Congratulations to Our Earth Day Illustration Contest Winner!

We love to run contests to showcase graphic designers, and inspire others. To all the designers that entered our contest, we want to thank you all for participating. While the earth day contest was fun and exciting contest, we had so many entries that choosing our favorites was not easy!

Initial entries were judged based on originality, relevancy to the theme, artwork, and how effective the designer was portraying “Think Before You Print”. From there, we had to narrow down the entries to our Top 5 and opened the voting to the public.

Our poll ended on April 17^th with 827 votes- Wow!

Our winner is Designer Sesilia!

After the polls closed and our winner was determined, we decided we wanted to know more about her. We contacted Sesilia, and graciously, she agreed to answer a few questions for us.

Do you participate in Earth Day activities in your country?
To be honest, I don’t. But I do try to be environment-friendly on a daily basis.

What drew you to sign up for the Earth Day Illustration Contest?
I’ve spent the last six years doing commercial work and this came to me as a refreshing bit. I thought that not only is this an artwork that I would enjoy doing, but it’s also an opportunity to break away from the monotony of commercial poster work.

Have you designed anything Earth Day or environmentally-friendly related before?
Yes. One of my previous projects involved creating installations that aim to promote support for an organization that provides water and electricity to rural areas, using mechanical and solar energy. I also have an idea for a campaign to promote renewable energy but have yet to find an organization that is capable and willing. I, alone, can only do so much.

What was it like creating your design? Did it take you a long time to come up with your concept?
Not really. I have found that some topics need some research but this one was quite logical. So the challenge revolved more around translating my interpretation into a visual that would communicate effectively. I was debating with myself as to how it should look: corporate clean vs. traditional raw. The latter won, although in the end, I cleaned it up a bit to appeal to the online audience.

Were you inspired by anything?
I wanted to create a consistent movement depicting the flow of natural elements into industrial degradation. Plus, nature is undoubtedly one of my favorite sources of inspiration, and an Earth-themed illustration would obviously involve a lot of it.

How do you feel knowing your illustration was selected? Did you expect it to be chosen?
Like in any competition I participate in, during the deciding phase, I am always dangling in between being confident and being doubtful. Of course, I was thrilled to have made the cut, but wracked my brains again when it came to the poll part.

Tell us about yourself, what inspired you to be a designer?
Well, I’ve been drawing compulsively as a child. My skills progressed from paint to other media, and then finally, digital software. I’m not exactly sure what started it all.

Have you had any down times recently or successes that you want to share?
I recently made the decision to go back to traditional art and of course, there were certain struggles since I haven’t been in that industry in a long time. This competition has given me a bit of motivational push.

Do you have advice to fellow designers that you want to share?
Anyone who’s been in this field long enough would know that in this industry, it’s always too early to be tired. Never be lazy. Never be stupid. Also, bear in mind: this is one of the few professions in the world where being unhinged is celebrated, and what can be more compelling than that? 😉

Where can people find more of your work?
I did a lot of advertising and graphic work before, but I am now going back to traditional art, since that’s what I have always loved doing and that was where I really started. I have put up my new online portfolio focusing more on the kind of work that I want to be involved in.
You can find it here: http://www.cecillehappens.portfoliobox.me/

Thank you Sesilia for answering our questions and thank you to everyone who supported our contest! We look forward to holding more contests in the future. Do you have any suggestions for future contests? Feel free to comment below or tweet @zilliondesigns!