National Doodle Day

Did you know today is National Doodle Day?

Creative types are being urged to doodle and raise much-needed cash for national charity Epilepsy Action. National Doodle Day is Friday 6 February 2015, with proceeds directly supporting the 600,000 people living with epilepsy in the UK.

National Doodle Day is the annual fundraiser for epilepsy that gets the nation squiggling. Epilepsy Action is inviting doodlers all over the country to ‘doodle for fun to help us raise a ton’ with the chance of a prize for anyone taking part.

For the first time, people can create, upload and share doodles on their computer, tablet or smartphone. Every doodle uploaded to nationaldoodleday.org.uk will be entered into a competition. The winners will be chosen by a public vote so people can pitch their doodles head-to-head. Groups and schools winners will each receive a £175 prize, while one individual will win £75.

Grayson Perry

A raft of celebrity names have already put pen to paper for National Doodle Day to raise the all-important funds. This year’s famous doodlers range from designer Ben De Lisi and cyclist Laura Trott OBE, to Sir Bruce Forsyth. People will be able to bid for their scribbles in a ten-day eBay auction, starting on National Doodle Day, Friday 6 February.
Over 1,200 celebrities, including Mary Berry, Steven Gerrard, Rita Ora, Eddie Redmayne and Sophie Dahl have taken part in National Doodle Day since it began twelve years ago.

Raymond Briggs

Philippa Cartwright, fundraising manager at Epilepsy Action said: “Every year we are overwhelmed with the support from celebrities and members of the public. We always look forward to seeing the variety and creativity of the doodles that are sent in to us.”

“National Doodle Day is always a terrific success, raising thousands of pounds for Epilepsy Action. The highest-grossing doodle ever raised £1,600 alone, but each one makes a huge difference to people with epilepsy and their families.”

Laura Howell

“Just a few minutes of creativity really will make all the difference to people affected by epilepsy. Absolutely anyone can take part so please round up your family and friends and get doodling!”

National Doodle Day is supported by Dodo Pad, publishers of the original family ‘doodle’ diary. Information on both the National Doodle Day celebrity auction and competition can be found at www.nationaldoodleday.org.uk. The eBay auction will run from Friday 6 February to Sunday 15 February 2015. The closing date for entries into the National Doodle Day competition is Friday 20 March. Voting closes on Friday 3 April.

We’d love to see our Make It In Design community get involved!

If you are stuck for ideas, why not try these creative prompts to get you started?:

Doodle your favourite subject matter/motif or doodle with your favourite technique/method that you have learned from The Art and Business of Surface Pattern Design courses so far
Doodle your least favourite subject matter/motif or doodle with your least favourite technique/method that you have learned from The Art and Business of Surface Pattern Design courses so far (this one is good for getting you out of your comfort zone!)
Combine the two to create a piece that is unique and challenging and will get you thinking out of the box

You can upload to the website here: https://doodle-day.epilepsy.org.uk/submit/

Don’t forget to donate the £1 to raise money for epilepsy. You can see the MIID team’s doodles below, or on the website voting area HERE.

We’d love to see your doodles – you can use the hashtags #doodleday and #MIIDdoodles on social media so we can see your work!

This is going to be a lot of fun!