It seems like just yesterday when I was suggesting the edit to carve the Steem symbol into the trunk of the 2018 Steem Silver Round's community tree, and in less than 24 hrs, the winner for the 2019 round design will be announced and pre-sales will begin!!
This year I had the honor of voting for a design that was crafted by one of the most talented graphic designers I have come across, and my friend - @EDXserverus. In the first round I decided to vote for both @EDXserverus' AND @WelshStacker's design, as deciding which one I liked better was too difficult to bare.
While @Dfinney's design concept was cool in it's own rights, I personally feel it still needs a bit of work to be completed, as there is still a vast amount of empty space in the coin. I also feel that the fire in that design may not translate to the coin press smoothly. The phoenix rising from the ashes and flying up to the Steem moon is certainly not a concept to be scoffed at however, I do like it, I just like Welshy's bird a little better... but that is my opinion.
I also must mention how much I love the inscription edition to this design, and I hope this is something we can still implement into the final design if this one does not win. This is a quote from @Dfinney in the comments of the first voting round post for 2019.
"The words at the top of the round are from Seneca, a Roman philosopher/statesman. Ignis aurum probat, miseria fortes homines. In English this translates to: 'As gold is tempered by fire, so strong men are tempered by suffering'.
The meaning is that in order to become pure gold, the original gold-bearing ore must go through the tempering process of fire; the analogy being that for a man strong in spirit, adversity and suffering are the tempering agents necessary to refine his character and bring out his true potential. In the case of Steem and Steemit, there have been challenges, but ultimately our communities have become stronger as a result. ☺️"
I also like the idea of modeling each year's Steem round after a different element of nature (i.e. fire, water, air, earth, love), and while that idea was purposed some time ago, there is no reason why we cannot continue on that path with fire, air, and love later. Its still based around an element, we would just be doing water twice (the first year and this one). I also do not feel like the element feature is being purposely instigated into the design, but is happily accepted as a positive byproduct of these contests.
With all that being said, I feel that @EDXserverus' design is not only the most Steem appropriate, but also just an overall amazing concept as well. He has created a sort of "national shield" for Steem, encompassing all the aquatic organisms that metaphorically exist on this platform, and then some. I also hope to change that ocean lettuce into some ocean cannabis leaves if his deign wins.
If you have not yet voted in this year's Steem silver round design contest, it is not too late (at the time of writing this article). Please click here to vote for which design you want to be on this year's SSR, and become a part of history. The voting is still fairly close, so every vote matters. Also, click here for the un-boxing video of my 2018 Steem silver rounds if you want to see a super happy @ELAmental!
Enjoy!
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