Coudal Partners' Layer Tennis Live is unique in the world of graphic design, which is saying a lot. Founded by Jim Coudal, Coudal Partners, a Chicago design firm known for creative products, media savvy and a wacky sense of humor, developed LTL as a rare chance to see creative artists go head-to-head (or Mac-to-Mac) to try and bash each other's pixels into submission.
Layer Tennis Live is a live-on-the-web graphic arts "tennis match" using video, animation, sound, photos, type, and a few surprises. It's paintball without the welts and riot gear. And it's a great way for viewers to suck up all your available productivity on a Friday afternoon.
Two competitors (some from as far away as Russia and South Africa) swap image files back and forth in real-time, adding to and visually commenting on the work each time. Each artist returns a volley within fifteen minutes and post to the site live. You try creating a mini-poster (often with motion and music) in fifteen minutes and see what comes up. A writer, different each match, provides real-time play-by-play commentary. A match lasts for ten volleys and when it is complete, Season Ticket Holders vote for the winner.
A digital "coin-toss," with an intrepid coin-toss referee/mascot, determines who goes first. The coin toss is often as much fun as the matches themselves. After the toss, the ref announces the winner with a wave of the hand.
Some of the competitors are luminaries in the world of graphic design, such as Marian Bantjes and Armin Vit. Others are brash young punks ready to destroy all in their path. Either way, it's fun to watch. Viewers vote for the winner via Twitter, which Coudal also uses for play-by-play.
The coin-toss winner has a distinct advantage to set the theme, and to prepare a dynamic opening graphic that will hopefully render their competition drooling and helpless. The last volley also has the advantage to make a strong closing statement. The closer is much trickier, since the artist does this on the fly.
Like any competition, the play is sometimes aggressive, wildly different in style, clever, funny, and on rare occasions reaches a surprising equilibrium that makes the entire match seem as if it was planned from the beginning.
The "layer" in the name refers to a feature of Adobe graphic design software, particularly Photoshop. The event, sponsored by Adobe, uses Photoshop, Illustrator, After Effects and Flash (among others) as vehicles for the match.
The more you know about the participants, the more inside jokes you'll get. The Gregory Hubacek-Aaron Draplin round commenced with the visually restrained Hubacek ripping off Draplin's highly identifiable retro style, causing Draplin to veer off into uncharted territory.
Still, Layer Tennis Live is great fun for anyone (even the non-initiated) especially those who enjoy healthy (and cilvized!) creative combat.
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Interesting. Thanks for introducing us to this site.
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