OUGD503 - Brief 01 - Secret 7 - Bad News

I received an email a day ago letting me know that my entries to Secret 7 were again unsuccessful. I didn't get selected last year which was disappointing because that was the first ever graphic design competition that I had ever entered. I genuinely felt a lot more confident with my submissions this year. I felt that they were far more conceptual and realised compared to what I entered the previous year. I got really positive feedback from my peers and tutors as well, which made me feel as if I was in with a good chance of getting selected this time around. Unfortunately, my designs were just not what the judges were looking for. I will definitely enter again next year, perhaps it will be third time lucky. This has made me upset but it hasn't knocked my confidence completely. I won't let it stop me from entering more competitions and trying even harder.  The email is as follows:

We're really sorry to have to tell you that your artwork hasn't made it into this year's exhibition.

Thank you for getting involved in our project. We always have and always will have an enormous amount of respect for the effort and enthusiasm people like yourself show our Secret 7". We hope that you'll continue to follow and support us.

With each year it’s becoming much harder to make our selections for the 700 sleeves in the show. This year we had almost 7,000 submissions on the website, smashing our previous record. Coupled with that, the overall quality is improving massively year on year.
Sorry again. Delivering this news is the least enjoyable part of the project for us.

I entered several designs this year, and this may well have been my downfall. I think I need to get more selective with my entries to competitions of this nature. However, below are mockup's of my favourite pieces I entered to Secret 7: