The Great British Postcard Competition Awards Night

The Great British Postcard Competition came to an exciting close on September 25th, 2017 with an exclusive VIP awards evening and art auction at the Proud Gallery Camden. Head judge John Lydon (aka Johnny Rotten from the Sex Pistols) announced his top five postcards and eventual winner of the £5,000 Grand Prize. “The prospect of judging a Great British Postcard Completion was thrilling. The standard of art is really high – Britain is a talented place!” said Lydon.

The Great British Postcard Competition launched in April and challenged the UK’s creative community to design their interpretation of Great Britain in 2017 on a postcard. The competition was run through SAXOPRINT’s design platform SAXOPRINT ProStudio. The almost 300 entries displayed a wide range of topics from food and drink, to landscapes and leisure, to social and political topics like the Brexit, NHS and homelessness.

The prize ceremony for The Great British Postcard Competition

The Great British Postcard Competition came to an exciting close on September 25th, 2017. The evening featured gutsy entertainment from a variety of performing artists and head judge John Lydon revealed the grand prize winner. Check out our fun-filled prize ceremony and art auction for The Great British Postcard Competition.

The Winners

All of the nearly 300 entries were eligible for the Peer Vote. With over 10,000 votes, school teacher Lee O’Brien secured the win by asking his entire school to vote for him. His humorous portrayal of the Great British barbeque in “They said it would be sunny” took home the Peer Vote Prize. He has pledged to use his prize, a Wicom Cintiq 13 HD, in his art classes with the students.

The entries were then narrowed down to a shortlist of 30 designs by an esteemed panel of judges including: Lord John Bird, performance artist Richard DeDomenici, Dr. Nicky Ryan from the University of the Arts London, Daniel Ackermann Managing Director of SAXOPRINT, Neil Lovell CEO of the Printing Charity, David Gamage Managing Director of Earth Island, Simon Biltcliffe CEO of Webmart.

Head judge, John Lydon picked his top five and the Grand Prize winner from the shortlist.

“I was overwhelmed by some of it. It made my decision making process difficult, because I became so involved with each little postcard achievement. I just let them hit me emotionally.”
John Lydon

John Lydon with his top five postcards

Lydon’s Grand Prize Winner was Helen Nodding for her entry “End of the Road”.

“I nearly fell off my chair laughing. That’s our English garbage. I love it. It reminds me of having a cigarette outside the pub in the back yard. The sense of detail really affected me. I would love a huge big print of that.”
John Lydon

In addition to the Peer Vote and the Grand Prize, SAXOPRINT teamed up with the University of the Arts London to create a Young Talent award. This award recognises and supports the future of graphic design. Dr Nicky Ryan from the University of the Arts selected Madeleina Kay and her entry “Welcome to Brexitland” as the Young Talent winner. Her illustration takes a satirical point of view of the political figures behind Brexit. Kay took home £1,000 and a trip to Dresden.

Art Auction for the Big Issue

Auctioneer Tom Best (Christies) auctions off original artwork

The evening was accompanied by an exciting and gutsy programme. Around 500 guests enjoyed lively entertainment throughout the evening like pop-up life drawing classes from the Unusual Arts Sourcing Company, a living post box from performance duo Sh!t Theatre, live music featuring the British classics and a photo booth.

SAXOPRINT would like to thank all of the participants and congratulate the winners. A big thank you also goes out to all of the judges and partners who helped behind the scenes to ensure a successful competition and awards evening.

Grand Prize Winner Helen Nodding and Head Judge John Lydon

Young Talent Winner Madeleina Kay with the University of the Arts London’s Dr Nicky Ryan

The Sh!t Theatre’s living post box

“End of the road” from Helen Nodding

“They said it would be sunny” from Lee O’Brien