Local Design-A-Sock Contest Returns for 4th Year!

Ohhhh Portland, how we love your sweet design skills. That is why, year after year, we give the local lads a chance at sock stardom with the Annual Design-A-Sock Contest, now in its fourth year. Not to be confused with our international design contest (which we ran earlier this year), this one is for the locals… because Portland pride runs strong in these parts.

With little over a week to craft and submit 5 unique designs, we expect to see Portlanders all over town with torn-out templates in tow, designing and sketching as they dine over breakfast, commute on the Max, and break for lunch along the waterfront. After all, the Grand Prize Winner will receive a whopper of a check ($500), not to mention bragging rights and TEN brand new, hand-chosen pairs of Sock It to Me socks. Just imagine how colorful your sock drawer will be…

The nitty gritty: Portland residents can find the Design-A-Sock template online at www.sockittome.com or rip-out options in both The Portland Mercury and Willamette Week starting on Wednesday, September 8th. Final design submissions are due by 5pm on Friday, September 17th. Entrants can submit up to five original, not previously published works. Prizes are offered for First Place ($500 + 10 pairs of socks + production of sock), Second Place ($100 + five pairs of socks) and Third Place ($50 + three pairs of socks), with room for “bonus” winners whose designs could be chosen for incorporation into Sock It to Me’s line of socks for men or women. Submissions can be sent via email (designcontest@sockittome.com) or snail mail (Design Contest, 5100 SE Harney Dr.  #1, Portland, OR 97206). For all contest rules and regulations, please visit www.sockittome.com.

Good luck! We can’t wait to see your submissions!

p.s. If you need some inspiration, here are a few submissions that made their way into our hearts earlier this year:

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Vampires and leopards and blood, oh my!

I hate to admit this, but I’ve gotten sucked into the Twilight Saga. I hate it because I am not a tween nor a teen; I’m not a ”girly girl” nor one who gets wrapped up in romance novels. The fact is: I’m almost thirty, and under normal circumstances, I would take pride in telling you that I don’t even watch television nor read fiction. But I am here to tell you that Stephanie Meyer’s written story indeed snagged me, and I couldn’t help but compose a post that was reminiscent of vampires and werewolves. While you won’t find an Edward Cullen or dreamy Jacob below, you will find some seriously sexy snaps of Sock It to Me socks in action. Enjoy! xo

Isn’t our new Vampire Kiss sock kick-A? Apparently we aren’t the only ones who think so. It’s only been around for 2 weeks, and it’s already one of our best sellers! Think it has anything to do with Twilight? Nahhh.

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Magic in the Making

It recently dawned on us that most people in the world are remiss to the concept of the trade show. Let it be said that trade shows are in fact the gas behind our engine. It’s where people find and discover us, and where a lot of the magic happens. Fittingly, most of that happens at Magic, the largest trade show known to man (well, the largest to us, at least).

Being a smaller, design-focused indie label, Sock It to Me set up shop in Magic’s POOLTRADESHOW, alongside other labels like Threadless (who brilliantly set up a ping pong table for guests to bank a few minutes of play time) and Maptote (who gave away hearty canvas totes silk-screened with a map of Vegas, complete with notable icons and landmarks).

To aptly capture the scene, POOL is like a massive marketplace of cool. Each wholesaler has a cube where they showcase their stuff, and it’s all about who can pull out the stops and do something radically different with their space, or present their goods in a unique way. We were excited to debut our brand new booth – an ultra lightweight/compact display for the hundred-plus pairs of socks that now don the Sock It to Me name. 

Over the years, we’ve always had our greatest success at Magic. And this year was no different. In fact, it was our most successful show to date. Among the top sellers were the women’s Tree Owl, Dinomite, and Vampire Kiss, plus the vertically striped Rocket Ride and Love Luma. We also sold a lot of the men’s Octosock and Argyle Mustache.

Our newest SITM team member, Matt Stuart, also joined us at the show, saying later that he enjoyed being around the buzz and excitement for our brand. Truth be told, that enthusiasm is something we never tire of. Even though we didn’t see any star sightings this time around, we’re pumped to know that we’re loved and adored by the everyday kind of folk. Celebrities or not, we love our customers just the same! xo

Miss Paris Hilton spotted at Magic

p.s. If you’d like to catch more of the scene in action, take a peak at this scroll of images from last year’s POOLTRADESHOW, plus a few snaps from this year’s show, as well.

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A few of our favorite snaps…

Two important things I learned back in journalism school: 1. Photos speak louder than words; and 2. The average reader spends only about 20 seconds on a story before they move on. That’s a tough crowd! But I would agree that time is one of our most prized commodities. So, by all means, protect it!

So with that in mind, I thought I’d just share some customer photos we have on file. Just because they’re great. We’d love it if you sent us some sock photos, yourself! Just email us. Who knows, you could get some web love, too.

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We heart Portland [designers]

It is no mystery that SITM headquarters are in Portland, Oregon. We know we talk about it a lot. You would too, if you lived here (and maybe you do!). Portland shines for a number of reasons, but when it comes to our united creative force, I would argue that we outshine most cities on the grid.

Over the years, we have employed about a dozen designers from our very own City of Roses. Whether it’s pirates or robots, veggies or manatees, the styles are fresh and funky, and some even capture Portlandia culture (like the bikes!). We’re so proud that we thought we would turn the spotlight on these fabulous few for making our style here at SITM really blossom. Make sure to check out all of our Portland-made styles here.

Anna Magruder is an artist and illustrator in Portland, Oregon. In 2009, Anna took a leap of faith and left the routine and security of her graphic design business to focus on what’s become her passion—oil painting and illustration. Her paintings often focus on people and animals and whatever lies between. When it comes to sock design, Anna likes the geeky-chic look that says, “Smart is sexy!” (which is true!), exemplified in her three SITM designs: Space, Octosock, and Mad Science.

Space

Octosock

Mad Science

Brenna Zedan now works as a sock enthusiast at the Portland-based Sock Dreams, but we like to think she whet her sock whistle back in 2006, when she began working with SITM in everything from design to warehouse work to product photography. She has had her hand in more designs than she can remember. Some, like the Dainty Dots and the Monkeys, were Carrie’s ideas that she worked into a format that the manufacturer could use. Other designs include the cool color combos in the Summer stripe and Mermaid stripe, and best sellers like the Ninjas, Whales, Pirates, Ice Cream Cones, Bears with Teeth, and Unicorns (her personal favourtie).

Ninja

Monkeys

Unicorns

Whales

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