Patterns & Places Design Competition – Winners Announced! September 22, 2011

A few months ago, we encouraged you creative things all to show us what you've got in the Patterns & Places Design Competition. We had an enthusiastic response and you guys really did prove that there are patterns to be found in the strangest of places. We ran the full gamut of visual styles and inspirations - from stunning close-ups of the natural symmetry in plants and animals, straight through to built-up urban dreamscapes, distorted with mind-bending Photoshop effects. Singling out our winners was no mean feat, but we finally got there. So without further ado, we introduce our star submissions. Jury Prize 1: Apple MacBook Pro (13-inch)
"Urban Sea" by João Coutinho from Portugal First place in the pattern parade goes to this stunner of a photo, taken from the top of the 50m high monument Padrão dos Descobrimentos in Lisbon. This image just gets better and better the more we stare at it - the sheer scale of it, the way the pattern almost looks 3D, the harmonic coloring of the little figure caught within the waves - it all works together to give a real visual punch. Yet the setup remains a total mystery. Who's the girl? What is she doing there? What's going on outside the frame of the photo? Weirder still, you can't even get a sense of the temperature or the time of day. No shadows, nothing. How on earth did Joao get that shot so pristine? We caught up with him briefly, and although he wouldn't reveal his secrets, he did have this to say about MINI Space: "it means a window to the world, where it is possible to reveal and show the sensitivity and art that lives in every person." We're blushing! Jury Prize 2: Ray-Ban Clubmaster Sunglasses
"Escalator" by Jeroen Broecheler from the Netherlands If you still haven't read the title of this submission, see if you can figure out at first glance what that machinery is. Got it? This is a great example of those weird moments when a new angle totally de-familiarizes a place or thing you thought you knew so well. And that's what we love about Jeroen's photo - it makes a plain old escalator look so stark, clean and angular that it's almost beautiful. Jury Prize 3: Urban Ears Headphones
"Mugs" by Elizabeth Wilhelmsen from the U.S. There's something about Elizabeth's image that makes us feel happy just looking at it. Maybe it's the photo's impeccable symmetry, or the geometrical pattern of the mugs' shadows against the wall, or maybe it's just the thought of a steaming cup of tea. Either way, we feel a sense of satisfaction and calm gazing at this image. Popular Vote Prize: Apple iTunes Gift Card (for approx. 100 songs)
"In Between" by Lisa Belitska from Germany There's something so magnetic about this picture, it's easy to see why our MINI Space community voted it into the top spot. We all know that childhood feeling of peeking through a crevice and trying to piece together what you can see, unnoticed - and in this photo, you can't help but share Lisa's thrill as she does just that. Those patchwork squares on the curtain look like they have an interesting past and a few stories to tell, but for now, we'll just have to keep guessing. Check out the image gallery for the competition's runners-up. If you didn't make it, take heart - the quality and quantity of submissions was absolutely through the roof this time around. In the meantime, get involved with our current design competition, "Optical Illusions in Real Life!" Keep submitting, keep voting, and keep sharing the love with your MINI Space community!

Patterns & Places Design Competition – Runners Up

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Check out all the entries here.
Check out our current competition, "Optical Illusions in Real Life!".