DSVC Dallas Show 57
Poster and identity for the annual design awards show
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I had the opportunity to create the campaign for the 57th annual DSVC Dallas Show, an annual juried competition celebrating the best professional work from the visual creative community across the Southwest. Hosted by the Dallas Society of Visual Communications (DSVC), the show brings together designers, agencies, and creatives to recognize outstanding work with its iconic bronze, silver, and gold light bulb awards.
The DSVC team had chosen the Granada Theater, one of Dallas’ most beloved and recognizable music venues, as the location for this year’s show.
That setting became the starting point for the campaign. I explored several visual directions before we landed on a DIY punk flyer aesthetic that felt conceptually right for the event—and a fitting response to an increasingly polished and algorithmic design landscape.
The campaign embraced the raw, DIY energy of punk posters with every element including the social graphics, animations, and event poster. The quick, sketchy lettering, illustrations, and compositions were intentionally expressive and “of the moment”, celebrating the human side of making things.
Traditionally, the DSVC produces a large poster to announce the show and mails it to agencies and studios throughout the region. This year, we wanted to rethink the poster as something worth keeping. It felt a little sad to put so much care into making a beautiful poster only to imagine it eventually ending up in the recycling bin. So we designed the poster to become a keepsake.
After the judging was complete, the entire back of the poster was hand-drawn with the names of the winning studios and their awarded work. The posters were then distributed in five different colorways at the end of the awards ceremony. Alongside their light bulb trophies, winners could take home a one-of-a-kind poster documenting their awards—a handmade piece of history from the night.
The posters were printed in five paper colors generously donated by Clampitt Paper, using one-color offset printing by Jarvis Press. Chris Smith donated his hilarious brain and came up with the fake band names on the front. The result was a campaign rooted in the spirit of the venue, the DIY energy of punk flyers, and a tribute to the restless, detail-obsessed people still making things the slow way.
The 57th Dallas Show took place June 11, 2026 at the Granada Theater in Dallas. I’m grateful to the DSVC for the opportunity and to everyone who helped bring the campaign to life.
