Introducing the 2024 Iditarod Design!

Posted by in Iditarod
Date: July 31, 2023 10:49 am

 

 

We are thrilled to announce the winner of the 2024 Iditarod Design Art Contest! The competition consisted of 30 entries from all over the state of Alaska, which were then put out for public voting to narrow it down to the Top 10. The design committee then chose the winning design based on originality, artistic ability and the adaptability of the design being produced on a multitude of products to promote the 2024 Iditarod. The winner of the art contest is Anchorage resident, Cindy Pendleton.
Cindy was born and raised in Berkley, Michigan, moved to Alaska in 1967 and taught in the Anchorage School District for 27 years. Her love for Alaska and love for dogs made mushing a natural interest and she has been following the Iditarod since the year after its inception in 1973. She is an Iditarod Member, Insider, enthusiastic fan and eight-year volunteer.
“I have been interested in art since I was old enough to pick up a crayon. My first love is watercolor. My favorite subjects are children, animals, and almost all things Alaskan. My style is Realism, bordering on Impressionism, with my work often being laced with whimsy. My inspiration for my design was the belief that Sled dogs love to run, and are born racing athletes. I wanted it to appeal to both women and men alike. The biggest challenge was to create a simple depiction of that initial inspiration, because I feel that logos need to get across the essence of a company or organization in as few lines as possible. They also need to be visually appealing in black-and-white as well as in color,” said Cindy. “I am thrilled to have my design chosen for the first ever Iditarod logo design contest! As a longtime fan of the Iditarod, I am both humbled and honored that my artwork will be used to promote this classic Alaska race, and to be counted amongst all the hard working people who help to make Iditarod happen year after year.”
“We are thrilled to have had so much interest in this inaugural art contest, both with contestants and Iditarod fans that voted for their favorite designs. The intention behind starting this contest was to incorporate more inclusion and interaction with our race fans, and I think we did just that. While it was only open to Alaskan residents this year in an effort to gauge interest, this and other aspects of the contest may change in the years to follow as we learned a lot in this first year. Additionally, we thought it would be special for the winner of the inaugural design contest to be Alaskan, representing The Last Great Race® from The Last Frontier,” says Marketing and Communications Director, Shannon Noonan.
The public will start seeing this new design on marketing materials and merchandise as we get closer to the 2024 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race®. For more information about the contest and to see all Top 10 entries, click below.
 
We would like to thank all of the Alaskan artists that submitted designs and to all of Iditarod Nation for voting for your Top 10 favorites. We hope to make this an annual tradition and appreciate the involvement of everyone who participated!