Middle Schooler Wins “I Voted” Sticker Contest With Unhinged Werewolf Design
Riffing on the “Wolf Ripping Shirt” meme, the 12-year-old artist’s entry is one of nine designs that will be made into stickers and distributed to voters next month.
A memorable "I Voted" sticker design by a Michigan middle schooler might have what it takes to bring people to the polls next month. Reminding us of the viral spider-demon sticker design of 2022, 12-year-old Jane Hynous's hand-drawn design shows a muscular, howling werewolf tearing its shirt off with the United States flag in the background. The student is among nine winners of Michigan's first-ever election day sticker design contest, which was announced in May and garnered hundreds of submissions that run the gamut from examples of state pride to fittingly unhinged content.
Hynous told the Washington Post last month that she wanted her design to be "funny and not so serious" when she drew it during a spell of boredom while watching the 2004 blockbuster National Treasure during class, riffing off the existing "Wolf Ripping Shirt" meme. She submitted the design on a whim after she got home from school that day, and was surprised to learn that the competition's task force had advanced her entry to the semifinalist stage among over 480 submissions. The nine designs were awarded across three categories: elementary and middle school, high school, and general entry.
Hynous's design received over 20,000 votes from the public over the course of about two months, eclipsing the other entries by at least 2,000 votes. Michigan's Department of State has placed a print order of one million stickers of the nine winning sticker concepts for free distribution to voters leaving polling sites across Michigan next month.
“I was overwhelmed by the enthusiasm and creativity from the people of our great state," Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson said regarding the fervor surrounding the sticker design competition when announcing the winners on September 4. "Now, let’s use the same energy in casting a vote this November. I encourage every eligible voter to make a plan now to have your voice heard — vote with an absentee ballot, at an early voting site, or on Election Day — and feel proud to wear a sticker designed by a fellow Michigander.”
See the designs by the other eight winning artists below.
