We’re excited to introduce our first hat collection to the DKNG store with three new arrivals! And to celebrate the launch, they’re all 20% off until Sunday, November 9. As our first step into headwear, we had fun with fully customizing these caps down to the fabric selection, embroidery, and details like woven tags and rope.

‘Swells’ is an embroidered rust orange five-panel dad hat with a more casual unstructured shape and adjustable brass closure.

‘Barrel’ is a teal five-panel surf cap with embroidered patch, navy bill rope and adjustable snapback closure.

‘Sol’ is a mustard yellow five-panel camper-style cap featuring a woven embroidered design and adjustable plastic buckle closure.

All three hats are available now. Use code SNAPBACK for 20% off through Sunday, November 9.

Swells

Barrel

Sol

For this year’s Dia de Los Muertos celebration in Los Angeles, we had the chance once again to create a bunch of new gear for the LA Kings including shirts, hoodies, scarves, and lots of other fun apparel. Our own Dan Kuhlken was on hand at the game to talk about the design, including the main art featuring a traditional Dia de Los Muertos sugar skull emerging from a hockey mask. We also created papeles picados style (cut paper) art featuring the Kings’ crown logo. All of the new merch was available during the game, and a few select pieces are available online through the Team LA store, but only until end of day on Tuesday, November 4, so grab them while they last! And check out a few images from the home of the Kings, including Dan’s in-game appearance.

The latest additions to the DKNG art print series, Bloom, is now available! As with much of our work, these prints draw inspiration from the outdoors and some of our favorite plants on Southern California, this time focusing on flowering succulents. We wanted to have fun with the architectural nature of these plants and their vessels, with each one filling its rectangular canvas, with fauna hidden among the flora as well.

The three designs in the series are Agave, Nopal, and Saguaro, with each design offered in two sizes each with a unique color palette - the smaller 11” x 14” prints are open edition, three-color screen prints, on French Paper Co. Construction Fuse Green. The larger 16” x 20” three-color screen prints are signed, numbered, and embossed limited editions of 100 each on French Paper Co. Construction Timber Green.

The Bloom series prints are available either individually or as a specially priced set of three. Check out a few closeup shots of the series details below.

Initial Concept Sketches

Process Video

Saguaro

11” x 14” - Open Edition

16” x 20” - Limited Edition

Agave

11” x 14” - Open Edition

16” x 20” - Limited Edition

Nopal

11” x 14” - Open Edition

16” x 20” - Limited Edition

This was a fun one! In all of our years working with Dave Matthews Band, we've never actually had the opportunity to create a poster for a hometown show, but that all changed this week!

The band played the famed Kia Forum in Inglewood, so we had a blast putting a local LA spin on the art. Inspired by fantastical scenes from LA-based films, we set the scene in the Hollywood hills with a UFO breaking through a hillside sign. The UFO flies above a vintage convertible, beaming up a couple who couldn't have imagined that this is where their evening would go.

The Los Angeles, CA poster is an 18” x 24” four-color screen print with a regular edition on Cougar Natural 100lb cover stock and variant edition on 10pt rainbow foil. In addition to the posters sold live at the show, we have two very limited artist editions of 100 regular prints and 50 variant prints, signed and numbered by DKNG and available directly from us.

Check out our initial sketch below along with closeup shots of the finished prints and a time lapse video featuring the design and illustration process behind the poster. The Dave Matthews Band Los Angeles, CA poster is available in the DKNG store while supplies last.

Initial Concept Sketch

Process Video

Regular Edition

Rainbow Foil Edition

It’s a bird. It’s a plane. It’s... TONE!

DKNG’s universe of digital downloads continues to expand, with our latest editable texture pack, Tone! With the success of our debut texture pack, Mezzo, we decided it was time to call back to our roots as screen printers, and create a fully editable texture that celebrates retro looking halftone dots. This six-page Adobe Illustrator file contains example art, instructions, tips, and troubleshooting along with a full graphic styles library. Tone textures are available as fully editable gradients, fills, and strokes all using the power of Illustrator’s opacity masks and appearance panel. Each texture is available as a graphic style, which makes texturizing as simple as a click of a button. Not to mention, the texture comes in two sizes, both fine and coarse, to cover all your texture needs!

To celebrate the release of Tone, we are offering a 25% off discount to the first 50 customers. No code needed!

Ready to hit the open road to some of America's most uniquely named towns? That's the theme of the campaign we produced with Progressive's in-house creative agency, Ninety6. Each ad features a series of three illustrated travel postcards from very real locations all over the U.S., with each telling the story of a common issue RVers might encounter along their journey.

There's the tale of a travel trailer whose owners get a scare when mice decide to move in, there's the RV that takes on a little too much water, and the 5th wheel that is the unlucky recipient of a fender bender at their campground. From Happy Camp, California, to Leakesville, Mississippi, we had a blast working with the team at Ninety6 creating these postcards, coming soon to a travel magazine near you!

Travel Trailer

Class C

Fifth Wheel

We're excited to share a new release from USPS, postage stamps featuring the art of our Horizons series of minimalist travel landscapes. Now called American Vistas, the presorted stamps feature the beach and mountain scenes we created, now in a new color palette, and of course a much smaller scale.

Creating art for stamps is always a fun challenge in that we constantly have to remind ourselves of the scale of the finished piece, and to ensure that the art is bold and iconic enough to read at the small size of a postage stamp. The American Vistas stamps stand out because they actually started life as much larger art print designs, that we then adapted to work as stamps. Since the original art was inspired by vintage travel poster style, the prints were already quite minimalist and therefore lended themselves well to being applied to stamps. The main challenge became adjusting the cropping, colors, and the inclusion of type to make them work cohesively at the small scale of postage stamps.

The release of these stamps was made even more special in that the first day of issue ceremony for American Vistas took place in San Diego, CA, our hometown. Our own Nathan Goldman spoke at the ceremony and unveiled the stamps along with the Postmaster of San Diego. Thanks to Greg Breeding, art director extraordinaire, whose guidance brought these stamps to life. American Vistas stamps and first day covers are available now through USPS and just may be arriving in your mailbox in a presorted letter in the near future!

Three main graphics were created all inspired by a wide array of Mexican culture, from floral tile work to geometric textile patterns, and of course the country’s flag itself, including the eagle, snake and cactus motifs it embodies.

The concepts derived from exploring ways to enrich The Kings existing brand and icons while also infusing a mixture of Mexican culture and hockey themes, which is notably represented in our favorite piece, the Lucha Libre Hockey Mask! The merchandise was exclusively available during the night of the event and online for a limited time, but has all sold out. Stay tuned for DKNG‘s future collaborations with LA Kings and VGHC. Until then, ¡Vamos Kings Vamos!

Initial Concept Sketches

Final Art & Product Photography

One of America's most iconic bands is resuming their residency at one of the most iconic venues in the country, and we're thrilled to be a part of Dead & Company's run of shows at the Sphere in Las Vegas. So much imagery has been created for the band over the years, and with their rich history and the epic venue, we wanted to create something specific to their history as well as the location of the show.

The Grateful Dead's 1974 "Wall of Sound" was an iconic part of the band's history. Given its scale and complexity of speakers and scaffolding on stage, it was unlike anything seen before. The Wall of Sound makes an appearance in the background of Dead & Company's impressive screen display at the Sphere, so we wanted to pay tribute while also putting our own spin on the setup, turning it into a living, breathing ecosystem with the wall of gear made up of growing trees, vines, and flowers. The flowers are all specifically drawn from Grateful Dead song lyrics including roses, magnolias, and sunflowers. A giant rattle snake, bearing the lightning bolt of the Dead's Steal Your Face skull, also winds its way through the scene, in and out of speakers as a reference to the desert location and the band's “When Push Comes to Shove” song lyrics. A series of eyeballs also look around the scene as the wall comes to life, including a sphere of speakers at center as a nod to the venue.

Our Dead & Co. Sphere posters are available in three super-limited artist editions. The 18" x 24" five-color screen prints come in a regular artist edition of 60 on French Kraft-Tone Index Off-White, a rainbow foil variant edition of 45, and a gold foil variant edition of 35. Each are hand signed and number by DKNG. Check out our initial concept sketch, close-ups of the finished prints, and our process video documenting the poster's creation below. The Dead & Co. posters will be available while supplies last in the DKNG store.

Initial Concept Sketch

Process Video

Regular Edition

Rainbow Foil Edition

Gold Foil Edition

The second design in our wave series of art prints, Wave Two, now has a brand new edition is a fresh new color scheme. The Wave Two Second Edition features a sunset color palette. Our goal with the Wave Series is to explore different stylistic approaches to drawing ocean waves, so we opted for a more minimal and graphic approach to this print.

Wave Two is a 20” x 30" five color screen print, printed on French Paper Company's Kraft-Tone Index Off-White 100# cover stock. Each print is blind embossed with DKNG's logo as an official seal of authenticity, and this second edition of Wave Two has a signed and numbered limited edition of 100 prints. Each edition of prints from the Wave series has different color palettes and numbered editions. Wave Two Second Edition is available now in the DKNG store while supplies last.

Our series of ocean wave themed art prints continues with a brand new release. The third edition of Wave One is out now in a brand new blue-green color palette. Just like the first and second editions, the print is a 20" x 30" four color screen print on French Paper Company's Kraft-Tone Index Off-White 100# cover stock. The design features four different split fountain blends of ink colors in the sky and wave, creating a unique set of gradients on each individual print.

Each print is blind embossed with DKNG's logo as an official seal of authenticity, and this third edition of Wave One has a signed and numbered limited edition of 100 prints. Wave One Third Edition is available now in the DKNG store while supplies last.

Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds just played one of their annual concerts on the beach in Riviera Maya, Mexico, and for 2025 we got to revisit last year's art but in a completely different style. Last year we were inspired by traditional Mexican Otomi style embroidery, so for this year we decided to translate it into a different medium of Mexican folk art - papel picado, or cut paper. We also mixed up the imagery of the area including new animal life, Mayan ruins, palm trees, parrots, sea creatures, and flowers. The art was used to promote the event as well as for on-site activations.

Last year we got the chance to work on a delicious project all about bringing an iconic brand to life in an interactive experience. Hershey Super Sweet Adventure is a family-friendly interactive journey, now open in downtown Chicago, and packed with hands-on activities and play. We were honored to work with the team at Original X Productions to bring the world of Hershey to life. The main challenge of the project was to be true to the history and existing look and feel of these beloved brands, while at the same time bringing an ownable look to the new experience. We did this by using an iconic, textured style that flows through the entire exhibit.

Primary Key Art & Branding

Our role in the project ranged from designing the experience logo and key art, all the way to the illustrations, textures, and logos that appear throughout the physical space, the building facade, and in web and marketing materials.

When visitors step inside the experience, they become a "Sweet Seeker in Training" and explore the workshop, earning badges as they encounter each zone immersing participants in a few of Hershey's most iconic treats.

The logo system for the project includes the primary stacked version of the logo (with and without texture and working on light and dark backgrounds, as well as one-color applications). The horizontal version of the logo below supplements the system for wide applications.

INITIAL Logo Exploration

Brand Color Palette

The color palette for the project draws inspiration from all of the individual Hershey brand in the experience, with a highlight, midtone, and shadow available for each color family. This allowed us to add texture, depth, and light source to all of the project illustrations.

IconONOGRAPHY, Brushes & Patterns

The illustrated iconography we created includes the variety of Hershey’s candy that appears in the experience as well as factory elements that help tell the story of what Sweet Seekers might encounter along their journey. On a technical note, this was the first project where our Mezzo editable grain textures went through a large scale, real world stress test, getting applied to practically every asset that was created in the physical space, as well as marketing materials.

For elements like the Twizzlers and factory pipes, we created custom brushes to allow for an unlimited number of unique twists and curves to be formed. Custom patterns were used to create textured brick patterns that could be used for interior spaces, while more minimal brick patterns are used for marketing backgrounds.

Combination Station (Reese’s)

The Combination Station is the home of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, where Sweet Seekers are challenged with wacky new ways to combine peanut butter and chocolate. The "Cup Stuffer Supreme" and the "Combo Cannons" are two of the activities where participants can test their skills.

The Share Shop (Hershey’s Kisses)

The Share Shop provides and artistic activity where Sweet Seekers can put their personal touch on their very own Hershey's Kisses. Participants design their own foil wrappers and watch them come to life on a digital factory conveyor belt.

Twistology Hub (Twizzlers)

The Twistology Hub is a special place, where the art and science of twistiness are honed to perfection. Twistologists work diligently to ensure that every TWIZZLERS twist reaches its most perfect potential twistiness. Participants navigate the wacky Pull ’n’ Peel Maze and then step into The Extruder for a dizzying, spin-filled adventure.

Flavor Intensification Station (Jolly Rancher)

Lastly, Sweet Seekers enter the Flavor Intensification Station to give Jolly Ranchers their maximum flavor. Give the Intense-O-Meter a spin to amplify the intensity with light, color, and sound. Then, challenge your sense of smell at the Flavor Sensors!

We're excited to share a whole truckload of new work for a project all about taking a new approach to an old industry. Branding and advertising firm Cook’N’Judd tapped DKNG to help bring personality-filled illustrations, infographics, and animations into the world of renewable natural gas. Clean Energy is a different kind of energy company, producing renewable natural gas by using waste from dairy farms to produce energy. In an industry steeped in tradition, the challenge was to give Clean Energy a fresh new look to both represent the brand, and also explain how they produce energy while helping the environment.

The solution was to turn to illustration to create a unique and ownable look for the company. Through illustration we were able to get creating with how we represented the relationship between cows and fuel production, as well as create infographics explaining how the process works. While the energy industry overall strikes a pretty serious tone, Clean Energy fortunately was will to take chances on injecting some fun and humor into their brand, which has helped to truly set them apart from the competition.

In addition to a full set of brand illustrations, we also got to work on a range of other projects for Clean Energy including print and video ad campaigns, spot illustrations and icons for the CE website, and brand patterns.

Thanks to Cook'N'Judd for their leadership and art direction on the project, as well as our friends at Down the Street for bringing the animated concepts to life.

Hero Illustrations & Concept Sketches

Infographics & Concept Sketches

Animations

‘On Deck’ Podcast Illustrations & Animation

Textures, Patterns & Gifs

We recently had the opportunity to work with the NHL’s Los Angeles Kings once again, to create the artwork for their 2024 Star Wars theme night. We got to design a range of Star Wars x Kings themed merchandise that was available in the arena’s team store, and was also featured throughout the game. From hoodies to scarves to hockey pucks, the team did a great job of putting together an out of this world variety of Star Wars team gear.

In addition, we had the fun opportunity to attend Star Wars night ourselves and participate in the fun. Our own Nathan Goldman shared his thoughts on the creation of the art:

Of course there are so many iterations of the Star Wars universe today, but for the theme night I wanted to pay tribute to the original 1970s era imagery. In the spirit of competition, I wanted to ensure that the idea of the force vs. the dark side was prominent in the art. I also wanted to represent both hockey and some of the key characters and symbols of Star Wars in each piece, so that even casual Star Wars fans could make the connection to their team.

The Kings x Star Wars badges include symbols of the Star Wars Rebel Alliance as well as the Galactic Empire, and include iconic elements from both worlds - the light saber and hockey stick. The hockey stick also makes an appearance on the X-Wing Fighter badge, a happy accident where the shape of the stick matched closely with the actual shape of the fighter's wing details.

The Stormtrooper is an iconic and recognizable part of the Star Wars universe, whose infantry uniform almost has the appearance of a hockey mask and pads, so he felt like a fitting character to fill in as team goaltender.

The Stormtrooper’s black and white aesthetic also fit nicely within the Kings black, white, and silver color scheme. Yellow appears as an additional accent color as a nod to the iconic Star Wars branding, and the Stormtrooper helmet fit nicely inside the Kings brand chevy shape. Stylized crossed hockey sticks behind the Stormtrooper also helped create the feel of a team going into battle.

- Nathan Goldman

Thanks to the entire team at the Kings for rolling out the red carpet for us and also doing a stellar job of documenting the night, including the photos and video of us on the big screen and in the team store. Thanks for having us!

Our series of officially licensed art prints of famous pop culture homes has typically centered around the Christmas season, but this year we’re getting things started early with a spooky house for Halloween. The Maitland House from Tim Burton’s Beetlejuice has long been one of our favorite movie homes, especially since it plays such a large role in the film as it undergoes its modern renovation by the Deetz family. Keen observers will notice a slew of characters and easter eggs from the movie including the lights illuminating the model version of the house, a tiny nod to Adam and Barbara’s car crash, and even a couple of the fantastical iterations of Betelgeuse himself.

The Beetlejuice poster is a 24” x 18” four-color screen print with three super limited artist editions - the regular edition on 100lb Cougar Natural stock has a limited edition of 100 prints, the variant edition on 10pt rainbow foil has a limited edition of 50 prints, and the art print version sans logo, also on Cougar Natural, has a limited edition of 25, with all three artist editions signed and numbered by DKNG. Check out our initial sketch below along with closeup photos of the prints, and a time lapse video documenting our creation process. The Beetlejuice poster is available in the DKNG Store while supplies last. Thanks to our friends at Bottleneck Gallery for spearheading this project.

Initial Concept Sketch

Process Video

Close-Up Shots

The National just played at what is perhaps our favorite concert venue on the planet, the Hollywood Bowl, so we were excited to get the chance to commemorate the show with a new gig poster for the band. Our first ever poster for the National (14 years ago!) centered around a swimming pool, so we thought it would be fitting to keep the Los Angeles vibes going with a midcentury pool, including a nod to the shape of the Bowl hidden in the steps of the pool itself.

The National Hollywood Bowl poster is a 24” x 18” four-color screen print on natural cover stock, with an edition size of 665, with just a small portion of the run signed by DKNG and available directly from us. Check out closeup photos of the finished prints below along with our initial concept sketch, and a process video documenting the creation of the art. The National Hollywood Bowl poster is available in the DKNG store while supplies last.

Concept Sketch

Process Video

Close-up Shots

The DKNG universe of digital downloads is expanding into the world of Graphic Styles! Our latest release, Alive!, is named due to the fact that these graphic styles can be applied to any live text or shape in Adobe Illustrator and can be fully edited or customized on the fly. The interactive download features nine unique graphic styles that can be purchased as a bundle or a la carte. From 3D inflated type, to glowing neon, to vintage embroidered lettering, Alive! Includes a variety of types styles that work for a wide range of projects, plus instructions on how to make your own customizations.

But wait... what’s a graphic style you ask? A graphic style in Illustrator is a set of effects and settings that populate the appearance window so they can be applied to any text (or shape) with the click of a button. Each graphic style is completely customizable, and all features of the provided graphic styles can be modified through the appearance window.

Alive! can be applied to any font of your choosing, but the examples shown can all be found via Adobe Fonts. See below for a list of the fonts and their designers shown here:

Example Fonts Shown

Prohibition by Mattox Shuler

Bellucci by Ramiro Espinoza

Sofachrome by Ray Larabie

Cheee & Beastly by James Edmondson

Redondo Ave by Amy Hood

Arbotek by José M. Urós

Manicotti by David Jonathan Ross

BadaBoom by Nate Piekos

Alive! is now available in the DKNG store, and to celebrate the launch, the first 30 customers to purchase the full nine-style pack of alive, will receive 30% off! We look forward to seeing what you create with these styles. Please tag @dkngstudios with your creations so we can share the fun with our community. Now onto the individual styles…

2024

Tired of being a bench warmer? Get in the game with embroidered and stitched, patch-style lettering. This graphic style features two layers of woven text, each with their own custom gradient. Additionally, the letterforms are backed by multiple layers of offset path fills that represent different color borders, including outer stitching. All letters have a built-in pathfinder Add feature, so letters can merge into each other and share stitching in a single cohesive patch.

FLOAT

Make text look like a shiny helium- filled balloon straight from the party store! This graphic style utilizes Illustrator’s 3D Inflate tool. All customization, other than fill color, can be found in the 3D and Materials window. Adjust the depth and angle in Object, metallic finish in Materials, and lighting and shadows, in Lighting.

FUNK

Time to get your dancing shoes on! Give your type a funky, retro style, that features a 3D multi-color step effect, while remaining flat in appearance. The main foreground color features a mis-registered fill that doubles as a highlight. The built-in warp that lifts the text can be toggled off, and the placement of the text has been customized to vertically center itself so your finished product appears centered on its background.

KPOW!

As quick as a speeding bullet, instantly transform your type into a fun comic book text effect! This graphic style features an editable halftone gradient fill, text warping, a 3D structure with highlights, and a fully responsive backdrop sunburst effect.

MAZE

The 3D tools in Illustrator offer a labyrinth of possibilities. This graphic style features a new twist on the classic ‘Extruded’ 3D type, by adding repeated beveling, which creates the illusion of maze walls! The style uses pathfinder’s Add mode to allow letterforms to merge into each other for continuous, complex maze shapes.

NEON

This classic neon style lighting effect is composed of solely strokes (no fills) that use pathfinder’s Add mode to ensure connected script letters. Just like most neon signs, this one works best after hours (aka make sure your background is dark).

POST

Greetings from... well, anywhere! This postcard style 3D lettering is the perfect road trip companion for your next travel inspired project. Includes an optional stepped gradient and extended drop shadow that will multiply on top of any fill or background you choose.

REV

This ultra metallic style is perfect for giving your type that polished chrome look. Easily update any of the color choices using the Gradient Window or Tool. Features an optional double drop shadow that automatically adjusts to any background color.

Y’ALL

Howdy Partner! Y'all ready for a 3D text treatment that jumps off the page? This graphic style features an optional arch warp that floats over a customized drop shadow. The 3D text effect includes a classic combo thick/thin stroke and a beveled interior, all while having a clean, flat aesthetic.

Drum roll please… the newly updated version 2 of Mezzo, our vector grain texture pack, is now available! We made a bunch of improvements that we think you’ll enjoy. Now for the nerdy breakdown of everything new in version 2:

• Two texture sizes - “Fine” for more delicate details and “Coarse” for bold chunkiness.

• Both textures use an improved set of raster effects for faster rendering.

• Improved gradients that now use a more intuitive black to white spectrum.

• Gradient strokes have been cleaned up to remove visible edge aliasing.

• Download now includes a graphic styles library with installation instructions.

• Instructions on how to texturize grayscale imagery.

• Image Trace instructions for vectorizing Mezzo for ultimate scalability.

• Multiple layers for quick access to textures to copy and paste into your own art, right away.

Five years ago we had the amazing honor of creating our first postage stamps for USPS, so it’s with great excitement that we announce a new postage stamp we designed that are out in the world as of their first day of issue - August 15, 2024. We had the pleasure of working again under the talented art direction of Greg Breeding and alongside several of our favorite artists who each created one of the 10 typographic designs in the set. We also had the opportunity to work on the templates for the buttons themselves including their three-dimensional appearance and the actual pin fasteners that appear on the back of the pane of stamps.

Each pinback button in the series is adorned with a single upbeat message, with the DKNG designed stamp exclaiming ‘Kudos!’. For our design we wanted to take a script lettering approach with decorative flourishes to add some pomp and circumstance to the congratulatory message.

The first-day-of-issue event for these Forever stamps took place at the Great American Stamp Show in Hartford, CT on Thursday, August 15, at 11am ET.

If you happen to pickup the new pinback button stamps at your local post office, be sure to tag DKNG! Check out our initial sketch of the Kudos! design below along with images of the stamps themselves.

USPS Press Release

Since their appearance in 1896, pinback buttons have expressed viewpoints, made statements and shown off the interests of those who wear them. A novel medium, these buttons quickly came into popular use as advertising tools and for political campaigns. For more than 120 years, pinback buttons of various sizes have helped spread ideas and broadcast opinions on a wide variety of topics.

The designs and slogans adorning buttons reflect the era and values of the time in which they were created, like any other piece of pop culture ephemera. In this way, pinback buttons become historical tools providing insight into the moods, sentiments and worldviews of people living in a particular time and place.

Pinback Buttons is a pane of 20 stamps featuring 10 typographic designs by various artists in their own signature style. Each design imparts a single upbeat message: smile (Don Clark), hello! (Tré Seals), peace (Jay Fletcher), love (Juan Carlos Pagan), fun (Gia Graham), sweet (Jeff Rogers), yes! (Ryan Feerer), cheers! (Lisa Congdon), kudos! (DKNG Studios) and happy (Gina Triplett). The round shape of the stamps, and the shadowing and reflection effects used, give the appearance of three-dimensional pinback buttons. The pane verso features an illustration of a round silver button back with pin fastener repeated 20 times, one for each pinback button shown on the front of the pane.

Concept Sketch

Final Stamp Designs

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