Smith Sport Optics, the goggle, sunglass and accessory company based in Ketchum, recently sponsored an online Project Scribble promotion. It was the second such promotion; the first was for goggle pop offs. This one was for T-shirts.
Of the 10 winners, one was coincidently a Wood River High School freshman. Max Monahan, 15, designed five T-shirts by using Adobe Photoshop, his own drawing and the logo template supplied by Smith.
Asked why he thinks he might have been chosen as one of the winners, Max shrugged nonchalantly and said "Maybe they thought it was clever."
His design portrays a golden hen laying a golden Smith logo egg and is one of only a few that featured an animal.
There were submissions from other countries such countries besides the U.S. including Croatia, England, France, Italy, Sweden, Finland, Japan, Singapore, Bulgaria and Canada. Winners were selected based on concept, creativity and style by a panel of judges, including the managers of Smith's Design, Accessories, Goggle and Sunglass Departments as well as the Snowboard and Ski Team managers. The judging was done blind with no names or addresses visible.
"It was incredible. There were so many responses from all over, even places I'd never heard of," said Smith Marketing Director Tag Kleiner. "We had a difficult time narrowing the field to just ten winners."
Monahan comes by his talent in art genetically as well as environmentally. Both his parents, Vickey Hansen and Robert Monahan, are artists. Hanson is the artist behind Mountain Dreamworks, and his father is a graphic artist, builder and tattoo artist. He owns Urban Voodoo Tattoo in Hailey where he is renowned for his detailed designs.
Winners are being given a complete Smith package including eyewear, sweatshirt, T-shirts, hats, beanies, and other swag.
•
The other winners are: Tobais Garder, Stockholm, Sweden; Bryan Stearns, Kelowna, B.C. Canada; Karley Mase, Williams Bay, Wis.; Andrew Cooper, University Place, Wash.; Kevin Day, Kaysville, Utah; Russell Davidson, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada; Bethany Marcotte, Spring Grove, Pa.; Max Benas, Boulder Colo.; Mike Miller, South Lake Tahoe, Calif,
•
In other Smith news, Smith Snowboard Team member Wyatt Caldwell of Ketchum is on the cover of the February 2006 Transworld magazine.