Art Ed Alum Wows Heidi Klum

Tamara Brink (AE '06) wins online "reality show" design competition.

Tamara headed to Hollywood this summer to participate in a unique contest: to design a backplate for the LG Rumor 2 mobile phone. The contest was to promote the launch of the new phone and the fact that it will have customizable "skins" to cover and decorate the back of the phone. As the winner of the contest, Tamara’s skin design (shown above) will be sold nationwide in Sprint stores.

The contest featured Heidi Klum (supermodel and host of the popular reality show Project Runway) as the "Ambassador of Style." Entrants were asked to submit a video audition to become part of the "LG Style Team." Of the 180 entries, four were chosen to fly to Hollywood and film a series of webisodes about themselves and their design processes.

The webisodes (which can be seen at lgrumor2.com), show Tamara and the other three contestants coming up with their backplate designs. Tamara took the inspiration for her bird-and-branch illustration from nature—as she does for a lot of her artwork.

"It seems like I do most of my art in nature just because I find…it’s so organic, it’s so original, and there’s so many designs and textures…it’s just inspiring," Tamara said. "It forces me to be as creative as I possibly can."

After the whirlwind trip to California, Tamara returned to her home in Colorado where she teaches art at Aurora’s Fountain Elementary School. Two weeks later she got the call—directly from Heidi herself—that she had won.

"I would say she was very excited," Klum said. "She screamed my ear off!"

Look for Tamara’s backplate in Sprint stores soon or see more of her work at her Etsy store.  She also has  a solo show coming November 13—for more details, visit her blog at tzbrink.blogspot.com.