Creative Energy
Global Design Talent Descends on Columbus Once Again –
Decorated darlings of the design world, the dudes behind Lincoln Design Co. — the laid-back West Coast firm which has designed logos for clients such as Nike, Mountain Dew, and Hot Wheels — never figured they would come to Columbus, Georgia. But they always figured they would one day go to Creative South.
“I knew at some point I would go to Mike’s conference but I wasn’t even aware it was in Columbus, Georgia,” writes Lincoln Creative Director Dan Janssen in an email to the LocaL about his buddy and collaborator Mike Jones.” This will be myself and my team’s first time in Columbus and we are excited.”
Jones launched the annual creative design conference in 2011, which will continue this year on April 11-13 as a kaleidoscopic three-day festival of art and inspiration found at parties and presentations spread across hotels and venues along the riverfront. “We hope to meet good people and make lasting connections,” Janssen explains of his team of 5’s aspirations for the event. “We also hope to see and hang out with some old friends as well.”
Jones says, “Creative South was founded on the premise that we, as a people, need more face time. So let’s bring them to Georgia and show them some Southern hospitality and have them leave inspired and leave here with built relationships that they can go do life with. In the design world, we already do plenty of virtual/remote things — somebody’s always talking to somebody online — so the whole point was to come together and connect. I’m not one for networking. I don’t need your business card. What I want is to connect and build relationships with somebody I can do life with and, in turn, do business with.”
A father and husband, Jones, 46, built such a relationship with the two founders of international design firm Heyo, Peter Deltondo and Rob Davarnia, whom he called after meeting them at Creative South more than 10 years ago. Today, Jones serves as the highly respected Heyo’s Senior Brand Designer.
Jones had the flash of inspiration to create an event upon returning home from Weapons of Mass Creation, a DIY punk-rock style gathering of design professionals. So he called a buddy up to help and they got to work. Then called Artist Round-Up, it had 45 attendees its first year. That grew to 60 and, following a name change and rebrand, 200 people the third year. The size eventually grew to between 800 and 1,000 attendees annually, with an estimated economic impact between $650k and $1 million until COVID knocked things off kilter and changed the smaller conference scene. This year, Jones expects about 400+ folks to come.
The conference has drawn visitors from 37 states and 11 countries over the years. This year, the innovative, influential designer Fabian Barral, creator of the iconic Mr. Cup, is coming from his home in Provence, France to speak. “It’s crazy to come some far to share about my experience,” he writes of his Creative South invitation in an email to the LocaL. “I am so happy to visit your city and spend time with all these creatives I have followed for years. It is like visiting family I have never met before!”
What does he hope to experience while in Columbus?
“I want the best food and beer,” Barral writes. “And I want to share it with enthusiastic, creative people! Everything tastes so much better when it’s shared.”
Growth isn’t always the best thing. Jones points out that all the shiny new development in Uptown, while awesome, no longer provides enough green space to shoot off the fireworks that always made the OG Bridge Parties so lit, and the influx of faces and names at Creative South make it a bit more anonymous and less intimate.
For the 2024 version, Jones is happy with the size and scope of the conference. The theme is Late Night Talk Show — with the renowned host, Andrew Hochradel , of course — and features its famous Bridge Party on Friday night with the Ink Wars live-art battle, the one and only DJ03, a mixer in the courtyard behind Mabella’s and sets by musicians, including Charlie Robinson “Big Saxy” and his band will be the “house band” for the talk show, the LCLS band from Austin, and Columbus’ own The Velvet Cab and online sensation, pop/country/hip-hop Christian musician Tyler Hates Life.
This year will also see the further insolvent and deeper commitment of the Creative South Foundation’s kick back to the community. This year, the foundation is holding Ink Wars at Fox Elementary in North Highland, where they are pairing four professional artists with four students at a charitable event sponsored by Miracle Riders. Active for a couple years now, it funds two scholarships every Creative South.
“It started out as a thing I wanted to see happen in our city,” reflects Jones, “And it ended up becoming an event that turned into a creative community. All from just asking each other, ‘Why can’t we do that?’”
If you’d like to get involved with Creative South, whether that means buying a ticket, becoming a sponsor or would like to volunteer, visit the guys at creativesouth.com.
By Frank Etheridge