The winners of the second annual Ringling College Motion Design x EasyEase high school contest have been announced. The top five entrants will get a combination of cash prizes, scholarships, and faculty portfolio consultations.
This year’s contest challenged entrants to create a band name or logo, an album name, and a looping animated album cover that could be featured on music streaming platforms like Spotify or Apple Music. It was judged by two representatives from the Ringling College Motion Design department, including Department Head Ed Cheetham, and two representatives from EasyEase design site.
Hailey Uhrinak from Cary Christian School in North Carolina received first-place honors, which include a $10,000 scholarship to Ringling College and a $500 cash prize.
Cheetham praised Uhrinak’s submission, New Beginnings – Brightest Hour, for “great animation, good design, good composition, and creative use of color.” (See the complete list of winners below.)
This year’s contest attracted enormous interest from high schoolers from around the country. While administrators initially capped the submission limit at 100 entrants, they quickly raised it to 200. (Those who were turned down could opt to be added to a mailing list for next year’s contest and sent a Ringling t-shirt.)
EasyEase.co, a project from Raleigh-based design firm Ravie, hosts online challenges for designers and animators of all experience levels. This year’s Motion Design contest was the largest challenge EasyEase has hosted to date. The company’s team will also be presenting at the Ringling FutureProof ’26 Motion Design Conference.
1st Prize: $10,000 Ringling College scholarship, $500 cash prize, and more
Hailey Uhrinak, Cary Christian School, Cary, North Carolina
Entry: New Beginnings – Brightest Hour
2nd Prize: $4,400 Ringling PreCollege Scholarship, $400 cash prize, and more
Nathan Jasso
Entry: Aneurysm – Crash
3rd Prize: $300 cash prize and more
Violet Navarro, Mandeville High School, Mandeville, Louisiana
Entry: Shredding Ribbon – Tearing Down the Street
4th Prize: $200 cash prize and more
Gianna Peters, Goshen High School, Goshen, New York
Entry: Seeing Stars – Battle Sue
5th Prize: $100 cash prize and more
Kinsleigh Ringus, Lexington High School, Lexington, South Carolina
Entry: Moth – To a Flame
Contact:
Office of Marketing and Communications
communications@ringling.edu
941-309-4008
