On September 18 of 2013, we began receiving the first entries in our ‘Draw Outside of the Box‘ contest, in which young designers from K-8 could compete for the opportunity to have their design grace thousands of OTTO pizza boxes throughout Maine and Massachusetts.

378 entries, thousands of votes, 32 finalists, and 5 judges later, we have our winners.

As we have stated before, everyone at OTTO was completely blown away by the talent on display in each of the wonderful entries (so many worthy designs that didn’t garner enough public votes to make it to the second phase of the contest). As Facebook commenter Julia Goldman so eloquently stated, “Life is short, art is long. Pizza boxes come and go. The influence of your art does not go away. Keep drawing. Keep playing. Keep giving your great humor and design sense and creativity to the world!” We couldn’t have said it any better. We look forward to seeing each young artist nourish their talent and creativity, and share their art with their communities, and with the world.

That being said, our esteemed panel of judges did have the difficult task of choosing their three favorite designs of the finalists.

The winners are as follows:

FIRST PLACE
Ella Trout
8th Grade
Home-schooled
Portland, ME

The judges hailed Ella’s entry as “whimsical” and “fantastic,” a “fully realized” design exhibiting a “great sense of Maine.”

OTTO’s designers are currently working on preparing Ella’s design for print. A version of her winning design will soon be printed on thousands of pizza boxes and distributed to all OTTO locations throughout New England. She will also receive a pizza party, a $50 OTTO gift card, an OTTO t-shirt, and an OTTO cap.

As outlined in our fine print, if a first prize winner is not enrolled in a school (i.e. home-schooled, etc.), or enters on behalf of an OTTO-approved non-school entity, “the $1000 intended for the winner’s school will be donated to an approved charity or organization with an art component. Charity or organization must be agreed upon by OTTO and the winner.” Ella has decided to direct the donation to a wonderful Maine-based organization, Spindleworks. Spindleworks, based in Brunswick, ME, is a non profit art center for adults with disabilities and a program of the Independence Association of Brunswick Maine, whose mission is to help children and adults with disabilities achieve full and inclusive lives in their chosen community.

SECOND PLACE
Reuben Pitchel
5th Grade
Dallin Elementary School
Arlington, MA

Reuben’s design appealed to the kid in several of our judges. This “fun,” “bold,” “playful” design is “just so ‘out there.'” States one judge, “Ruben is a Surrealist at heart.”

Reuben wins a pizza party (for up to 30 students) at his school, a $25 OTTO gift card, an OTTO t-shirt and hat.
 
 
THIRD PLACE
Laney Towle
6th Grade
Berwick Academy
South Berwick, ME

The judges found Laney’s design to be “whimsical,” “clever,” “iconic” and “highly original,” one that differentiated itself with its “limited use of color and focus on typography.”

Laney wins a pizza party (for up to 30 students) at her school, a $15 OTTO gift card, and an OTTO t-shirt and hat.

Congratulations to all of our finalists, and to Ella, Reuben, and Laney. We can’t express how much we loved each and every one of the wonderful designs that were submitted.

Stay tuned, as we will be displaying some of the designs at various OTTO locations over the coming weeks and months.