More about OTTOBRE's 10th anniversary design contest

We are happy to announce the results of the DESIGN CONTEST that was arranged in honor of our 10th Jubilee Year!

   First of all, we warmly thank all the participants. The contest attracted hundreds of enthusiastic designers, the youngest of whom were just a couple of years old. We received a total of 363 entries –  122 of these were for the “Children under 9” category, 53 were for the “Young persons aged 9–14” category, and the rest were for the “Adults and young persons over 15” category. We received entries from all over the world, though most of them came from Finland, Scandinavia and the rest of Europe.

   While carefully examining all the entries, we were filled with admiration. Deciding on the winners was no easy task. Since entrants were free to choose their design method, we received a splendid array of works: drawings, paintings, collages, paper dolls, miniature garments, and photos of ready outfits, including patterns for making them. It was pleasing to notice that a considerable amount of imagination had gone into creating these works, and no time or effort was spared.

   In evaluating the entries, we paid special attention to the freshness and originality of the ideas. The next important evaluation criteria were the method of presentation, the visual appearance and the feasibility of the design. We were looking for – and indeed we got – lots of new ideas, though there were also lots of romantic “Little House on the Prairie” types of outfits as well as other classic-style items. The jury was delighted by entries that had been designed with recycling principles in mind, though unfortunately none of these quite reached the level of the crème de la crème.

The most cheerful entries appeared in the category for under-9-year-olds, where the innate yearning of young children for color and joy could be seen. Our desks were covered with imaginary creatures and pet animals. The photo shows the works that reached the final stages in the young children’s category.

The works in the category for young persons aged 9–14 were colorful and open-minded. In many of the works the source of inspiration came from various youth subcultures as well as from popular music, with practicality often taking second place. We would have liked there to be more designs of boys’ clothes and of course more boy participants – hopefully next time! The 15 best entries in the young persons category are shown in the photo.

The category for adults and young persons aged over 15 attracted the broadest range of entries. Some of the participants were at the very beginning of their “design careers” while others demonstrated skills close to that of professionals. In addition to design sketches, the entries included illustrations, step-by-step descriptions and material samples. Most of the clothes in this category were designed for girls of various ages, so we received lots of dresses, skirts and jackets. Also in this category our jury would have liked more clothes for boys of different ages, as well as outfits that suit both boys and girls.