As for your design, i definitely am intrigued by it, but I wonder if anyone who was actually drinking would be able to read it. The letters are kind of squished together, and even sober I am having a bit of trouble deciphering the various words which you have strung together.

I guess like the other commenter said, the fact that it is hard to read may actually make people pick it up and look closer.

Also…if I were a bar owner, I wouldnt mind using these coasters. Having worked in bars I know often the problem is not getting patrons to drink more, but dealing with them when they drink too much.

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Ramakanth,
Thank you!

Brian,
Thank you for your words, glad it was well received.

Steve O,
Yeah I believe some of the letter shapes could have done with more work and I think the layout was the correct one also. That is a good idea with the bullets echoing the bottle shape!

Erika,
Yeah the different shades of red slightly differentiate the different words from each other.

Doug,
Well done with the $3000. The most I have won is $500 but this year they have doubled the prize money. 1st prize is $2000 and second prize is now $1000. I used the money from my last 3 won comps to buy my new computer / monitor.

Believe it or not, my favorite part of your second design is the different shades of red. I guess I notice little weird things like that.

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It is definitely eye catching and attention grabbing, and because of that it really works.

Having the word “death” at the very end of the list of words is pretty morbid but effective! :)

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Angesom

Susana,
It only came 2nd, but I guess that the concept was stronger than the other designs, even if it has been done enough.

I suppose that it made you look closer to find all the words? ;) The slight colour differentiation made it a tad easier too.

Dan,
Glad it held your attention. Yes the indentations were changed on purpose, and also moved to not be exactly inline with each other. It looked too static otherwise. But thanks for your feedback!

Toby,
That is true, everything is just being reinvented.

Liam,
Thanks Liam.

Ryan,
Hehe not all bar owners, but I can imagine places such as RSLs (Retired Servicemen’s League) using them as well as a few other places.

AdnElric,
When you say capitalise the text, which text were you referring to? All of it or just the heading or what? And put the dots on the end of what? Sorry want to make it clear.

Zach,
Glad that you felt so strongly about it and thank you for your feedback. The back to be honest I did not spend as much time on as the front as you can probably tell however I still believe it is strong. However in saying that, there is always room for improvement and your suggestions are great.

Claudia,
Yeah lack of time was pretty much the reason however I still believe it is strong… but not as much as it could have been.

Kenny,
Thanks for your praise, and yeah different colour variations could have worked however I think red was the most eye catching and it does symbolise danger. Regarding simplification, my teachers always use to say that it’s about what you can take away from the design, not what you add to it that matters.

Cynthia,
Great summary Cynthia – hit the nail on its head.

Luke,
I agree with you, everything is being rehashed in one way or another… just like fashion. Thanks for your praise as well.

Mike,
Nice suggestion with the magnifying glass and thanks for your praise as well!

Melissa,
Nope, no last changes, I did this post after I sent it out. I actually made the design with square corners rather than curved though.

Tracey,
Thank you for your comments and yeah it does remind me of the 70s… have you seen that James Brown poster? http://www.gigposters.com/poster/76604_James_Brown.html

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I do agree with Kenny that the back side could use simplification. It seems like the message would be just as strong with fewer points and it would be easier to read in a low-light environment. Maybe create a long list that completely fills the backside in a small font and then have a magnifying glass overlay this and enlarge some of the points? That would also reinforce the “Take a closer look.” slogan.

Good luck in the contest and let us all know how it goes! :D

As for this beer mat design, I think its a real winner, You’ve obviously got your head in the game as you designed that pretty quickly without sleeping on it :)

A big well done is in order

The other side though could use some simplification. I think it should be Alcohol Abuse, not just alcohol (There’s nothing drinking in moderation, but that is another topic). Instead of 12 bullets, just use 3 or 4 and if this was a freelance job, you could use different color variations along with the other bullets that you included in the original.

The only thing that bothers me is the fact that the illustration is not quite well finished. But I’m sure it’s because of lack of time. So, congrats!!!

XOXOXO

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This message hits close to home for me, many of my family members are/were alcoholics, and I feel people these days take everything, not just alcohol, to the extreme(as some of the comments here can attest).

As far as the design, the front is spot on fantastic. I feel the weakest point in the design is the back. It just doesn’t feel as powerful as the message on the front. I think the background takes away from the text, and that it should just be plain black. Also, the font just doesn’t seem to work for me at least. Maybe you could find another way to lay it out other than with bullets, they just break up the flow that you sort of achieved with the slight shrinking in size as it goes down.

Just my opinion, and I reall just want to say thank you. Things like this, making powerful statements, is what got me into graphic design, and has kept me going.

-Zach

I don’t think bar owners would ever use these though, not good for business :)

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