DESIGN & WIN // Winners' Lanyards Brought To Life!

DESIGN & WIN // Winners' Lanyards Brought To Life!

Our Design & Win competition is one of our FAVOURITE special things we do here at RO. We put the call out to our talented community to design their very own DREAM piece, and for our very lucky winners, that piece then becomes a reality! This year, we asked you to design a lanyard and we had over 140 incredible entries.

It was an extremely tough job picking an overall winner but we absolutely adore the winning design for so many reasons. Introducing our 2020 Overall Winner: Maggie-Jean with her design Women For Women! 


Maggie-Jean is an aspiring artist, descending from the Gubbi Gubbi tribe on the Sunshine Coast and now living in Canberra. Maggie-Jean's design uses Indigenous symbolism that represents women and communities coming together.  You can find her on Instagram here: @ngalindu

$5 from each Women For Women Lanyard sold is donated to the Indigenous Literacy Foundation. SHOP NOW >

Maggie-Jean's original design:


We asked Maggie a little more about herself and her design:

RO: Tell us a little bit about yourself
MAGGIE: I’m a public servant in Canberra (shocker!), I moved here by myself about 2 years ago and found myself with nothing to do and missing home so I thought I’d try my hand in indigenous art and found I loved it! I think it’s really great to be able to produce artworks that have meaning and so much history behind them. 

RO: What was the inspiration behind your winning Lanyard Design?
MAGGIE: Originally I was planning on entering a pretty floral print but when I did draw that up, it felt boring. I really wanted to enter though so I thought about Ruby Olive and read a little, it felt like this is a business that promotes women and their achievements so I really didn’t have to think about it more. 

Women supporting women is really important to me because I’ve been very fortunate to have worked with and been surround by strong female role models growing up and I think it’s been so valuable to watch women that build one another up! 

RO: Why have you chosen Indigenous Literacy Foundation as your nominated charity?
MAGGIE: I chose the ILF because I think books are a big part of children’s learning and a really fun way to teach lessons, so I really love the book supply work that the ILF does. A lot of kids aren’t lucky enough to have a big school library to borrow books from or parents that can buy them lots of books so I think it’s great work. 

I also love that there are books being produced and published by Indigenous people in their own language! 


Meet our People's Choice Winner: Chloe with her design Rainbow Puppies

Chloe is a 12 year old from WA and designed her lanyard with the hope of supporting No Pup Cleft Behind, who help puppies born with cleft palates get the surgery they need, saving them from Euthanasia. 

$5 from each Rainbow Puppies Lanyard sold is donated directly to No Pup Cleft Behind. SHOP NOW >

Chloe's original sketch: 


We asked Chloe a little more about herself and her design: 

RO: Tell us a little bit about yourself
CHLOE: I am in year six and about to graduate from Ocean Road Primary School. I love playing basketball and cricket, skateboarding and going to the beach. My favourite subject at school is Phys Ed. I love drawing and sketching. I live at home with my mum, dad, sister and fluffy white cat. My favourite animal is a dog and I have been wanting one for a really long time.


RO: What was the inspiration behind your winning Lanyard Design?
CHLOE: I love to draw and my mum showed me the competition. I thought it was a good chance to draw the dogs that I love and hopefully support No Pup Cleft Behind. I chose the rainbow background because rainbows make everyone happy.


RO: Why have you chosen No Puppy Cleft Behind as your nominated charity?
CHLOE: I’ve always wanted to rescue a dog and No Pup Cleft Behind saves pups born with a cleft palate from being euthanised. They work really hard to look after the cutest pups and tube feed them every two hours until they are old enough for surgery. After they have recovered from surgery the dogs are put up for adoption. No Pup Cleft Behind is not for profit and run by volunteers and I think they are amazing. I would like to work with animals when I have finished school.



SHOP THE LANYARDS >>>

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