Designercon makes a return this year from November 18th – 20th at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, CA. The event is mainly on Saturday and Sunday, but if you were able to get VIP, the convention was open in the evening for exclusive access to certain goodies and the exhibit floor.
For me on the other hand, I was only able to attend the Sunday event, so let me show you what you could of seen and what I experienced.
Let me start with some of the things you could of expected.
SIGNINGS
Throughout the convention, many booths had some signings from different artists and designers. Some of the designers had their own booths, but here were some of the signings that were available (just to give you an idea)
MEDICOM
- Shepard Fairey
- Sket One
- Kano
- Nina Palomba
- Kinjaz
- Bobby Hundreds
- Greg Mike
- Shag
- King Saladeen
- The Obanoth
- Aaron Kai
- Doktor A.
SONY PICTURES ANIMATION Panels
Designcon had panels this year, hosted by Sony Pictures Animation. There were all sorts of panels hosted by different designers and professionals from the industry.
FRIDAY
- DCon 2022 Opening Keynote
SATURDAY
- Sony Pictures Animation
- Sony Animation: Pictionary with the Pros
- Sony Panel – Taking Animation Seriously
- Sony Animation: Storyboard Duel
SUNDAY
- “The Vincents” Friends of Vincent’s
- A Special Annoncement from VEVE
- DCon Artist Interview with Mark Brickey (x2)
Now that you know of the expectations, now here are some of my experiences.
The convention was overall quite enjoyable. The exhibit hall was filled with all sorts of companies showing off their artwork, designer toys, and more. Lots of new designers I never heard of where there to showcase their work, some familiar faces, and even some vendors, I didn’t expect there (such as Def Jam). I’m not mad at it at all.
Here is a gallery of picturess from what you could of seen out there.
GALLERY OF PHOTOS FROM THE EVENT
TOP HIGHLIGHTS FOR MY DAY
Spinning for NTWRK
I didn’t expect NTWRK to be attending this event, but I thought it was a nice surprise. Recently, with the culture there is this hype element that has been taking over with streetwear, art collectibles, and more. Knowing this, it actually made sense that they would have a booth. They featured all sorts of collectables (designer toys, plushies, etc.) that have some element of exclusivity. In addition, they had a spin the wheel activity, where you can spin to win certain prizes, such as Takashi Murakami face masks, plushies, Pop figures, and more. I was able to spin the wheel and I was SUPER CLOSE to winning one of the Takashi Murakami flower plushies, but I ended up with the face mask…
OBEY
Obey is a streetwear company that was started by the street artist, Shephard Fairey. His artwork has been around for quite some time now and has been shown across the world with his Obey the Giant face. I remember growing up seeing his artwork everywhere and I remember when his clothes first started coming out, so seeing their booth there was nostalgic. Their booth showcased some older artwork and their No FUTURE statue.
Meeting Crysalys
I was able to meet Crysalys at the 3D Retro booth. I didn’t know she was actually going to be at the convention, since I left everything to be a surprise, but it was such a pleasure meeting the artist behind the work. I just had to take a picture with her, pick up one of her enamel pins, and check out the upcoming figure that she will be releasing.
Panel for NFT
Since I was only there for 1 day, I had to take advantage of all that I could do, so I was taking my time going through all of the vendors and seeing what they brought. When I was able to hit the halfway mark of the hall, I heard over the intercom of them talking about a panel and they mentioned all these names that I weren’t too familiar with, but they brought up Jeff Staple. In my head, I was thinking, “NO WAY?!”, so I detoured off my track and went straight to the panel. In this panel, they featured Karafuru, Jeff Staple and more minds within the NFT industry. It was an interesting experience hearing what they had to say about the current NFT culture (since I want to dabble in it myself), plus Jeff Staple is such an impact in the streetwear culture that I couldn’t pass up the opportunity.
Karafuru Festival
The NFT company, Karafuru created this festival space within the convention hall where you can experience the lore behind the company and play all sorts of games to win prizes. They had a school like set where there are some photo ops and had a huge area for games and resting. The games were different types of carnival games, and if you win a certain amount of games, you are able to get either an enamel pin or a plushie. In addition, you were able to purchase some Karafuru branded clothing and exclusive Designercon merch.
For being only able to go Sunday, the event was still quite fun! So many activities, so many wonderful artwork to see… it was definitely one of the best things to look forward to.
Thank you again to Designercon for having me and can’t wait for the next one on December 15th-17th 2023!
SOCIAL MEDIA
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