1. Celebrity guest curators. Ally Originals celebrate rockstars of innovation, inspiration and originality. Our guest curators have led lives of passion and accomplishment and brought positive change to the world. Our first guest curator is pro surfer, model and eco-adventurer Holly Beck. Guest curators will judge contest entries and choose one overall winner plus a selection of designs that will become products for sale.

2. Non-branded designs. Unlike other contest holders, Ally Originals guest curators should serve as the inspiration—but not the subject—of your designs. For instance, for our first Ally Originals contest, don’t include Holly Beck’s name and likeness in your design, but be inspired by Holly’s example and themes like waves, flow and fluidity. The most important thing is to create something that Holly’s fans and followers will love and want to own.

3. Bigger prizes. The cash prize for an Ally Originals winner is $1500. An additional selection of designs will become for-sale products, earning their designers a 10% royalty from all sales.

4. Benefitting charities and non-profits. Proceeds from sales of every Ally Originals product will also benefit the guest curator’s charity or non-profit of choice. Holly has chosen the Waves of Hope non-profit.

The Ally Originals series is our latest effort to bring one-of-a-kind creative opportunities to the Creative Allies community. We can’t wait to see the awesome creativity that our Allies bring to this unique new design contest series.

Check out the first Ally Originals contest: Create Art Inspired by Water – Guest Curated by Holly Beck.

Creative Allies is thrilled to be hosting one of our biggest and most unique creative opportunities to date; the chance to design AriZona’s 20th Anniversary can!

In addition to winning $5,000 and a year’s supply of AriZona beverages, the winning designer will get his or her name and design on one million cans of AriZona’s 20th Anniversary flavor, Cherry Lime Rickey.

We’re extra excited because AriZona is a super cool company that’s been known for creating unique, eye-catching artwork for its signature 23-ounce cans and giving its fans a voice through social media. For instance, AriZona asked its followers to choose the 20th Anniversary flavor from three finalists: Cherry Lime Rickey, Chocolate Fudge Float and Orange Creamsicle — which one would you choose?

You can learn more about AriZona’s 20th Anniversary (and submit your creations) at www.arizona20years.com and here on Creative Allies.

Read on to learn more about the prolific designer behind tons of awesome submissions for Feist, Susan Justice, Rick James, the String Cheese Incident, the Shins, Sondre Lerche and many more.

Creative Allies: Tell us a little about yourself. Is graphic design your full-time job?

Tolani Lightfoot's winning album cover design for Julianna Raye

Tolani Lightfoot: I am a three dimensional artist by day, so I make large-scale sculptural works and installations. My work has always been very much centered on fantasy, mythology, dreams and music. I try to convey these elements in all the design work I create.

I started doing design work at home shortly after the birth of my daughter, Paloma, both to help support my family and to fund my fine art. But very quickly I found myself viewing the work that I was doing on the side as fine art. And thanks to Creative Allies, I have been given a platform to share these ideas and images. So now I try my best to divide my worlds.

CA: What’s your favorite medium for graphic art? Tell us a little about your methods and inspiration for creating one of your winning pieces.

TL: I always start out with pencil and paper. And from there I may work in a few different media. Watercolor, acrylic and pen and ink being my favorite, although I have been becoming friendlier with markers.

For [Wounded Warrior Album Charity], it was easy. I had recently been notified of a close friend being killed in Iraq. It was devastating because we were to meet over the winter holidays. And we were going to introduce our families and kids. Well, that never happened. So I knew I needed to take on this contest. My husband and I named our daughter Paloma, Spanish for dove, and the dove being a symbol of peace was what I wanted to use as the main image.

I wanted the image to be bittersweet. To convey both hurting and hopefulness. I used color pencil and ink for this design.

CA: What is your educational background in art and design?

TL: I am a graduate of Massachusetts College of Art and Design in Boston, MA.

CA: Where do you live? Does your location affect your work in any ways?

TL: I make my home in West Philadelphia! One of the most creative and amazing places in the world. I have a studio in my home, something I have coveted for years. I do all my work there.

CA: What are your favorite types of creative projects to work on? What other hobbies, interests or specialties do you have?

TL: My favorite projects right now are my deer mounts. They are where my head is at the moment. I’m also working on life-sized female/deer hybrids. I like hybrids. I really love working in 3D. And I hope to further explore that through animation this year.

CA: Who are some of your favorite visual artists and musicians?

TL: Favorite musicians…hmmmm…hard question. To list a few: David Bowie, T-Rex (Mark Bolan), Tangerine Dream, Bryan Ferry, Kavinsky, Mikado, John Carpenter, Beach House, GNR.

As for visual artists: filmmaker Ken Russell, Ralph Bakshi, Ralph and Wendy Pini, Frida Kahlo, Damien Hirst, Assume Vivid Astro Focus, Beatriz Milhazes.

See more of Tolani’s work at tolanilightfoot.com.

Sondre Lerche tour poster by Tolani Lightfoot

Robert Glasper Experiment album cover design by Tolani Lightfoot

Meiko poster design by Tolani Lightfoot

Design by Jandrei Sanchez

Founded in 1995, the Vans Warped Tour is one of the longest running events of its kind in North America. In a series of day-long festivals around the country each summer, Warped Tour mixes performances by punk, hardcore and metal bands, displays of skating and other extreme sports and the chance to connect with like-minded fans and the musicians and athletes themselves. The 2012 tour will travel to more than 40 cities, with headliners like Rise Against, Taking Back Sunday, Breathe Carolina, Yellowcard, Falling In Reverse, Of Mice And Men and many more.

Vans Warped Tour has partnered with Creative Allies to let Warped Tour fans design an official poster for the 2012 Warped Tour with the theme, “Music Makes the World New.” We had the unique honor and pleasure of sitting down with Warped Tour founder Kevin Lyman to talk about the tour’s history, its unique style and how it’s changed over the years.

Creative Allies: These days, the Vans Warped Tour is considered a rite of passage for a lot of kids. How did that come about?

Kevin Lyman: I think it was an organic thing, and I actually denied that kind of term up until about three years ago. But I think now people have to come check out the Warped Tour once during those teen years, and it is a kind of rite of passage with some kids embracing that lifestyle and others deciding it isn’t for them. And I’d accept that now, because with a lot of these younger kids, maybe their parents went to Warped Tour at one point.

Design by Guillermo Banuelos

CA: Focusing on art and design, Warped Tour is unique in that there’s no central spot for merch; bands sometimes man their own tent and sell their own stuff. Have there been any band tents over the years that have really stood out to you?

Kevin Lyman: That actually goes back to 1996, believe it or not. Stewart Teggart was a late, great friend of mine who worked for a band called Pennywise and he came up with the idea. Back then if you saw a show like Blink-182, you’d have some guys in golf shirts selling stuff out of a stand, and Stewart just said, “Screw this, we’re a punk rock band,” and set his tent up right next to the stand. And there was a bit of a back-and-forth argument, but he set up, and I noticed that kids gravitated towards that. So in our second or third year, I had a bit more say and I told everyone that we wanted to do this. And the thing is that you get the one-on-one connection when the artists sit in their booths, and I think it’s just so important for their careers.

CA: As a follow-up, what bands have been really good at connecting with fans through artwork?

Kevin Lyman: Oh yeah, every year they get more and more elaborate. Just the last four or five years you can look at the covers or the canopies, and then about three years ago they started running flags up. They run them up on big poles, because you’ve gotta stand out with a lot of stuff going on at Warped Tour. I think it was Pepper last year that had cutouts of the band for people to pose with, which was cool, and I think it’s become a bit of a competition between the merchandisers too. Some of the bands that really stood out with their stuff were Pepper and Paramore.

CA: If you Google “Warped Tour fans,” you see a lot of tattoos, mohawks and piercings, but a lot of other styles too. How has the fashion of attendees changed over the years?

Kevin Lyman: Well, I think we went through that phase when we started out with big old baggy skate trunks and shorts, and then we went through the street phase with the tight, skinny jeans type of thing. We also had a really bad phase of dudes in booty shorts, which, not to judge, but I probably wouldn’t look so good in ‘em. And now we’re in this eclectic mix, we’ve had our day-glo stuff and big band prints, and it’s a big mix these days.

Design by eniac

CA: You’ve worked with so many designers as a concert promoter. Can you tell us a little about the Warped Tour visual identity design process? What advice would you give designers looking to do concert promotional material or work directly with bands?

Kevin Lyman: What we do is come up with a theme, and this year it’s Mayan artwork. That artwork was pulled together by Arturo Vega, who actually was the art director for the Ramones. He did that big Eagle logo and his culture is actually from Central America, and since he’s a friend of mine we spoke about it and came together for the preliminary stuff we’re using for Warped Tour this year. Then once we have the theme, we’ll take that to our merchandise company to do a bunch of in-house designs, and we also encourage independent designs through contests. We try to integrate what the kids are wearing at shows with our art concept that we come up with each year.

For designers that want to do this type of work, I think if you’re a real fan of the band, you have to be willing to put yourself out there. Go to their shows, put a portfolio together, put some real work into it and make sure it gets to the road manager or the artists themselves. Just tell ‘em to contact you — you have to be aggressive without being annoying. Scan merch companies too, because they’re always looking for freelance folks.

CA: Where did the theme “Music Makes the World New” originate?

Kevin Lyman: “Make the World New” was a term from the Mayan culture, and we just added “Music” to it to fit Warped Tour. It came out of the artwork we made for this year.

CA: Any specific words of advice for Creative Allies designers?

Kevin Lyman: Try to think ahead. Don’t follow; lead. If you see an artist and you think you have an image to fit them, submit it! Be passionate, be patient. It’s just like a musician where you have to hone your craft and constantly try to improve. And be willing to do other stuff too! Street festivals, fairs, a logo that you think you can improve, etc. With all the tools on the internet that are paid or even free it’s just amazing what you can do.

What’s your big idea for a Vans Warped Tour poster? One trendsetting designer will receive $500 and two tickets to a Warped Tour date of his/her choice. 

Copyright Grateful Dead Productions

Creative Allies has teamed up with the makers of The Grateful Dead Game – The Epic Tour to let fans design a poster for the Grateful Dead show voted “Most Epic” by fans and help create the visual look of the new online game, to be released April 20, 2012.

The Epic Tour aims to be the definitive online experience for those who love The Grateful Dead, so we recently sat down with Adam Blumenthal of game developers Curious Sense to learn more about the upcoming game, classic psychedelic artwork and tips for designers looking to score $1000+ in cash and prizes by creating an epic poster for the Grateful Dead Game.

Creative Allies: Can you tell us a little bit about The Grateful Dead Game – The Epic Tour? What does it allow fans to do?

Adam Blumenthal: The Epic Tour is an adventure game that recreates the experience of getting to shows, in an abstract way. In the game universe, the shows take place in a Grateful Dead outer space, with the top ten Grateful Dead concerts, as voted by fans, serving as the different levels in the game. The game experience has a side-scrolling format — like a clasic Mario or Sonic game, for instance — where you’re moving around the environment avoiding obstacles and enemies and collecting things while trying to get to these ten epic concerts.

CA: What has inspired such a strong legacy of original Grateful Dead artwork?

Artwork courtesy Rick Griffin.

Adam Blumenthal: The Grateful Dead were born in psychedelic San Francisco during a musical and artistic renaissance, and their musical colleagues were artists like The Jefferson Airplane and Janis Joplin, and they also had a whole group of visual artists that were a part of their scene like the legendary rock concert poster artists Rick Griffin, Stanley Mouse, Alton Kelley and Wes Wilson. So with these guys it was a big part of their scene from the beginning, especially with Bill Graham putting on great shows almost every night of the week with unique posters commissioned for every show.

Another big part of it is The Grateful Dead as a name; it’s not just made up but refers to an ancient type of folk tale. These folk tales inspire a whole body of art, like images of death and re-birth.

And lastly, the music! There’s just so much richness in the lyrics of their songs creating a deep well of aesthetic themes to choose from.

CA: What are the most recognizable aspects of a Grateful Dead poster?

Adam Blumenthal: Well you’ve got the skull and roses, the Uncle Sam skeleton character from the Grateful Dead movie, the skull with the lightning bolt (“Steal Your Face”); those are the primary images from the official Grateful Dead trademarks. Personally, my favorite artwork comes from the concert posters out of San Francisco. They also tap into Victorian Art Nouveau and psychedelic styles.

CA: The contest’s creative brief says to include aspects of the Dead’s May 8, 1977 concert at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York in your poster; that these will translate into elements of the game. Can you give us an example of how that will work?

Artwork courtesy Wes Wilson.

Adam Blumenthal: Well, for example with the Ithaca show, the environment that the player will be moving around in will have elements from the concert, like snow, waterfalls and gorges, silhouettes of cool architecture, etc. The player won’t be in the exact physical space that the concerts were played in, but they will be in an abstraction of it. It would be a sort of adaptation of the physical environment and what was going on historically at the time for each show.

CA: Any specific words of advice for our designers?

Adam Blumenthal: I would say listen to the music, especially the live music. A great place to start for beginners is Live/Dead, the band’s first live album from 1969.

Just have fun and listen to that live music. Take inspiration from those concert posters, honor that legacy but make it contemporary.

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For further inspiration, check out this video of The Epic Tour:

  Design an original poster for the Grateful Dead show voted “Most Epic” by fans and you could win $750 and a Diamond Membership to the “Epic Tour” Game ($400 value)!

We contacted John to learn more about his background and how he developed the elements of his signature style of geometric arrangements, rich textures and smart use of color. It’s not surprising that, like many Allies, he’s also a musician and thrives in the overlap of music and art. Read on to get to know one of Creative Allies’ star contributors.

Creative Allies: How did you come up with your winning Ben Sollee poster design?

John Conley: I wanted the Ben Sollee poster to be simple and clean. I started out sketching bicycle parts and came up with the idea to make letter forms with the bike chain. This lead to the “S” bike chain in the final version of the poster.

CA: What’s your design process, in a nutshell?

JC: Even though most of my work is finished on computer, I always begins with my sketchbook or by going out and taking pictures for reference. I’ll start by writing down ideas and making quick sketches. Then I’ll make a few thumbnail sketches and block out where the type will be and set up a grid.

After I have a good idea about the design, I’ll open up Adobe Illustrator. I usually set all the type and create the graphics and shapes in Illustrator first. Then I import the vectors into Photoshop. That’s where I add texture and other photographic elements. I make all my own texture from scanned drawings, papers and photos.

I take a lot of pics using my iPhone. I use the Hipstamatic and pro HDR apps. I’ve found so many great texture just walking around.

CA: What is your background in art and design?

JC: I’ve been drawing and painting since I was a kid. Four years ago, a friend was taking a beginning Adobe Illustrator class
at Sacramento City College over the Summer. She asked me if I want to take the class too. I loved the class! I started buying design
books and signed up for more classes the following semester. I had some amazing teachers at SCC. One of my teachers, Missy Anapolsky
owns a studio called Circle Design. A couple years ago I had the opportunity to intern there over the Summer. It was a great experience, and I also took first place in the student design show in my last semester.

In 2011 I started working freelance doing design and illustration. I’m slowly starting to get work by word of mouth and through friends. I do a lot of gig poster for bands in Sacramento and for friends putting on shows. Last year I designed a new logo for the San Francisco Indie Pop Fest. I recently started my own business in 2012 working under the name “blkbrix”.

Most recently, I designed the logo for a new Sacramento based record label Test Pattern. I’ve designed the covers for their first four releases including my band Desario’s new CD “Mixer”. I’ve also illustrated the cover of recording magazine Tape Op. Through the magazine editor I was introduced to the band Girls & Boys. I designed their CD cover, logo and website. Plus a few posters, a sticker and business card.

Other recent work includes a logo and poster for Bacon Fest Sacramento and two Sacramento Beer Week events. I found out a few weeks ago that I will have 3 pieces in the Feb issue of CMYK magazine. I’m super excited about that! My latest project will be doing the design work for the Sacramento Electronic Music Festival.

CA: Where do you live? Does your location affect your work in any ways?

JC: I live in the downtown/midtown area of Sacramento, California. My design style is very geometric and pattern based. I’m inspired by building and lines and shapes. I spend a lot of time walking around the city, so I guess I’m subconsciously influenced by my location.

CA: What are your favorite types of creative projects to work on? What other hobbies, interests or specialties do you have?

JC: My favorite creative/design projects are music related. This is what lead me to Creative Allies. I’m also a musician. My current band is called Desario. I’ve also been in the groups Holiday Flyer and California Oranges, who’ve released four albums each on Darla Records.

CA: Who are some of your favorite visual artists and musicians?

JC: My favorite record labels would have to be 4AD, Factory, Sub Pop, Teenbeat, Creation, Blue Note and Verve, both for musical output and design aesthetic. Artists/designers I like: Peter Seville (Factory), Vaughn Oliver (4AD) Mark Robinson (Teenbeat).

As for as favorite bands go: The Feelies, New Order, Unrest, The National rank really high, 90′s Brit Pop and of course shoegaze! I love Ride, Lush, My Bloody Valentine and Moose.

CA: Are you active in any other competitive or non-competitive art/design communities online or offline? What magazines, web sites, blogs, etc. do you look to for inspiration?

JC: Some magazines I like are Communication Arts, Print, CMYK, IDN, Computer Arts (UK), Slanted and 3×3. Websites I like for inspiration are Gig Posters, Lost Type, Swiss Miss, Grain Edit, Dribbble.
I recently set up a Society 6 account and I’ll have prints available there soon.

CA: Any feedback from your experience with Creative Allies?

JC: Creative Allies has been a great learning tool for me. It’s really made my design work stronger. Learning how to read a creative brief and work within guidelines
is an invaluable skill that every designer should have. I’ve also used it to learn to manage my time. Lately I’ve been giving myself a time limit for the CA projects and trying to stick to it.

I’m really excited about the latest contest to design a poster for The Shins. When I was in Holiday Flyer, we opened for them in Seattle. James Mercer complimented us on our vocal harmonies and song writing. That meant a lot to us.

Check out more of John’s work on Facebook and Society6 and John’s logo for Test Pattern Records. Listen to John’s band, Desario.

Rose Falcon

She has released two albums of her own music, Rose Falcon in 2003 and Fingerprints in 2008. Recently signed to Show Dog–Universal Music as a recording artist, Rose approached Creative Allies with a contest to create her new logo and took some time to speak with us about her musical background and upcoming projects.

Creative Allies: Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and your music? What’s your background?

Rose Falcon: I’m a singer / songwriter, I play guitar and I’ve been playing music since I was about 12 and got my first record deal at the age of 14. My music is written from an honest perspective and the songs on my new record are produced to showcase the lyrical content. Nothing too tricky or processed.

CA: What attracts you to folk and country music? How have they influenced your sound?

Logo design by emily.beaven

Rose Falcon: My sound is definitely more country than folk, and I just happen to listen to a lot of Americana and folk music. I am attracted to country music because I’ve always been a storyteller and country songs tell stories. I grew up in Nashville and was raised by a singer/songwriter, and it just feels like a natural fit.

CA: Can you tell us about your songwriting process? How do you go about it?

Rose Falcon: I write alone when I’m truly inspired. The really good ideas kinda come out of nowhere. I don’t look for a musical hook or a lyric first, it just comes. When I am co-writing, sometimes we start with a title idea or a concept and other times we start with music. Once I get the outline of the song, I feel like I am working on a puzzle. I know what the picture is going to look like in the end, it just takes some time to figure out which piece fits perfectly into each empty space.

CA: Are there any visual artists or musicians that you particularly enjoy or have had a big influence on you?

Rose Falcon: Musically that’s a tough question, but off the top of my head I really enjoy Lucinda Williams, Patty Griffin, Buddy Miller, Tom Petty, Johnny Cash, Loretta Lynn, Ryan Adams and Sheryl Crow. Visually, I really enjoy visiting vintage shops and galleries, and I just know it if I see it.

Logo design by brentnunn

CA: What are you looking for in your new logo? What would you like it to represent?

Rose Falcon: I like an older, vintage style. Something that shows the contrast in my voice and in my songs; soft and sweet and a little rough around the edges all at the same time. My favorite colors are tans, browns and rose colors, I don’t want anything too bright or electric looking. Maybe a rose with angel wings, pointing upwards instead of spread outward.

I don’t want something too girly or cartoonish. No falcons, though wings and feathers are okay.  The bird itself though, no thanks. Nothing too literal, like a rose and a falcon together.

CA: Anything else you’d like to add for designers?

Rose Falcon: Thank you so much for the time many of you have already taken on this project. I am blown away by the talent I have seen so far!

View all the logo designs and submit your own for the Rose Falcon logo design contest on Creative Allies.

Photo credit: Geoffrey Squier Silver

The String Cheese Incident, formed in Colorado in 1993, are one of the most iconic jam bands in the world today. Fusing elements of bluegrass, funk, rock and psychedelia and touring almost non-stop, SCI has garnered an incredibly loyal fan base, some of whom follow the band to every single show.

The String Cheese Incident are collaborating with Creative Allies to give artists, designers and fans from anywhere in the world a shot to design the official graphics for their upcoming Summer Tour, which will be featured in web assets, flyers, print ads and more this summer. To help out the uninitiated members of the Creative Allies community capture the band’s unique vibe, we identified three big reasons that fans can’t get enough String Cheese.

Photo credit: Jeremy Papasso

1. The Incident Experience

The core of the String Cheese Incident’s appeal is probably the band’s live shows, or “Incidents.” SCI and their dedicated fans work hard to create a positive and uplifting environment at each Incident. Each concert is like a mini-festival, where fans arrive hours early to soak up the energy and atmosphere of those around them. A typical Incident caters to a broad spectrum of concertgoers, from adults to diaper-wearers, and creates a cycle of positivity between the fans and the band that reverberates through the whole event. It’s a culture all of its own—one that you really have to experience yourself to fully understand.

2. The Hooping

Not many bands can claim to have started a new movement with their live shows, but SCI arguably have. When SCI first began playing, no one was dancing at their concerts, but in this NPR interview guitarist Michael Kang reveals that it was his friend Beth Childers who started it all as a scheme to get fans dancing and it took off after that:

COLE (interviewer): This is not “Brady Bunch”-era Hula-Hooping we’re talking about. It’s sexy and gymnastic and mystical-looking, the hoop floating from the knees up to the neck and back. Soon, Kang and [drummer Michael] Travis were hooping themselves and then, Kang says, one mid-’90s summer, they spent a couple of days making a bunch of their own Hula-Hoops in preparation for the Telluride Bluegrass Festival.

KANG: Like 70 or 80 of them. And then we had it worked out that during our set, our buddy Austin(ph) would throw these hoops out into the crowd. And the next thing you know when we’re playing, there’s like 70 people Hula-Hooping all over the place and it kind of just caught on and took off after that. And the hoop became an emblem.

These days, the band doesn’t have to hand out hoops. Fans bring their own and they don’t stop moving for the entire concert.

Photo credit: Taylor Crathers

3. Nonstop Touring and Fan Recordings

SCI are tireless in their touring. When they stop at a venue they often play three or four nights in a row. Since 1993, they have hardly stopped touring, except for a brief hiatus between 2007 and 2009. (As an example, here’s a list of all the band’s tour dates from a single year.)

As an added bonus to their heavy touring, every single live Incident since 2002 has been recorded. They allow fans to record every Incident they play, even setting aside special sections at each venue for those who want to tape their sessions. Recordings are made available for digital download or on CD in special cases.

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How can you capture the essence of the String Cheese Incident fan experience in the perfect Summer Tour graphics? Remember that your graphics will be used for various formats including web assets, flyers and print ads.

Design the graphics for The String Cheese Incident’s Summer tour, receive $500 and two tickets to a show (excluding festival dates).

The artist's self-portrait

At Creative Allies, we love when music and art overlap, co-mingle and cross-pollinate, creating a messy, beautiful feedback loop of creativity. We love to hear stories about artists who are just as at home on the mixing board as the drawing tablet, pulling in inspiration interchangeably from the stroke of a brush and the stroke of a chord.

The Creative Allies community is home to an outsize contingent of these creative polymaths, some of whom have been profiled in this blog. Mark Valkwitch is one of these unique talents. An active contributor to Creative Allies throughout the last year, taking home wins from Camp Bisco and Lights All Night, Mark is also a DJ and electronic musician based in Buffalo, New York, who has shared the stage with huge international artists like Amon Tobin and Eskmo. We asked Mark to tell us a little more about his background and approach to mixing music with design and illustration to create unforgettable artwork.

Creative Allies: Both Camp Bisco and Lights All Night are electronic music festivals, and you were the Overall Winner for both of our design projects with them. How did you come up with the concepts for your winning designs?

Mark Valkwitch: For the Lights All Night contest, an article posted on the Creative Allies Blog helped greatly. I had already started two different designs based around the branding prior to reading the article. After reading the article, I wanted to create a surreal image of the Dallas skyline, but maintain a nightlife and electronic music feel to the design.

For Camp Bisco X, I had just heard about the contest and Creative Allies a week before the contest deadline. I had been working on several personal pieces revolving around fantasy and whimsical ideas based around nature, landscapes and more specifically floating islands. I figured that these ideas would work well for Camp Bisco, as it is a massive music festival held outdoors.

"City in Ruins" by Mark Valkwitch

CA: How did you create the winning design?

MV: I try to allow a period of time to think about the execution of a design before I start it. In the past, I found myself sitting in front of a blank canvas or trying several different ideas which would just be trashed, therefore wasting time. If I’m not working on a project, I’ll go about my everyday life activities but always keep graphic design and art on my mind, whether it’s thinking about a specific project or ideas for contests and personal pieces.

I mainly use Photoshop and Illustrator in all my designs. I try to utilize my drawing tablet as much as possible and incorporate my drawings and paintings by scanning them.

CA: What is your background in art and design?

MV: Since I can remember, I have had a passion for art. Throughout high school, I spent a lot of time focusing on drawing, painting, mixed media, art history, color theory and composition. That focus led to attending the School of Visual Arts in New York City to major in Illustration. I attended school there for two years, when I decided to return back to Buffalo to pursue graphic design. From that point on, I taught myself Photoshop, Illustrator and graphic design as a whole.

CA: Where do you live? How does your location affect your work?

MV: I live in Buffalo, New York. Yes, in some ways I feel my location affects my work, from the climate to the music and art community. Buffalo has very drastic season changes, basically a two-season year: Summer and Winter, which both have their good and bad qualities. The art community is strong in this area, and can be inspirational but under-appreciated. Buffalo also has a strong music community, with outlets for many of the diverse musical genres out there. We have several acts and tours that come through the city and also a large amount of talented local musicians.

CA: What are your favorite types of creative projects to work on? What other hobbies, interests or specialties do you have?

MV: My favorite projects are music-related print work. I enjoy being able to convey the relationship of music and art. One hobby I have is DJing and producing music. I have been DJing for 14 years and producing for 8 years. I started DJing in New York City while attending school there. I started playing Drum & Bass and Jungle music then later got into playing Hip-Hop, Downtempo, Trip-Hop Abstract Beats and within the last four years, Dubstep.

I love collecting vinyl. Nothing beats the feel and sound of it! My music production has been done purely out of experimentation, curiosity and love of music. I enjoy creating Downtempo, Trip-Hop, Dubstep and Experimental Electronic music. My music and mixes can be heard at http://soundcloud.com/markkloud.

CA: Who are some of your favorite visual artists and musicians?

MV: Visual Artists: Yves Tanguay, Wassily Kandinsky, Egon Schiele, Francesco Clemente, Mr. Jago, Futura 2000, Buro Destruct.

Musicians: Burial, Cat Power, Tortoise, Pole, Amon Tobin, Unwound, Rachel’s, Eskmo, Radiohead, The Sea and Cake, Prefuse 73.

CA: Are you active in any other design communities online or offline? Where else do you look for inspiration?

MV: I am a member of the designerscouch.org, a non-competitive artist community where members must be invited to be a part of the community (http://designerscouch.org/in/mvalk/).

My main sources of inspiration are the music I listen too, which varies weekly and even daily, smashingmagazine.com, computerarts.co.uk, depthcore.com, creativeallies.com and of course my wife and kids. They are my biggest supporters and inspire me to become a successful graphic artist.

CA: Any feedback from your experience with Creative Allies?

MV: Creative Allies is an amazing idea, site and has been executed very well. I have found it to be an amazing outlet for myself to continue relating music and art. From winning my first submission with the Camp Bisco X contest, it has opened a lot of doors for me where I have had requests to take on projects for clients across the country. THANK YOU!!

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See Mark’s work on Designers Couch, Carbonmade, WordPress and Creative Allies. Check out Mark’s online studio (work in progress) at http://loststudios.net.

Mark’s winning submissions for Camp Bisco and Lights All Night are pictured below.

Since 2009, the DJ duo of Dan Griffith (DJ Griffi) and Tom Evans (DJ Procrast) have been prolific in their craft, putting all their content up on their website for download and releasing a steady stream of new tunes through their “Mashup Mondays.” Their original brand of dance party music has proven popular, and they quickly developed a reputation for outrageously fun live shows. Bambooyah! is set for release this March, and we had the chance to interview one half of the pair, Dan Griffith, in the midst of the group’s Pandamonium Tour.

Creative Allies: How did The White Panda come about?  How did the two of you connect?

Dan Griffith of The White Panda: Well, Tom [Evans] and I have actually been really good friends for a long time, going to the same elementary, middle and high schools. Growing up, we even went to the same piano studio, so we became friends over music. I went to school at USC in LA and Tom attended Northwestern in Chicago, and both of us got into high-energy dance music and started experimenting with music software. We both realized that we were posting our mixes and mash-ups on things like our tumblr pages, and got back in touch around early 2009. We came up with the name The White Panda and started releasing music under that moniker, and we hit a hot streak on internet and music blogs, then it just continued from there.

Album cover design by lizwill

CA: What’s the significance of the band name, The White Panda?

DG: None really, we just settled on a cool name from the 150 or so other ones we were thinking about.  Although there is a kind of rumor going around that since Tom is Caucasian and I’m part Japanese that The White Panda refers to that. But besides that there wasn’t really any special meaning behind it, we just thought it was catchy and it was cool.

CA: You guys also have a very distinct logo, with the outline of a panda wearing headphones. Whose idea was that?

DG: It was actually my sister! She went to school in LA for graphic design and we talked early on about making a cool, sleek logo that incorporated the panda. She came up with what you see now right off the bat. We really liked it and have used it ever since.

CA: When it comes to your music, how do you select which tracks to mash-up? How are they paired?

DG: We both like all sorts of different music, and we’re influenced by everything from classic rock, 60s and 70s to drum ‘n bass and current music. We don’t limit ourselves to anything, so we’re constantly searching for ideas and always listening. I might be in a cafe in NYC and hear some cool 80s New Wave song and think, “Hey, this could be cool to incorporate,” but generally we look for music that has a nostalgic recognizability or is just catchy and dancey and makes you want to move.

CA: For your new album cover, are there any specific artists or styles that you enjoy? Anything in particular that you’re looking for?

Album cover design by hannsolo

DG: We don’t really have a specific idea in mind. We don’t want to limit anyone’s creativity or ideas. I think the main thing is that we’re known as two kind of crazy guys that dress up in panda masks that like to party and have a good time. That’s been our focus throughout our tour, but we don’t want anything super crazy like us boozing on the cover. We want something fun and crazy but still clean. We perform in our clean, white custom suits, our logo’s very clean, but we’d like a clean image that’s fun loving and also party-oriented.

CA: Any last thoughts for our artists and designers while they’re working on this?

DG: We don’t want them to be limited or directed in a certain way that’ll change their artistic direction, but just think about the brand and who we are as we described above. We’re both silly, so something clean and fun would be great.

Design an album cover for Bambooyah!, win $500 and a White Panda prize pack.