Minted, the online store powered by a global design community, is pleased to announce the holiday card winners of their 2011 ?Sending Good Cheer Holiday Card Challenge.? Minted?s community of designers and consumers voted just under 500,000 times to identify the best holiday cards for Minted to sell. Minted expects these unique card designs to reach millions of homes all over the world this coming holiday season.
?Our designers continue to innovate, bringing the best of design to Minted,? says CEO and founder Mariam Naficy. ?Coming up with a new holiday photo card is no easy feat, and yet each and every one of the holiday cards launched today is nothing short of brilliant. We know families the world over will be thrilled to send such works of art to loved ones.?
The designs in the 2011 Sending Good Cheer Holiday Card Challenge were sourced from Minted?s global community of indie designers who submitted 2,554 holiday photo cards ? the largest number ever ? to this fourth annual holiday card design competition. New to the design selection process this year was the use of a proprietary algorithm which analyzed customer?s votes to reveal just what the consumer wants to send to loved ones come this holiday season.
The first prize of $ 5,000 was awarded to ?Kraft Ribbon? by Alethea and Ruth. This winning design features a beautiful ribbon with ?Merry Christmas? executed in animated typography and embellished with curlicues and dots reminiscent of cake icing. The ribbon?s kraft background has subtle white flecks and embodies rustic chic. The brilliant designer, Rachel Simonsen, is based in Orange County, CA.
?We are absolutely thrilled for Rachel and are so thankful for her valuable contributions to our community,? says Naficy. ?Placing first among thousands of the world?s absolute best holiday cards is a huge honor.?
?Falalalal la la la la? by Design Lotus took second place and will receive a cash prize of $ 3,000 for her card showcasing a full-bleed family photograph with the words to one of the most beloved carols scripted along the bottom in a delightful chain. Based in Colorado, Design Lotus? Amy Ehmann is one of Minted?s most seasoned community members.
?Year in Review? by J. Bartyn Design took third and takes home $ 2,000. This is an innovative take on the traditional family newsletter, allowing a family to highlight key milestones from throughout their year, how often grandparents visited or how many diapers were changed. Cambria Evans is based in New York City.
?All Ye Faithful? by 2BSquared Designs took fourth and takes home $ 1,000. ?Classic Merry? by b. wise papers, out of Gainesville, Florida, took fifth place and will also take home $ 1,000.
To see all of the awards, please visit the Minted website.
About Minted?s Design Challenges:
Minted's mission is to allow consumers to discover design genius from all over the world, providing an opportunity for designers to build their careers on merit alone. Minted holds monthly design challenges to source designs from a large global community of designers. The Minted community selects the best designs in a highly competitive and meritocratic process, yielding a top selection of the freshest, finest cards in the world.
About Minted:
Minted is a venture-backed design community and online store, crowd-sourcing graphic designs and content from a global design community and selling those as premium printed paper products initially focused on the $ 10 billion stationery, invitations, and cards market.
Minted has radically transformed what consumers now expect in holiday cards, Christmas cards, wedding invitations, save the dates, birth announcements, baby shower invitations, business cards, and other personal stationery. The company's paper and printing is of the highest quality and it leads the market with the freshest designs, newest formats and most coveted details. Minted's fresh, unique designs have been featured on The Today Show, The Early Show, in Real Simple, Town & Country, InStyle Weddings, Food & Wine and other major national magazines.
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