Stamps Student is a Google Doodle Winner

August 30, 2024

New Stamps student Maisie Derlega (BFA ‘28) received some big news from Olivia Rodrigo earlier this summer: The incoming first-year student from Washington, D.C., won the 2024 Doodle for Google contest and was notified by a prerecorded video message from the pop star.

As the winner, Derlega received a $55,000 scholarship, and her illustration was featured at the top of Google’s homepage on June 26. She also appeared on the Today Show and was featured in the Washington Post.

“The whole thing’s been pretty surreal,” Derlega said. “It’s just really exciting to have my art be out there, and it’s been such an honor. It was definitely a flurry when I found out.”

Derlega’s winning work featured the iconic search engine’s logo spelled out in food, drink, and place settings on a table where people are gathered. The theme for this year’s contest was “My wish for the next 25 years…” and Derlega was inspired by weekly dinners her family has hosted for the last several years.

“Every Sunday, any friends or family that are in the area come to our house, and somebody cooks and it’s a pretty quick experience, it’s pretty chaotic, but it’s one of the highlights of my week to spend that time with my family,” Derlega said.

Thinking about the theme, Derlega said the idea for her Doodle came pretty quickly. Rather than focus on something that felt big and outside of her control, she thought about something she’d like to hold on to.

"I think maybe since I was going to college, I was thinking a lot about the things that I'm going to leave behind and how I wish for some of those things to stay the same, even though things are going to change in my life, including having these Sunday dinners, and this wish that they continue — that I can continue to join them when I come back home," she said. "I'm out of state, so I just want to make sure that's something that I prioritize."

The composition came quickly to her, too, starting with an initial pencil sketch. From there, she took a photo and uploaded it to her iPad, where she finished the piece digitally using an Apple pencil. It took about 35 hours to complete.

Google has hosted the annual Doodle competition for young artists since 2008. Entries must follow the theme for the year and spell out “Google” in their artwork. Derlega’s piece was one of five finalists chosen by judges from a field of 55 students across the United States, whose work was then also voted on by the public.

Derlega’s interest in art started with animated movies and graphic novels when she was younger and was later fueled by working with her high school newspaper, where she created graphics for stories and also worked on layout. In addition, she has done some freelance graphic design work. At Stamps, she’s looking forward to trying and learning lots of new things while studying illustration and design.

“I chose the Stamps School specifically, because it really does value interdisciplinary study. It wants you to try a lot of different things, and that’s something that I look forward to,” she said. “Even though I really like illustration and graphic design, I’m also really interested in learning how to paint or do printmaking or ceramics. Maybe there’s something I don’t know yet that could be really valuable to the way I work that I could learn in doing all those new mediums.”

To that end, she’s also looking forward to taking many elective classes outside of the school and exploring both North and Central Campus.

"The University of Michigan's academics are incredible, and there's a lot I'm interested in outside of art, and Stamps gives you the opportunity to take those classes," she said. "I have so many classes I want to take, and I just wouldn't be able to do that if I had gone to an art school. I had to go to a university so that I could really try everything I wanted to do and learn everything I wanted to learn."