If you’re following the growing excitement of our yearly NAILS Next Top Nail Artist (NTNA), we’ve just announced the winner of Challenge 6, Monogram Madness. 

For this challenge, competitors were to create a monogram that was personal to them and design it using only three colors inspired by KUPA Inc’s signature black, white and red. 

The winner was Nicola Sawyer (@nailcouturelincoln) and she details her process in this video: 

In her submission essay, Sawyer shares her thoughts on this challenge:

“Monogramming is a fabulous art that has come to be a classic for anyone wanting to display their initials on clothing, art or belongings. 

“The earliest Monograms first appeared on coins around 350BC and soon became a symbol of power and royalty. No surprise that the fashion houses started to use them on their clothing, bags and accessories. It’s not unusual for people to recognize the monogram with no idea of what the letters stand for. A brand’s whole ethos conveyed on something as small as a postage stamp.

“For something so small this week’s challenge was a huge task. Unlike traditional monograms I chose not to use a 3-letter format but to create the S out of the N giving the effect of it having 3 letters. 

“I also wanted the monogram from a distance to look like a pattern itself rather like Gucci, Fendi or the PB initials used in Balmain’s . 

“The geometric abstract shapes were inspired by early avant-garde artists Kazimir Malevich  & Lazar Markovich Lissitzky ( who incidentally often used just red, white and black in his work).  These artist were trailblazers during the early part of the last century and went on to inspire hundreds of other artists;we have all seen the classic abstract designs that were popular in the 80s and are again making a resurgence.

“My aim was the that every nail could stand alone in its design or be lifted on to another canvas such as a scarf, bag, or blouse.”