Today marks the first day of summer in the Northern Hemisphere and as usual Google was one of the first to celebrate.
Google enlisted the help of Japanese artist Takashi Murakami for the latest Google Doodle. The famous artist is best known for his work with fashion brands like Marc Jacobs and Louis Vuitton, for which he created special lines featuring funky animated designs. The contemporary Japanese artist who gained worldwide fame when he teamed up with the famous fashion houses, also helped Kanye West on his “Graduation” album artwork. In 2008, Takashi Murakami was the only visual artist that made it onto Time magazine’s “100 Most Influential People” list.
Today, Murakami took his talents to the Internet giant and created a Google Doodle with fun summer colors, incorporating his signature animated faces and flowers in honor of the 2011 summer solstice.
Like we previously reported, the summer solstice follows the spring equinox, which marks the halfway point in the annual solar chart and at this point the length of day and night is equal everywhere on Earth. The seasonal movement of light and temperature on Earth has nothing to do with our distance from the sun but the degree of directness of the sun’s rays. The summer solstice is the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere and the official beginning of summer. The summer solstice occurs when the angle of the sun’s rays is directly overhead marking the brightest point of the year.
Murakami didn’t forget about the Southern Hemisphere, where people are celebrating the start to their winter season. Today marks the 2011 winter solstice for places like Argentina and Antartica. Murakami designed an alternative Google Doodle with a snowy scene but still incorporating his signature animated faces and flowers.