[fuse] Sessions Creative Series Features DKNG

Saturday marked the second edition of SESSIONS as we hosted a workshop with Dan Kuhlken and Nathan Goldman of DKNG, a Los Angeles-based studio with roots in the music and entertainment industries. Dan and Nathan are masters of screen printing and poster design, and Saturday was their first workshop in Indianapolis. Most of the full-day event was hands-on as the DKNG duo presented their design process and allowed attendees to follow similar steps to concept and design their own poster.

What is SESSIONS?

If you’re unfamiliar with SESSIONS, it’s a groundbreaking creative series from Element Three that allows creatives from Indy and beyond to sharpen their skills through hands-on interactions with internationally acclaimed experts in areas like design, photography and copywriting.The series launched in March when we hosted Ken Barber, a renowned letterer and type designer from House Industries, a prolific type foundry in Yorklyn, Delaware. Element Three is planning two more workshops for later this year.

What happened at SESSION 02?

As we enjoyed some fresh coffee from Indie Coffee Roasters, Nathan and Dan began by describing their approach to concept development. They advised us to:

• Consider a relationship between two or more visual elements
• Consider a unique perspective
• Avoid stereotypes, literal interpretations and cliche ideas
• Research your concept to confirm it’s original
• Consider the tone of your subject

We then progressed through their approach to sketching and moving forward into the design process. Attendees also broke into two smaller groups to share their concept ideas, exchange feedback and get pointers from Dan and Nathan.

Masters of music and movie design

During lunch, Dan and Nathan discussed the growth of their company and their experiences in creating gig posters for artists ranging from Dave Matthews Band to Jay Z.Later, they gave us some live Adobe Illustrator demos and showed some shortcuts for creating vector illustrations, adding texture and handmade effects, preparing files for screen printing and a few other tricks of the trade.Each attendee left with a custom-designed poster created and signed by Nathan and Dan, as well as a poster of their choice from the large collection they brought along with them that ranged from Eric Clapton to The Wizard of Oz.

Design inspiration for every skill level

Throughout the day, the attendees got hands-on interactions with the DKNG guys in an intimate setting. They left with the poster they designed and some valuable advice from two big-time names in the design and illustration world.Stay tuned for an announcement about SESSION 03. You won’t want to miss it!