Aaaaaand we have a winner! 🎉
Over the past couple of months, 174 designs were submitted to the World Postcard Day design contest and so the job of choosing just one was once more a tough challenge. They were so many great entries!
This year, the team of judges was composed of us at Postcrossing, Frank Roche from The Postcardist Podcast, Graham Beck from Exploring Stamps, Perrine Bisson from the Musée de La Poste and Will Hansen, curator of Americana at the Newberry Library (who are the custodians of the Curt Teich Postcard Archives). This stellar team took the time to enjoy and ponder all the designs, and after much admiring and careful consideration, a winner has emerged.
So, without further ado, let me introduce to you the postcard that will represent the 2022 edition of the World Postcard Day! It was created by French animation student and postcrosser Pauline Chrétien (aka paulinectart):
Here is what she wrote about this lovely design:
Postcards can deliver a little bit of hope and kindness to people who need it, and to show our support to every victim of conflict on earth.
That is why I chose to represent world peace through postcards, delivered by doves, this bird that symbolizes peace around the world.
Congratulations Pauline! We love the style and the message it conveys — of peace being delivered to all these different mailboxes!
If you’d like to print this postcard on your local printing shop or through an online service (like Vistaprint or Moo), the files are available for download on the World Postcard Day page. If you use it or receive it, we encourage you to share it online with the hashtag #WorldPostcardDay on your favorite social media platform! We’d love to see how far and wide this lovely postcard travels, and especially look forward to seeing pictures of it next to different mailboxes around the world! 📮
Now is the time to make plans for October 1st, to celebrate this special day! There are some events already on the calendar and more will be announced in the coming weeks, but you can choose how you participate and make something unique. It can be as simple and as nice as sending postcards to family, friends, co-workers, inspiring teachers or neighbors! But you can also choose to use postcards in a classroom if you’re an educator, help your young family members send their first postcards, or help your local library or museum do something special to mark the day… Check out this page for some tips! And don’t forget to share your plans with us in the comments below or on this forum topic, so we can spread the word and inspire each other.
And naturally, the World Postcard Day badge will be awarded once more to those who send at least one postcard in Postcrossing on October 1st. Make sure to save some slots until then, so you can request a few postcards on the day and earn the special badge once more!