Doodle it

When Google Earth hit our computer screens people became obsessed with pinpointing a patch on the planet’s surface and zooming in with the aid of 3D and satellite images. It was exhilarating, in an overexcited superhero kind of way, to fly anywhere in the world from your office desk.

But now there’s a chance not to see the world as it actually is, but to draw it as you would like it to be. Doodlearth, a collaborative project between production company Squint/Opera, illustrator Serge Seidlitz and art agency Debut Art, aims to created an illustrated online cityscape from people’s hand-drawn, digital or collaged images. It kicked off during design week last month with its first workshop in London. The organisers think about 10,000 people came to the event, drawing and doodling over eight huge canvases.

Earlier, a group of artists, including Will Alsop, drew up city scenes which were edited into an animation to inspire the public.

Like real cities, Doodlearth’s founders expect it to grow and change as people from around the world add their different styles to it. They are planning events in Berlin, Tokyo and Los Angeles, and resulting work will be displayed on the website. As technology improves, it is hoped that people will upload their own images, creating a constantly evolving, illustrated, virtual community.

But if your doodling urges can’t wait, watch out for blank Doodlearth postcards that will be distributed in London soon. The idea is for people to draw a building inspired by the area they live in and post it back. The drawings will then be uploaded onto the site.

So if the real built environment is a bit of a disappointment to you, this could be your chance to shape an imaginary one, while providing you with an excuse to doodle.