Year in Search 2024.
Turning a tech-press data drop into a cultural moment, with Mulga's brushes.
Year in Search is, technically, a data drop. Most years it gets a polite nod from the tech press and disappears by Wednesday. The brief was to make it a cultural moment instead, the kind of thing people share without being prompted by an algorithm.
Data lands harder when it's drawn. A picture beats a list, every time.
We commissioned Joel Moore (Mulga the Artist) to bring the year's most-searched terms into one bespoke illustration. Taylor Swift as a kitten, draped in friendship bracelets. A choc-muffin Olympic champion with a gold medal and the Eiffel Tower behind. A kangaroo with a raygun. A sourdough loaf, an air fryer, the Grimace shake. Sunglass-wearing icons in a wild, surfy palette. The image was the press release, and it was designed to be irresistible to anyone with a publish button.
Around 370 pieces of coverage. 2 TV interviews (Sunrise + The Morning Show). 4 radio interviews. 3.3M social post OTS. Mulga's artwork ran in Google's own announcement and was sent to media outlets and journalists. The illustration travelled further than the data ever could on its own, which was the entire point.