Chicago’s Premiere Popping and Animation Crew, I co-founded Shadow Puppetz in 2018. We spread and promote street dance culture across the Midwest by organizing events, workshops, and practice session, and by competing in dance battles across the nation. Shadow Puppetz has become synonymous with Chicago in the popping community. In addition to being a founder, I take on the role of Artistic Director for the crew, driving forward new digital content and collaborating with multiple artists to create fresh new perspectives on how we can present ourselves to the national street dance community.
Shadow Puppetz
Crew Branding
As the Artistic Director of Shadow Puppetz, I am responsible for developing our brand language along side graphic designer Tim McMahon. Over the years we have introduced elements from collaborators, such as our handlettering logo, courtesy of Rodney Ibarra. Our identity sits at the intersection of street art culture and classical design elements, resulting in simple yet dramatic composition across our brand marks.
Out of the Shadows
Our flagship battle each year, Out of the Shadows is amongst the biggest popping dance events in the United States. With more than 100 dancers from more than 15 states, our 3v3 crew invitational brings some of the strongest dancers in the US to compete. Our design focused approach, combined with a service mindset, has made our battles a must-attend on the competitive circuit, after only two years! It takes a tremendous amount of effort, organization, and art direction to make our event stand above dozens of others each year.
Event Direction
To promote our events, we theme each year’s branding around a specific element of street dance culture, and the process of competing in a dance battle. These themes have included “Drama”, “Confidence”, “Legacy”, and “Immersion”. We use these themes to drive forward each event with a unique voice, connected by our underpinning brand identity. (Our most recent flyer, the bottom right image, is a WIP)
Trophy Making
Shadow Puppetz strive to make our events stand out from the crowd. We utilize all of our member’s unique skills to create moments that will last in our attendees memories. One way I do this is by applying my prototyping skills to create a custom trophy for each event! Each trophy is themed to match the event poster. The hope is that our winners can look at the trophies and be taken back to the time and place of their victory. (Our most recent trophy, the bottom right image, is a WIP)
