foundation, which buys books for educational institutions around the country.
Google’s Latin American Director of Marketing, Miguel Alva, said Colombia was one of the most enthusiastic countries to participate in the competition with more than 5,000 schools taking part, submitting around 15,000 drawings.
But the competition is not over yet. The winners will now go on to compete internationally against children from Argentina, Chile and Mexico to battle it out for regional winner. The winning doodle will be published on Google sites in all four countries on 12 October, Columbus Day.
