Design Contest: And the winners are...

We had sooooo much fun with the Material Girls/Swank Lighting Design Board Contest.

And we learned a few things. Initially we thought we were going to be inundated with hundreds of entries…that was before we realized just how much work actually goes into the process of creating a design board. Well I’m sure that Emily and Lauren were already aware of this, but Doug and I just thought you slap a few couch pictures, fabric swatches, paint chips, and of course a pair of Swank Lamps on a board and take a picture. As it turns out you professionals actually put a lot of thought and research into the job, you spend hours and hours creating a concept for the design that reflects the personality and lifestyle of the client, you spend hours and hours in stores and online sourcing products, and you spend hours and hours putting the products together with the concept onto a board for presentation to the client. WOW! You really do earn your money. Well that we did already know.

Before we get to the winners announcements, we must take the time to thank a few folks who freely contributed their time and expertise to making this contest a success. First a big thanks to the Material Girls, Emily and Lauren, for allowing Swank to participate. And to our judges thank you so much: Julia Buckingham Edelmann of Buckingham Interiors in Chicago, Karen Olivia of Alkemie , Joe Cariati (L.A. glass artist who is creating a fabulous new line of American hand blown glass lamps for Swank), and Doug of Swank who was like a kid on Christmas morning everytime a new entry arrived. Thank you all very much.

Now the winners:

1st Place: Big Bird by Joshua

2nd place: Six Feet Under by Gina

3rd place: Top Design by Lana

Congratulations to our lucky and very talented winners. Your lamps will be shipped out next week and we really hope you will forward us photos of how you use them. And a HUGE thanks to all the other talented designers who submitted entries. Your prizes will arrive soon. Enjoy!

Ed at Swank