Meet the Grand Rapids Woman Who Designed a Winning 'I Voted' Sticker

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — When you vote this November, you may be sporting a little piece of art designed in Grand Rapids. The secretary of state announced this week the winners of Michigan’s first-ever “I Voted” sticker contest, featuring several artists based right here in West Michigan.

Bree Tanner, co-founder and creative director of Studio Us in Grand Rapids, was one of nine winners of the competition.

His design, “Ope I Voted,” was chosen from more than 480 submissions.

“I wanted it to be exciting and relatable in a very general way; no matter where you’re from, you’re a Midwesterner,” Tanner told FOX 17 Friday. “I’ve always loved this idea of regional differences, microcultures, within the United States.”

She says she wanted to incorporate both blue and red into her “Ope” design.

His winning design was the result of a short creative session in which all members of Us Studio participated.

“We studied the record and we set the tone… We put on some patriotic music,” Tanner said. “We just sketched out quickly what comes to mind when you think about Michigan or voting.”

The competition was launched last May. The idea came from the college student advisory working group.

“Congratulations to our winners of the state’s first ‘I Voted’ sticker design contest,” Benson said in a news release. “I was impressed by the enthusiasm and creativity of the people of our great state.”

The nine winning designs will be available for order by local clerks and distributed to voters this fall as official stickers for the state’s 2024 elections.

Here are all the winners announced in this year’s competition:

Primary school / middle school

Jane Hynous of Grosse Pointe, a student at Brownell Middle School
Gabby Warner of Rockford
Katelyn Stouffer-Hopkins of Lansing

High school

Olivia Smiertka of Holly, a student at Holly High School
Michelle Lekhtman of West Bloomfield, a student at West Bloomfield High School
Andrew Brasher of St. Louis, a student at Alma High School

General

Kelsey Winiarski of Livonia
Breanna Tanner of Grand Rapids
Madelyn VerVaecke of Livonia

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