Erin Bonner together with her son Bear have won the Second Annual Sock Design Contest with John’s Crazy Socks. As the winner of the contest, Erin will receive $1,000 plus John’s Crazy Socks will produce her socks and sell them in our store, the world’s largest sock store. John’s Crazy Socks will donate 10 percent from the sale of those socks to The Viscardi Center.
When told that she had won the prize, Erin said, “This is such good news. We’re very excited.”
The Winning Sock Design
Erin designed an image of a fast-moving wheelchair shooting out flames. She explained that her son Bear provided the inspiration for the design:
Bear has Spinal Muscular Atrophy and uses a power wheelchair to navigate through life. He lovingly refers to his wheelchair as his race car, he loves zooming around very fast and racing people. We chose three of his favorite colors (bright orange, neon green and neon purple) and put racing stripes and racing flames on it. We wanted the sock to be bright, fun, and look fast!
John Cronin, co-founder and Chief Happiness Off John’s Crazy Socks said, “We love the design. It is colorful and creative and it fits with our mission to show what people with differing abilities can do.”
Additional Winners
Second place and a $100 gift card went to Kaylee Davis for her design of “Ducks in Space.” Kaylee explained:
When I was a kid in grade school, I wanted to be a bird watcher as a career, as I was especially fond of ducks. I would read all the books in the library about them and draw sketches of the different species. My ‘Ducks in Space’ design takes inspiration from this passion and gives it a fun, silly twist that I know younger me would have enjoyed.
Third place and a $50 gift card went to Wendy Annal for her design “S’breading Happiness.”
I love all these designs, said John Cronin. “I love socks and it is clear that our customers love socks too.”
The John’s Crazy Socks Sock Design Contest
“We love our customers and know they are highly creative. We want to see their most creative ideas. And the designs come pouring in,” said Mark X. Cronin, co-founder of John’s Crazy Socks. We received over 300 entries that were evaluated by a team of ten employees at John’s Crazy socks. We narrowed that pool down to 25 entries and sought comments and feedback from our community of sock lovers on social media. That narrowed the choices down to five finalists. A selection team led by John Cronin picked the final winners.
About John’s Crazy Socks
John’s Crazy Socks was inspired by John Lee Cronin, a young man with Down syndrome, and his love of colorful and fun socks—what he calls his “crazy socks.” He and his father, Mark X. Cronin, started the company as a social enterprise with a mission of Spreading Happiness™. With more than 4,000 socks, John’s Crazy Socks is now the world’s largest sock store. More than half their employees have a differing ability, and their Giving Back program has raised over $550,000 for charity partners like the Special Olympics, the National Down Syndrome Society, and the Autism Society of America. Most of all, they are Spreading Happiness™.
For more information about John’s Crazy Socks, visit our webpage, Facebook page, Instagram account or YouTube channel. You can also contact us at 631-760-5625 or via email at service@johnscrazysocks.com.
