SINGAPORE — From visual compositions of potong ice cream to the ubiquitous parking coupon, a shortlist of 20 designs was announced as part of the Design-A-Tee contest launched earlier this month by MediaCorp in collaboration with Denizen and SG50.

These were whittled down from 1,600 submissions based on aesthetics, creativity and the design’s sense of “Singaporean-ness”.

“The panel was clearly impressed with the quality and originality of the designs, and had a tough time shortlisting the entries from the vast number received,” said one of the judges, Christine Chua, MediaCorp senior vice-president of Marketing and Sales Planning. “ Not only must the design be visually appealing, it must also be able to tell a compelling story about Singapore. And since the humble T-shirt is our unofficial national costume, the winning design must be something that Singaporeans are proud to wear. The 20 top designs reflect the eclectic and diverse thoughts of Singaporeans and capture the essence of the designers’ love for the country.”

The public can view these chosen designs at the contest’s website and vote for their favourite. Five winning designs will be chosen based on the votes cast by the public as well as the judges’ scores. The winning designs will win S$12,000 in cash and S$6,000 worth of vouchers. They will be officially unveiled by MediaCorp artistes at the Celebrate SG50 Countdown show on Dec 31 at The Float @ Marina Bay. The T-shirts will be made available at Denizen outlets and there will also be a special T-shirt autograph-signing session with MediaCorp’s 8 Dukes next year.

Public voting is open until Sunday at http://www.sg50designatee.com.