The Top 10 Sending Good Cheer Winners
| Posted on September 22, 2011 | 35 Comments
For four years, Minted has sourced holiday cards in an open-submission call to the best designers in the world. In 2008, we received 110 entries; in 2009 637 entries, in 2010 1341 entries, and this year we received 2251 entries. This year, we were awed by the quality and quantity of design submissions. We saw beauty in so many designs that it became an almost impossible task to pick just a few.
Thankfully, we use the votes of the Minted community (consumers and designers) to help determine our assortment. We are careful to remove ‘bad’ voting behavior that we feel is trying to swing the vote unnaturally. One thing we have noticed is that the Minted community are tough graders; the top placing design in this challenge achieved a score of 3.51 out of 5. While there has been a lot of debate in the Minted community about why great designs receive scores of “1″ at all, I believe these are legitimate scores because there is true difference of opinion regarding design. If anything, the Internet has enabled greater fragmentation of taste. Individuality of style and self-expression are encouraged within the community at Minted; we should celebrate the “1s” as well as the “5s” as these scores are a reflection of the diversity of taste in the community.
OK, so at this point I will stop blathering on about voting because I know that this is not what you are interested in reading about. It is 2:47am here at the office and we are here listening to Lady Gaga and other dance music. We’re excited to launch these designs, and we’re even more excited for our customers to have access to them.
Among thousands, here are the 10 top voted designs from our Sending Good Cheer Holiday Challenge. I couldn’t be more thrilled to say congratulations to you all.
1st place: “Kraft Ribbon” by Alethea & Ruth
We are very excited that “Kraft Ribbon” by Alethea and Ruth was voted number one, winning the grand prize of $5,000. This card was distinguished by its popularity among consumers and designers alike, and it was a personal favorite among many at Minted. I happen to be flying down to Southern California shortly and will be delivering a $5,000 check to Rachel Simonsen of Alethea and Ruth myself.
This card is the very definition of beautiful. Rachel of Alethea & Ruth weaves together a crisp kraft paper background, soft colors, and a gorgeous hand-illustrated greeting. We’ve just celebrated one year of having Alethea & Ruth as part of the community and look forward to many more awe inspiring designs.
2nd place: “falalalala la la la la” by Design Lotus
“Falalalala la la la la” by Design Lotus is a simply flawless holiday card and came in second place out of a staggering number of submissions. In Amy Ehmann’s winning design, a delightful handwritten script sweeps across the bottom of the full bleed photo highlighting the family and also the festive time of the year. Family name and year are framed below in the timeless Archer font. We can’t help but dive head first into the holiday spirit when we see this gorgeous card.
3rd place: “Year in Review” by j.bartyn design
We’re kind of obsessed with infographics here at Minted and it looks like the community is too. Coming in at third place is “Year in Review” by Cambria Evans of j. bartyn design. This design blends superbly executed typography, unusual color and fun copy. Cambria has magically found a way for customers to keep their friends and family updated on the exciting happenings of their past year while keeping the design clean, classic, and just plain cool. We think this will be a favorite design among the press.
4th Place: “All Ye Faithful” by 2BSquared Designs
The holidays are a perfect time to express yourself through song. “All Ye Faithful” is a design that does just that by including a lyrical greeting perfectly written in arching type, with swirling design elements and a delightful sprig of holly. Anita of 2BSquared has created one of the strongest examples of the hand-drawn trend we saw in this year’s challenge.
5th Place: “Classic Merry” by b.wise papers
“Classic Merry” says Merry Christmas in a big way while remaining incredibly elegant and fresh. Alston Wise of b.wise papers uses beautiful swashes to frame the greeting and anchor the full bleed photo, and a heart in the perfect place to accent the signature.
6th Place: “Be Merry and Bright” by Griffinbell Studio
Lynn Knipe of Griffinbell has achieved a difficult feat: capturing the holiday spirit in a classic but updated way. A whimsical script greeting mingles with berries, pinecones and darling little branches while shaping a festive Christmas tree in “Be Merry and Bright.” Clean layout, warm colors, and a smiling family completes the card wonderfully.
7th Place: “A New Stocking” by b.wise papers
B. Wise Papers makes her second appearance in the top 10 with the heart-warming holiday card, “A New Stocking.” We love the way the design so perfectly transcends categories into a super sweet birth announcement. The tiny stocking is a clever way to introduce a new baby, and Alston’s illustration is very well executed.
8th Place: “Confetti Scatter” by Kelli Hall
The name says it all in the uber playful “Confetti Scatter.” In this Minted staff favorite, colorful confetti dots sprinkled across the left side add the ideal amount of festive flare to the clean and modern design while classic type in a complementary neutral shade rounds out the design flawlessly. We are thrilled for Kelli Hall, a longstanding participant in Minted’s challenges.
9th Place: “Rejoice” by Palm Papers
Sometimes a design can truly sparkle. “Rejoice” does just that while also celebrating the very reason for Christmas. The festive greeting and elegant script draws the viewer into the heart of the design. Lauren Chism of Palm Papers has had a very strong showing in this challenge, and we expect to see more great things from her!
10th Place: “Happiest Homestyle” by Max and Bunny
So minimal and so chic, we just love “Happiest Homestyle.” From the perfectly sized greeting in the always playful Strangelove font to the darling sprigs of holly, this design says happy holidays with some serious style. We’re excited to see more from Rebecca Hardie of Max & Bunny.
And for my sign-off, a trip down memory lane showing the results of holiday challenges at Minted from the past 4 years, clearly showing a progression in holiday card styles towards today’s ‘craft’ look:
Congratulations, Minties! You are the reason we love coming to work every day.
p.s. Special Award winners from this challenge will be revealed tomorrow on our blog.
Congrats to all the winners – what a beautiful assortment of design!
what a PERFECT card to win! congrats!!!
Congratulations to the Top 10! Beautiful, beautiful work!
congrats ladies! Beautiful designs. The full bleed was a real winner this year!
So many simply amazing designs!! A huge congrats to all of the winners!
Congrats to everyone of these winners. There are some really great designs here.
BEAUTIFUL!! congrats to all for gorgeous work!!
Congrats. to these wonderful winners!
Congrats to all the winners! Great designs and anxiously waiting to see all the holiday selections on sale.
Seriously LOVELY work across the board! Huge Congrats to Alethea and Ruth as well.
The top 10 were worth the wait!! Big Congrats to all the designers who won : )
Awesome results to wake up to. Gorgeous designs ladies!! And big congrats to Rachel on first place!!
truly amazing designs! huge congrats and hi-fives to all the winners
What a gorgeous top 10 – love that there is such a wonderful variety among the winners! Congrats to everyone – beautiful work!!!
Congratulations! They are all BEAUTIFUL!!
Definitely worth the wait, these are stunning!
Congratulations ladies!!! xo
Absolutely gorgeous designs! Congratulations everyone – awesome job!!!
What a GORGEOUS top 10!! Huge congrats
congrats to everyone!! the assortment this year is truly STUNNING!
BRAVO BRAVO everyone ! Beautiful designs !
Y’all brought down the house! CONGRATULATIONS!
Absolutely stunning! Congrats to everyone!!!
Minted “sending good cheer” holiday cards challenge winners! September 22nd, 2011 @ 5:52 pm
[...] the winners were revealed yesterday and they are gorgeous ! Minted also selected a great selection of designs among the beautiful [...]
wow! SO many great designs. totally blown away. these top designs are incredible – congrats to everyone!
BIG CONGRATZ everyone!!!.. Good job!!!
Congrats! Congrats! Congrats!!!!
Big congrats everyone!
love! love! Congrats everyone!
awesome- congrats to all the minties- very well deserved!
Wow to Becca and Max and BunNY! Congratulations!! | Shelley Beatty September 25th, 2011 @ 4:31 pm
[...] Minted: http://www.minted.com/blog/2011/09/22/the-top-10-sending-good-cheer-winners/ [...]
All so deserving… congratulations!
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more winning holiday designs « October 4th, 2011 @ 1:02 am
[...] for this year’s winning design: Top 10, Top 11-20, we spot a lot of simple, hand lettered designs. I guess those are in trend now. But I [...]