*SPARKcon showcases local creative talent in the NC Triangle. For four days, Raleigh’s Fayetteville St, public spaces, clubs and stages will be filled with art, music, dance, film, fashion, design, proposals, and more. Celebrating local cultural richness and empowering action through an open-source approach to collaboration and cross-pollination, SPARKcon is not a funded city program or an economic development stunt. It’s completely grassroots and by the people for the people! Join us as we explore the creative spirit of the Triangle!

After 12 days online, “Pixels and Bricks: Post-It Donkey Kong in Raleigh”  hit 50,000+ views on YouTube.
Here are 10 things that contributed to our lucky number:

1. Donkey Kong!…Everybody loves Donkey Kong! Little did we know that YouTube watchers also LOVE post-it notes, stop-motion and gigantism at least as much as we do! That perfect storm resulted in a video people wanted to view…and send to others.

2. A reason to create that had nothing to do with getting 50,000 views. In our case, it was a parade entry for Kirby Derby 2009, our neighborhood block party with a “Pity the Fool” 80’s theme. A vision got us started and a high giggle factor saw us through.

3. The perfect setting. Taking the characters outside to snap some pictures made us realize we were literally working right beside a Donkey Kong set. How could we NOT do something with that?

4.  I love it when a plan comes together…  Seeing the set got everyone’s juices flowing. We immediately created a story board, built additional pieces and got some (more) beer to con everyone (Gamil, Gamila, Fatcat Strategies, Thirdparty Labs) to stay late on a Friday evening to carry the characters through the shoot. Aside from the creation of Donkey Kong himself, the whole thing happened in one day.

5.Put it online when it’s hot. We had over 230 raw photos plus credits and music to be created. On the other hand, we had a short window of momentum from Kirby Derby aftermath. We chose to take advantage of that momentum rather than agonizing over quality, putting it online just a few days after the event. The Kirby Derby website, our friends, twitter and facebook connections, and a story in newraleigh.com got our numbers moving as soon as we uploaded the video.

6. Don’t compete with big news events or holidays. Oops -we didn’t listen to this bit of advice. Our video went online the morning after Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett died. Our first week online was the week of July 4 holiday. We have no idea how/if that affected our numbers.

7. Have a high-traffic site –  lucky enough to get a LOT of national and  international gmail viewers daily. During the first week online, Donkey Kong was our top story. Our video reached the weekly 30th most watched in India, 50th in France, and 62nd in South Korea…who knew?

8. Spread the word to strangers who care -  through blog tip forms and twitter. We told all the big guys about it, but it was the smaller blogs (some gaming and some humor) that grabbed hold early. The first blogs that got serious traction (other than newraleigh.com) were The Daily What, Tumblr,  and a variety of other small ones, followed quickly by buzzfeed.

9. Spread the word some more. We made YouTube comments and video responses to related videos. We twittered about our success rate. We told more gaming blogs once our numbers rose higher.

10. Luck and chance. The combination of personal connections and viral momentum enabled the video to move past our sphere of influence very quickly. Eventually some slightly bigger blogs saw it, and today, Kotaku got hold of it (from Topless Robot and I Heart Chaos). In this one day, we went basically from 35,000 to 50,000 (and counting).

It’s been exciting to see what would happen once we released the video to the online community. Ultimately, the whole project was about having fun  through a little creativity. The fact that we got to share it with so many people has been an unexpected treat.

We are excited to announce the launch of the Shop Local Raleigh website! The Greater Raleigh Merchants Association hired the joint team of Gamil Design and Thirdparty Labs (both Designbox members) to create the site. Gamil designed the site and then Thirdparty Labs built it with their Carbon Content Management Toolkit. At shoplocalraleigh.org, visitors can browse or search a directory of local member businesses, see Google map locations, join the campaign, and find out more about the benefits of shopping locally. Yay Raleigh!

Designbox has it’s 7th annual Brand Fandango celebration this season. The show opened First Friday, but DB has extended show hours, open on Saturdays through the 20th from 11a-4p and weekdays thru 19th from 12p-6p. Lots of unique gifts, including one-of-a-kind A.H. Peele tee-shirts made from multiple screens from his designs and commercial work. You may find a PBR logo nestled amongst some trippy flowers, or Willie Nelson’s head sticking out of some of Adams swirly vines! Also find unique and affordable art, beautiful contemporary jewelry, hip apparel, funky bags, hilarious holiday cards and more!

The 16th annual Boylan Artwalk is this Sunday, December 7 from 1p-5p. Over 100 local artists and crafts people display perfect gifts on porches and in homes throughout the neighborhood. Enjoy the walk and then walk away finished with your shopping! Whether you are looking for metal, glass, clay, wood or fiber, it’s all here.

The Rock & Shop Market, a hip urban market featuring emerging designers and live music, is Sunday, December 13 from 1p-5p at Tir Na Nog. Over 30 vendors will be selling jewelry, silkscreen stuff, ornaments, soaps and candles, bags and more – all to the sounds of Whistlestop and The Tender Fruit.

Looking for local music? Check out Holly Raleigh Christmas, a compilation CD of local musicians! The proceeds go to local charities, and the project is sponsored by local businesses, including the Greater Raleigh Merchants Association.

Give more to your favorite local music artist by buying music direct instead of through a big music store. Superfan Records is a record label where the musicians actually get the money! Really? Yes!  Buy the new Kickin Grass CD (art designed by local designers – GAMIL!), Regina Hexaphone or Monologue Bombs!

Here’s a list of other great local places to shop:
Rebus Works: a gallery of NC arts and crafts, as well as framing.
Stitch: Holly Aiken’s wonderful world of bags, now on Hargett St.
Great Outdoor Provision: All the outdoor gear of a big box in a great locally owned store.
Father & Son: Vintage, Kitsch, Mid Century and other buzzwords for your offbeat gift needs.
Stuff Consignment: Taking thrift store to a whole nutha level.
FM Goods: your local source for street wear, sneakers and art with some attitude.
Nofo: locally owned store of eclectic and funky gifts with a cafe for a nice little break.

Also, check out NewRaleigh.com throughout the season. They’re always up to date on events and opportunities. Have Fun!

A week ago our friend, and fellow Designbox member, Paul Friedrich (we did a post about Paul’s Skateboard Cowboys back in July) sent out an email titled “A test of your willpower” and it certainly has been a test.

Watching these puppies sleep/play/eat is a great way to distract yourself. There are 6 puppies, 3 girls and 3 boys all with “A” names. Girls: Autumn (Purple collar),  Ayumi (Yellow collar), Amaya (Red collar). Boys: Aki (Green collar), Akoni (Black collar), Ando (Blue collar). Take some time and check them out!

fashionSPARK photo by NewRaleigh.com

WOW! NewRaleigh.com has fantastic and thorough documentation of SPARKcon’s fashionSPARK runway show September 19, 2008. If you didn’t get to the show, or couldn’t see it cause somebody’s big head was in your way, check it here!

First, a primer: SPARKcon is a festival celebrating and nurturing the local creativity of Raleigh and the Triangle region of NC. It’s 100% volunteer… everyone involved runs entirely on enthusiasm, passion and talent, with a bit of support from some wonderful sponsors! This past weekend was the third year for SPARKcon, and it showcased all sorts of talent communities, including breakdancers, yogis, craftspeople, spoken word artists, hoola hoopers, music of all kinds, art, film, fashion and more.

FashionSPARK is an outdoor runway show which featured 13 local fashion designers’ work, as well as fabulous hair and makeup by local stylists. The show was beautifully directed by Allison Beale.

fabulous hair by Jesse and Carla of Marigold Parlour, makeup also by Marigold, fashion by Domino

woodland nymph fashion by Domino

doggy designs by Montage

fashion by Lllavender, hair by Salon Blu

fashion by Metallic Spiral, styled by Marigold Parlour

fashion by Marie Cordella, styled by Atomic Salon

The SPARKcon website is in a constant state of being updated. Check it for more pictures, designer info and links.

Ron Liberti's interpretation of a film poster for DYSP

Died Young Stayed Pretty, directed by Eileen Yaghoobian, is a documentary about rock posters and their designers, some of whom are Raleigh natives, artists featured in a Designbox Rock Poster Show 5 years ago called StuckUp (Casey Burns, Ron Liberti and Dale Flattum), and one is even a Designbox alum (Dale Flattum). WOOHOO! We’re famous!

“This unique documentary examines the creative spirit that drives these indie graphic artists. They pick through the dregs of America’s schizophrenic culture and piece them back together. What you end up with is a caricature of the black and bloated heart that pulses greed through the US economy. The artists push further into the pulp to grab the attention of passersby, plastering art that’s both vulgar and intensely visceral onto the gnarled surfaces of the urban landscape.” (from the film synopsis)

The film will have it’s world premiere at the Montreal World Film Festival on August 29.

See the film site for a full description, stills and video trailer as well as more artist posters.

Organized by CEOs for Cities and NOLA YURP (The New Orleans Young Urban Rebuilding Professionals Initiative). The Urban Next Summit was a gathering of emerging urban leaders along with established leaders to discuss a number of questions around cities including: “What creates a culture of opportunity? How do you draw ambitious people to a city? And how do you engage them on the issues that matter most?”

Leading a discussion with Carol Coletta and Diana Lind, Aly Khalifa of Gamil presented the theoretical and technical basis for SparkCon as a catalyst for energizing local talent within a city. A great discussion ensued with leaders from around the country including Portland, OR, Chicago, Pittsburgh, and New Orleans.

More impressive was to hear the first hand experiences of New Orleans leaders Nolan Marshall III of Common Good and Young Leadership Council, Robbie Vitrano of Trumpet, Vera Triplett of UNO and Capital One Charter Schools, and Mai Tang of Mary Queen of VietNam Church CDC. These four community leaders presented the struggles of post Katrina NOLA, but were all optimistic of the future. In particular they seemed to say that Katrina did make long-established “cultural silos” disappear, and that the new cooperaion across these cultural divides has made the improvement of New Orleans much more doable. Vitrano called these opportunities “gems within the tragedy” and thought these lessons could apply to other cities as well.

Here is an article on that discussion.

Last month (June 6), Endless Grind and FM Goods of Raleigh had a collaborative show and benefit called “Drawing Blanks.” A bunch of blank skateboard decks were painted by local artists, and then they were all silent auctioned on the First Friday in June. The auction benefitted The Disabled American Veterans of NC.

The show was great and packed! but the audience was more into the scene than owning any of the decks. Lucky for me, cause I scored these 3 Paul Friedrich cowboys for a nice price! Picked ‘em up today and just had to share.