And the Winner of Rustic's First Student Design Contest is...

After receiving more than 40 fantastic sticker design submissions, which were narrowed down to nine finalists, we’re excited to announce that Bella Strang received the most votes in Rustic’s first Student Design Contest!

Bella’s hand-drawn design will become Rustic’s next limited edition sticker distributed to Rustic students and staff all over the world next year. Congratulations, Bella!

“First off I must mention what an exciting experience this has been,” Bella wrote in an email. “I am so grateful to have this opportunity, especially since I have recently applied to my local university—Missouri State University—with the hopes of pursuing a degree in Graphic Design.”

Bella, of Springfield, Missouri, traveled with Rustic last year on the Refugee Education Project in Baltimore and Sun, Sand, and International Service in Fiji, She said her design was inspired by the idea of lending a helping hand to the people you meet while traveling with Rustic and how you maintain those connections after returning home.

After the finalists were announced, anyone could vote for their favorite design once a day. We encouraged finalists to reach out to their friends and family to generate support for their designs. Bella said she started with texts and social media posts. She also asked her parents, brother, sister, and cousins to share her design with their friends, but the competition was too close.

“With the help of my parents, I began reaching out to my community and using the best connections we could think of,” Bella wrote. “We asked our bank and realtor to share the link with their employees. Through a friend of my parents, who is a Missouri State University alum, we were able to send the link to the student body president of MSU. We even hosted a pizza party to spread the word! I reached out to my high school and from there, the principal sent out a mass email to bring in some votes from students, faculty, and parents.”

Thank you to all of the students who submitted their sticker ideas for Rustic’s first Student Design Contest. We’re planning to host more contests next year so keep an eye on our social channels and your inbox for more info.

If you’re looking for inspiration ahead of our next contest, request a free copy of our 2018 spring break and summer programs catalog. Click here for more info >>