Bridiget Moser and Tyler Rauman: Pop Design T-Shirt contest winners

It's hard to believe that Pop Montreal has been around nearly a decade. The majorly successful music festival takes place in early fall and has been expanding its activities over the years. What started as an annual showcase of independent artists, both international and homegrown, has since exploded to incorporate various film, art, craft, and design events all year long.

The Design Pop T-shirt contest was an open call for creative Montrealers to submit an original Pop Montreal T-shirt design. The designs, printed on grey American Apparel T-shirts, had to incorporate the familiar Pop Montreal starburst logo, and use only one or two colours. The contest culminated in a vernissage on Friday night at vintage clothing boutique La (Found)erie, where the two winners were announced.

The ten finalists

Over 150 submissions were narrowed down to ten finalists. One winner was then chosen by way of an online vote open to the public, and the other by a panel of celebrity judges, most of them local, like Montreal fashion designer and artist Renata Morales, graphic designer and Pop Montreal Art Director Jay Delmarr, and Canadian artist Marcel Dzama.

The winner of the online vote was Bridget Moser, whose design illustrated her own personal take on Pop, "This is how I think you need to prepare for Pop Montreal, with a bottle of red wine, and by reading, How to Win Friends and Influence People."

The judges chose Tyler Rauman's design, a man bicycling with a box over his head. Rauman thinks it will be a pretty neat feeling to see a stranger walking down the street wearing his T-shirt, "You know, when you giggle a little to yourself because you know something they don't."The winning T-shirt designs

The vernissage itself was a fun time, it had been a little while since I drank beer and ate cupcakes in a clothing store. Turntables were manned by hip hop master Cadence Weapon, and all sorts of stuffed animals (taxidermy, not toys) were on display overlooking the party. The winning shirts were for sale at $20 a piece, come fall these tees will be all over the place. Keep an eye out for them!

Photos by Lise Latreille and Pop Montreal

Pop Montreal 2011 will run from September 21-25, celebrating the 10th anniversary of the festival.