GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — When you cast your ballot in November, you might be sporting a tiny piece of art designed in Grand Rapids. The Secretary of State announced the winners of Michigan’s first-ever "I Voted" sticker design contest this week, with several artists located here in West Michigan.
Bree Tanner, co-founder and creative director at Studio Us in Grand Rapids, was one of nine winners in the contest.
Her design, "Ope I Voted," was chosen from more than 480 submissions.
"I wanted it to be just excitable and kind of relatable in a very general way; regardless of where you come from, you're a Midwesterner," Tanner explained to FOX 17 Friday. “I’ve always loved that idea of regional, kind of microcultural differences within the United States.”
She says she wanted to incorporate both blue and red into her "Ope" design.
Her winning design was the result of everyone at Us Studio sitting down for a short creative session.
“We reviewed the brief, and we set the tone… We put on some patriotic music,” Tanner said. “We just sketched quickly, just what comes to mind when you think Michigan or voting.”
The contest was launched back in May. The idea came from the Collegiate Student Advisory Task Force.
"Congratulations to our winners in the state's first 'I Voted' sticker design contest," Benson said in a press release. "I was overwhelmed by the enthusiasm and creativity from the people of our great state."
The nine winning designs will be available for local clerks to order and give out to voters this fall as the state's official 2024 election stickers.
Here are all of the winners announced in this year’s contest:
Elementary / Middle School
- Jane Hynous of Grosse Pointe, student at Brownell Middle School
- Gabby Warner of Rockford
- Katelyn Stouffer-Hopkins of Lansing
High School
- Olivia Smiertka of Holly, student at Holly High School
- Michelle Lekhtman of West Bloomfield, student at West Bloomfield High School
- Andrew Brasher of Saint Louis, student at Alma High School
General
- Kelsey Winiarski of Livonia
- Breanna Tanner of Grand Rapids
- Madelyn VerVaecke of Livonia
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