We recently hosted a T-shirt design competition to help promote one of South Africa’s most valuable NGO’s to communities nationwide - Childline Gauteng. Our community of designers were briefed to recreate their perfect childhood memory, giving them no restrictions on the direction of and inspiration to their imaginations. We had one requirement which was to design the perfect recreation of their childhood memory. We were almost immediately flooded with a fantastic flow of amazing and unique designs, designers drawing their inspiration from a host of mediums and subjects. We were faced with memorable designs which captured the very essence of childhood and it was clear to see that some designers reached into their own memories to extract their own rendition of a childhood pastime. However, there can only be three winners! The winning designs were chosen based on their overall presentation of a beautiful childhood memory and for skills of exhibiting a great visual appeal. These designs will be printed on t-shirts and sold countrywide by Childline Gauteng, Springleap and various other avenues, to help less fortunate children experience their own sweet childhood memories. The following designers took the cake: 1st place - Cealson Vios “Superkid” 
2nd place - Kharmazero “Child Creations Chronicle” 
3rd place - Jun “Childhood’s Hero” 
How long has design been a part of your life? Cealson Vios: it has been a part of what I do for most of my life. Kharmazero: I discovered t-shirt design contests 5 years ago Jun: I’ve been designing since I was in academy but started on T-shirt designs in 2007. What was that underlying inspiration for your winning design? Cealson Vios: Superman, being a strong person who can do everything. Good heart and happiness. Kharmazero: The contest theme was very wide and opened. I wanted something poetic and very colourful. Then I focused on placement and wearability. Jun: The design was actually completed 2 years ago. I always imagined that I will a big big robot when I was a child. I found that this design was really suited for the design competition so I decided to give it a try. Have you been involved with designing for Springleap before? Cealson Vios: It’s my first time to join the contest with Springleap and luckily I won! WOW big thanks to those who voted for my design. Kharmazero: Springleap was one of the first websites to select and print my work. Back when they were regular contests.Then some of my works were selected for corporate contests as Nokia, Hansa, more recently Kleek. Jun: Yes, I have won the Springleap Open Theme contest last year. Could you please let us know about one particular designer/artist that you consider to be your hero or at least idolise for his / her work ? Cealson Vios: Pat Perry, Ken Taylor, and many more. Kharmazero: I have been amazed and inspired by a lot of artists, so I will pick a painter that inspired me a long time ago: Egon Schiele. Jun: Hayao Miyazaki. His works was very imaginative and iconic which really influenced me. What element generally influences your style of design for your work? Cealson Vios: I don’t know what elements or style of my design - i just go with the flow of my hands! Kharmazero: Mainly everything can be inspirational, I am drawing all the time and have a lot of note books with more or less achieved ideas. I browse these when I don’t feel inspired. I am also painting, I can say now that these 2 worlds are feeding each other. Jun: I will say “Nature”. Any advice on other designers hoping to be recognised for their work? Cealson Vios: Keep drawing focus on your style don’t steal art from the others, just be yourself. Kharmazero: Work hard with the smile, go out of the track, try things. Jun: Designing is all about experimenting and keep trying new things until we find a unique style to call our own. It has been a pleasure to accommodate such raw talent from our community of designers, we would like to thank all the designers who participated and took the time to share the cherished childhood memories with us all. Contributed by Cameron Smith
