Steeling the Show

We have worked on a magazine called On Track for many years. This annual magazine was created by Venture Publications, and is purchased by Community Colleges who want to encourage middle school and high school kids to stay in school and go on to college after they graduate. Each issue needs to feature a celebrity that will get the kids’ attention and make them pick up the magazine. And every issue needs one show stopping centerfold that will end up on a kid’s wall, serving as inspiration to follow their dreams. This year, pro-bowl NFL player Troy Polamalu of the Pittsburgh Steelers agreed to share his inspiring story with On Track Magazine.

Edward Patton, our resident sports authority and Terrible Towel-waving design star was the right man for this job. He started with the text and some mediocre stock photos of Troy in action. The photos were pretty cluttered, and there was not much to arrest the eye.

It was going to take a lot of magic to make the article and the poster come to life... (but that’s never been a problem for Edward before!) After working some Photoshop genius into a solid layout, Edward created a truly stunning piece of editorial design work. Full of energy and crazy cool detail, this poster and 2-page spread “stole the show” as the coolest chunk of the magazine. The client was very pleased, and we are sure that thousands of kids will pick up the magazine and be drawn to this uplifting article. Hopefully, they will be inspired to stay in school—and maybe even become graphic designers!

Art for ReTune Nashville

Four months after the historic flood, many Nashville businesses and individuals are still struggling to rebuild their lives. Among the hardest hit were the local musicians who stored their gear and instruments in a facility called the Sound Check. The entire place flooded and millions of dollars worth of musical instruments were ruined overnight. Sheri ONeal, A local photographer began collecting damaged instruments and giving them to local artists who would turn the sad remains into brand new pieces of art for an upcoming charity auction. Thanks to her efforts, and then the enthusiastic involvement of many others, ReTune Nashville was born. The big event will be on October 23 at 7:00 pm at the SoundCheck. Funds raised will go to: Nashville Musicians Association Flood Relief Fund and MusiCares Nashville Flood Relief.


Two months ago, Anne Browne of the Arts Company handed Joel Anderson a beautiful (but useless) warped guitar that had been salvaged from the SoundCheck. He immediately started to think about how to turn it into a piece of art for the auction.


Eventually, he created a giant collage built on a salvaged door layering together his flood relief posters along with a bunch of picks, strings, bottle caps and drum sticks donated by other musicians he knew. Joel cut a hole in the door and lowered the guitar into the cavity and sealed everything up with an acrylic medium. Kevin Dransfield from Belle Meade Framers donated the frame to finish it off. The finished piece is called Play On. All together, it was a cool melding of graphic design and fine art. We hope the piece raises a bunch of money for this worthy cause!