I got to be a part of something so special on Monday night. My long time friend, Dani Kerry, worked really hard and is super talented, and she released an EP of original music! About a month ago, she asked me to design a shirt for her release party! I want to tell you about it!
Her album (EP) release party was on Monday at the House of Blues in Downtown Disney (which is like, hello, a big deal). Because I designed the shirts, I worked the merch table for her show. It was so insanely busy! Non-stop people buying shirts & CDs! I had to have my sister & mom help me toward at the end! It was a ridiculously huge success, and it was crazy to see so many people buying my art on a shirt! I’ve never done anything like that before. It was amazing. Dani performed her music and some cover songs, and I watched from the back at the merch table like a proud mom. She is a natural performer and sounded so good, and it was just so cool to see a friend I’ve known for over 10 years doing something she loves, in front of so many people.
(It was all very inspirational as a different kind of artist. I saw so many ties to what makes someone successful in a creative field: obviously talent, but also a lot of practice, some business sense, tons of hard work, a passion for it, and a drive/determination/gusto to make it happen. You have to really want it. There are so many talented people, but to actually make things happen is a whole other challenge.)
So here are some concept sketches and the final t-shirt design I made! I really loved doing this because before I decided to create Mary & Luna, I wanted to do cover art for musicians’ albums. So this was right up my alley!
Dani’s music is very lyrical and emotional. I gathered inspiration from her lyrics and her photoshoot for the album, but mostly just from the feeling I got when I listened to her sing. I actually started sketching this design before I even saw her photoshoot, so when I saw her beachy/gloomy photos, I knew I was on the right track!
Here's what the merchandise table looked like. Dani told me to set up my artwork so I could get more exposure.
And lastly, here's Dani up on stage:
I’m so glad I was a part of making Dani’s dream happen. I love being involved in bigger creative projects.
Go follow Dani Kerry’s Facebook page :)
xoxo, Michelle
