Hang Time LA is right around the corner and we’re especially excited because the design and illustration duo DKNG will be hosting a very special workshop on creative collaboration! If you’re not familiar DKNG already, they are a design studio based in Los Angeles, California with a focus on the music and entertainment industries. If you want to participate in the workshop make sure to purchase your ticket now!
For now, learn more about DKNG and hear why they are excited for Hang Time LA:
Tell us a bit about your design background.
Dan and I have both been making art since we were kids, but our collaborative design career really started in high school when we played in a band together. We created all of our own album packaging, posters, flyers, etc. with Dan providing his fine art and illustration and Nathan working on type and layout. After attending different colleges for studio art and film respectively, we again joined forces and started designing concert posters for the world famous Troubadour in Los Angeles. From there, we both had jobs working in various design firms, including the USC Design Studio and Warner Bros. Television, before we both became the full-time principals at DKNG. For the past twelve years, we’ve been collaborating on all kinds of projects ranging from the concerts, bands, and music festivals that gave us our start, to new commercial clients like Almanac Beer Co., USA Today, Under Armour, and Audi USA.
What are you working on right now?
Right now we’re dividing our time between our client work, which includes projects like a new 16 oz can packaging for Almanac Beer Co., gig posters for musical artists like Leon Bridges and The National, and infographic design for Under Armour, along with self-initiated projects like our new enamel pin and art print series. We’re also creating a new online illustration class with Skillshare.
During Hang Time Los Angeles, we’ll be exploring the willingness to Try New Things. How do you incorporate trying new things into your workflow?
We’re constantly attempting to reinvent ourselves both to keep things interesting for ourselves and to prevent our style from feeling stale. We like the idea of learning a new illustration or design style, teaching our methodology to our students, and then getting out of our comfort zone and attempting to learn something new ourselves. Trying new styles of working can be intimidating as well as time-consuming, but we find that it’s well worth the initial effort to add new looks to our bag of tricks.
Tell us what your workshop is all about.
Our workshop is our way of giving participants a chance to experience how Dan and I collaborate on all of our projects but distilled down to its most basic form. Rather than getting bogged down in the technical aspects of computerized illustration, the workshop takes an analog approach to collaborative design, and places a premium on concept development and layers of meaning, above pure technical execution. Participants get to turn back the clock and use classroom materials to create their designs, and then share their process and result with the group.
See all the Hang Time Los Angeles speakers and purchase your ticket. Want to hear more from DKNG? Follow them on Instagram, Twitter or at www.dkngstudios.com.
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