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Show Judges  Andy Anderson Andy Anderson grew up in Orlando, Florida and, after high-school, received a scholarship in journalism at a local community college. While he enjoyed writing, he found it difficult to consider as a career, and entered the Air Force at age 21. "I started taking pictures when I was in the Air Force as a fire fighter, for magazines and things like that, "says Anderson. As he was nearing the end of his military career, he began to photograph more seriously and worked on developing his business. "I picked up a camera and I just started taking pictures.It was instantaneous. It just felt right to me," Anderson explains. It was during this period in the mid-'90s, Terry McDonnell, then the editor of Men's Journal, saw his work, flew out to Idaho and signed Anderson as MJ's first staff photographer. He remained on contract with the magazine for three years and this led to advertising assignments from Carmichael Lynch (Harley-Davidson), Mullen (Wachovia Bank), Red Cell (Nike) and editorial work for Outside and other magazines. Andy resides in Mountain Home, Idaho (the last post in his twenty year Air Force career) with Shelley, his wife of 26 years and their three children, Haley, Zachary and Gabriel. Andy's work was featured in the June 2004 issue of Communication Arts, and has been honored by The Art Directors Club, Life Magazine Eisenstadt Awards, Communication Arts, Kelley Awards, Lucie Awards and Graphis. 
Art Prostitute Brian Gibb Having spent his formidable years in a small Texas town, Gibb turned to skateboarding and underground music, to cope with the cultural deprivation. Skateboard graphics and album artwork were his early exposure to art and graphic design. Gibb went on to study both at the university level ultimately earning a degree in communication design. His work in both areas is a cross pollination between the sensitivity of fine art and the elements and principles of design, with communication being the ultimate goal. Gibb uses a combination of iconic imagery alongside stylized characters which are often the mouthpiece for the message, whether it be commentary about their surroundings, the state of human emotion or just talking noise. In April of 2003 Gibb and fellow University of North Texas alum Mark Searcy co-founded Art Prostitute, the now internationally acclaimed quarterly art publication. Since its inception the project has expanded to include a gallery and a working art and design studio. The growing roster of clients include Vans, Academy Snowboards, Too Far Publishing, Fighting Records, Shampoo Salon and many more. On the gallery end Gibb has curated shows with an impressive roster of international artists such as Evan Hecox, Cody Hudson, Dalek, Mike Giant, Rich Jacobs, Jeremy Fish and Tiffany Bozic. Whether it is within the walls or pages of Art Prostitute or abroad in exhibitions of his own, Gibb's focus is simple, to proliferate art to everyone in as many mediums as possible. Mark Searcy Mark Searcy is co-owner/editor of Art Prostitute, an award wining, internationally distributed art and design publication, art gallery, and design studio. Upon graduation from the University of North Texas in 2002, Searcy started Art Prostitute with fellow classmate Brian Gibb as an escape from the maze of cubicles within advertising and design firms and back into the world of contemporary art. In the two years since it began, Art Prostitute has already been featurd in publications such as PRINT, While You Were Sleeping, The Drama, Faesthetic, Planet Magazine, SOMA, The Dallas Observer, The Dallas Morning News, D Magazine, ArtLies, to name a few, and has also won Gold DSVC Dallas Design awards, and have taken home regional and national Gold ADDYS in 2005. Art Prostitute has given them both the opportunity to meet, befriend, and network with some of the most creative individuals that are alive today. Also, both Brian and Searcy have returned to UNT as adjunct faculty to teach design. They often lecture at various universities across the nation as well, spreading the knowledge that there truly are ways to make a living with an art degree... if you are willing to hustle. As an artist, Searcy is always armed with a camera at his side and travels across the strip mall frontiers of Texas, taking on the challenge of discovering what adventure still remains yet to be overtaken by cement parking lots. His recent armory contains forgotten toy cameras that he rescues from thrift stores, then takes apart and modifies in an effort to regain images that were deemed lost through discarded technologies. The resulting process creates images that present overlapping narratives, reflecting an exploration into the not so distant past that was quickly discarded and overtaken by the digital revolution. You can view his photography on his website www.thisdotcomtaken.com. 
Mike Byrne Mike Byrne hails from Philadelphia, PA. He attended Georgetown University. With a background in playwriting and poetry he took his passion for writing and creativity to the ad world. Joining Wieden + Kennedy in their brand new New York office in 1996 working on the ESPN account. He joined the Portland office in 2000 where he was a writer in the Nike group moving to Co-Creative Director of the group 2 and a half years later. Mike has won awards on both at home and on the international stage. Pulling down the Grand Prix at the Cannes Festival in 2002. He is also an Emmy award winner for his work on the Nike brand. Mike Byrne is currently Creative Director on Nike at Wieden + Kennedy.  John Schofield John Schofield is a graduate of Washington State University where he received a Bachelor of Arts in Communications, a Bachelor of Fine Arts/Graphic Design and permanent liver damage. Upon graduating, John began his meteoric rise to the top of the advertising world as a Children's Literature and Water Toy Specialist/Shipping Clerk at a local toy store. He then worked at a number of small agencies before landing at McCann-Erickson Seattle. There, he worked on campaigns for the Washington State Lottery, Washington Mutual Bank, Nescafe, Warn Industries, Drugstore.com and more. After six years at McCann-Erickson Seattle, he defected to take on the role of Associate Creative Director at WONGDOODY. His current clients include Alaska Airlines, Widmer Brothers Brewing, Virginia Mason Medical Center, Seattle Supersonics and a bunch of little stuff too tedious to list here. His accolades include Cannes Lions, Clios, Communication Arts, One Show, Obies, Effies, National Addy's, Radio Mercury Awards, London International Film Festival and Seattle Times Carrier of the Month. On a personal note, John is a Leo. His turn-ons include surgical tubing, corn dogs and that lady with the big glasses from the Old Navy commercials. Turn-offs are bigotry, veal and leatherette. He also likes anything that rolls or explodes. A Personal Note from John about the Show Bios like this are always fun. Because most of you are reading this with the following question in mind: "Who is this shitball to rate me?" Well, that is an incredibly hard question to answer without sounding like a dick. Impossible, actually. So I won't answer it in those terms. I thought about writing my number so you could call me and we could talk about something you liked. Or we could discuss a particular piece you felt deserved more consideration. I imagine several moments of strained conversation. Followed by a painfully long pause. And then one of us would be forced to say, "I'm going to hang up now." So it's back to square one. Sure, I could tell you that I have won some awards. Or that I work at WONGDOODY. But that sounds insecure, pathetic or arrogant depending on your perspective. Honestly, I don't think you should concern yourself with me at all. What should concern you is why your work did, or did not, do well. If you remember what went into a good piece, do more of that. I also should say how young people are the future of this business. And that I should end this thing with "stay gold" or "courage" or something. 
Gary Taxali Gary Taxali was born in Chandigarh, India in 1968. A year later, he and his family emigrated to Toronto, Canada. In 1991, Gary graduated from The Ontario College of Art and immediately began working as a professional illustrator. His illustrations have appeared in many national magazines, public transit ads, greeting cards, TV commercials, wine labels, CD covers, etc., in addition to numerous other projects for design firms, advertising agencies and web sites. Gary shows his work extensively in various exhibitions and galleries throughout North America including The La Luz de Jesus Gallery in Los Angeles. He is currently working on his first children's book, which he also wrote. In addition to this, a portion of his time is devoted to lecturing and teaching illustration at various art schools such as Sheridan College and The Ontario College of Art and Design. Gary is a Founding Member of IPA (Illustrators' Partnership of America). He is also the co-founder of the creative consortium Picture Mechanics that is comprised of 40 of the top illustrators in the industry. Clients: Time, Rolling Stone, Esquire, Newsweek, Entertainment Weekly, Fortune, Men's Journal, The New York Times, Business Week, Fast Company, Converse, Sony, Levi's, MTV, Coca-Cola and Bonny Doon Vineyard. Awards: American Illustration, Communication Arts Illustration Annual, Society of Illustrators (Silver Medal), Print, Society of Publication Designers, National Magazine Awards (Gold Medal), Advertising and Design Club of Canada. |
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