And The Winner of "The Great Merlion Figure Design Contest" Is ...

And a winning Merlion design has since been chosen (from THIS splendid selection) for The Great Merlion Figure Design Contest (WHAT): Congratulations, Adrian Nugroho!

Featured here today is his traditional "Barong"-aesthetic adapted unto the Merlion form, and will be joining the line-up of the upcoming "Merlion Series 1" range of 2-inch blind box figures from Great Twins!

A post shared by TOYSREVIL (@toysrevil) on Jul 4, 2018 at 8:24pm PDT

I had asked the 24 year old graphic designer (in a startup company); "What was the genesis / origin of his Merlion design? And why did he that unto a Singaporean mascot character?"

ADRIAN NUGROHO: "In Bali Mythology, Barong is king of spirits, Guardian, and represent the values of kindness and justice. Barong usually displayed in the form of a lion. For the design, barong is something that can continuously be admired, studied, and enjoyed by many people. Wanting to show that mythological and cultural design sense, I incorporated Barong into my Merlion design with all the good values in it."
(Check out more of his work and art on Instagram @adriann0301)

BARONG X MERLION • My submission for Great Merlion Figure Design Contest. I think it's cool to have this symbolic figure with a look from one of mythological well known creature in Indonesia. • Kindly swipe for lineart and other sketchs :slightly_smiling_face: • • @toysrevil Contest sponsored by #GreatTwins. #toyrevil#GreatTwins#barong#merlion#lion#toys#concept #design#illustration#latepost

A post shared by Adrian Nugroho (@adriann0301) on Jul 6, 2018 at 5:29am PDT

Thanks again to everyone who had participated in the Figure Design Contest, and Congratulations Once Again to Adrian! Looking forward to be seeing your Merlion design as part of the series :)

"The Great Merlion Figure Design Contest" is sponsored by Great Twins.