Whenever we talk about massive international music festivals, they are often associated with names like Redding, Lollapalooza, Summersonic, Primavera and Sonnemondsterne.

However, one festival that always finds itself amongst big names like these is the now legendary Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival….or as it has become known, Coachella.

This is a truly immense festival! Coachella brings together a range of musicians, which would reduce any live-music fan into foaming mess of ecstasy.

Even though this music event is staged in one of the hottest places in the States it still pulls in a colossal crowd, selling around 50 000 tickets a day. That is just plain crazy.
Not to mention the camping grounds hold a whopping 20 000 people.

The line-up is honestly a joke….the good kind that is!
This amount of ‘big name action’ is more than South Africa would smell in 5 years.
Some of the names that immediately jumped out at me are acts like, Dr Dre, Snoop Dogg, Radiohead, Amon Tobin, Black Keys, Bon Iver, Florence and the Machine and David Guetta.
WOWZERS!!!

Check out the full Coachella line-up….let the droolage begin.

Besides the amazing music, there are also plenty of mega unique art installations and visual treats to keep you entertained. I also hear their food stalls are brilliant, serving just about every kind of chow you can imagine - word on the street (or dunes) is that the Thai coconuts are beyond description and keep you hydrated and moving even in the scorching desert heat.

2012 will be the first year that Coachella will be held over two consecutive weekends. (April 13-15 and April 20-22). Both weekends will feature an identical line-up of artists.

I know they are catering for a big crowd, and yes, you have to give them respect for raising a crowd that has to be satisfied over two weekends, but is this not diluting the essence of this festival in the face of moneymoneymoney? Well, I suppose at the end of the day you don’t host these things purely for kicks. What do you think about this double-whammy weekend of wonders?
Perhaps it’s just rad that more people get to see the bands they love!

All I know is that one day, hopefully soon, I will get to make the pilgrimage out to Coachella and revel in the oppressive heat with thousands of sweating moshers and make memories that will be etched into my brain forever…I cant wait!

Greetings one and all,

I have always been a big fan of graffiti art. Indeed it can be a fantastic glimpse into any given society anywhere in the world.

Often I have featured graffiti artist who create super complex and highly detailed urban design. However this time around I would like to talk about a graffiti artist who lives in London who goes by the nickname Stik.

Many of the hardcore graffiti artists will probably tell me to get with it, because Stik has actually been doing his thing for around 10 years. What can I say…it’s a wiiiiide world.

Stik’s graffiti instantly jumped out at me because of its solid simplicity. I’m sure there are plenty of graffiti artists out there who are asking ‘why’ Stik is getting so much exposure, especially when his work is comprised of stick figures. The thing is once you know more about Stik and how he thinks about his work and how it has affected people’s lives (including his own) you get a new appreciation for his quirky little characters.

Stik is a bit of a ‘Banksy case’, as in, he is rather elusive. He isn’t even free to talk about some of his best work because the police could potentially nab him for it, yikes.
I must say there is a rather romantic side to this kind of graffiti-bandit design. These urban Robin Hood’s are taking back the streets from boring regimented cleanliness and rocking-the-boat in a creative/constructive way.

Why “constructive?” you may ask. Well, Stik himself is a product of the times. Not so long ago he was homeless and through urban graffiti he has managed to make a name for himself and express humanity in its simplest and most powerful forms, in order to uplift himself.
I liken this kind of success story to the B-boy dancers and graffiti artists of the Western Cape who have managed to create a more prosperous future for themselves through their own creative expression.

I found a really intriguing interview with Stik on Little London Observationist, which inspired me to write this posting on the dude.
Like Banksy, whenever one of Stik’s new designs appear it hits the net/blogosphere with lightning speed. You can even check out all of Stik’s graffiti works via a handy street art map.

Take a look at his design below, as far as I know this is the latest one to grace the walls of London.

Respect!

If you are into fantasy design and gaming like I am, then I’m sure that the new ELDER SCROLLS V ‘SKYRIM’ has not escaped your notice.

This mind-blowing fantasy style action role-playing has impressed pretty much all its critics!
The game itself is, in a word, IMMENSE. It has an ‘open world’ layout – meaning that you can roam freely around its massive world map (no checkpoints, etc) and basically anywhere your particular skills can take you…buy a horse, it helps, hehe.

If you cruise across to the official Skyrim page you will find some amazing concept art, as well as some seriously slick wallpaper designs, which you can freely download. The beauty of this artwork is seriously something to marvel over.

The guy responsible for putting together the Skyrim concept art goes by the name Ray Lederer and let me tell you this guy is setting the bar for what will be expected of fantasy style concept art in 2012. I am supremely impressed and will definitely have to do a follow up posting about the character/monster concept art.

However the most important aspect of Ray Lederer’s concept art for me personally is his immersive landscape designs.

The first thing that strikes new players of Skyrim (besides the fiery death and falling debris) is the insane landscapes. This is not one of your typical first person shooters, which seeks to restrict you to a building or compound, no sir, you can literally walk for days in any direction and with each mountain rise you pass over, another totally unique and eye-poppingly gorgeous vista spans out in front of you.
The Elder Scrolls franchise has been pulling off this type of ‘size’ in its games for many years, such as with Morrowind and Oblivion…but never has it looked this good.

What I love most about the Skyrim concept art is the fact that it has been almost perfectly translated into the actual ‘game play’. It is often that you find original gaming concept art looks absolutely nothing like the game. However, the sense of scale and depth, the way the horizon stretches off into the hazy distance – all of this has been captured so vividly that it makes you almost instantly fall in love with the game.

If you would like to see more Skyrim concept art by Ray Lederer you can either check out his WEBSITE, his BLOG, or of course the ELDER SCROLLS V ‘SKYRIM’ official website.

Ok, I’m going home to play more Skyrim, hehe.

Hi there all you Springleap designers!

Here is some great news - We have just activated our New Springleap.com Submission Kit!

This is very important news, because it will update you with everything you need to know about submitting your designs to contests on our platform.

We are pleased to announce that this is a much slicker version than the original and we are sure that you will find it very ‘user friendly’. Our in-house designer has really gone the extra mile to ensure that it is visually appealing and simple to follow. Thanks Robin!

In order to download the New Springleap.com Submission Kit, please go to our SUBMIT PAGE.
You will find the download on the right hand side of the screen in the box entitled “How do I enter?”.

One of the most important aspects of the new submission kit is the fact that it shows our new list of t-shirt colours. Please get acquainted with the new list of colours because it will save you a lot of time and effort in the long run. There is nothing more annoying than creating a design, only to have it sent back under ‘Need Work’ and then find that it doesn’t suit any of the official colours.

If you are having absolutely any problems with the New Springleap.com Submission Kit, or don’t understand something, please drop me an email at: Duncan [at] springleap [dot] com.

We are always happy to get feedback from our community.
We want to make sure that we grow in the right way and always keep our members informed!

Let us know what you think…and most of all ENJOY.

Spread it on!!!

We are over-the-moon that we received more than 50 tasty designs for our Marmite t-shirt design contest.
There is seriously just so much talent out there!

 ‘Spread the Marmite love’ is looking good, guys and girls.
However the question now is: who will be the victor?

Thank you so much to all our fantastic designers who sent through their submissions.
We are all very impressed with the quality of the designs and are looking forward to seeing who will walk away with the win.
This is going to be a difficult decision…I can just feel it!

Remember to get your friends and family involved by asking them to vote for your designs.
Also, share your designs with your own personal social network by using the ‘Sharing is caring’ box on the right hand side of each design page.
It’s simple, quick, and will help get your designs some serious attention.

If you have as yet not voted for your favourite designs please surf across to the VOTE PAGE and show these awesome designers some love!

The submissions for the Marmite t-shirt design contest are going to rock your world.

Here are a few more top-notch Marmite designs to get you even more excited.