311 has always been one of my favorite bands and even inspired me to play bass. They deliver a positive, upbeat message in their music and they really like to connect with their fan base. In June 2012, they announced a T-Shirt design contest where the winner would have their design printed and sold nation-wide and online during their “Summer 2012 Unity Tour” and also receives a prize of $311.00 with an autographed copy of the shirt.

311 was not formally a client of mine, but I treated this design challenge as if they were. My concept used the “2012 myth” around the Mayan calendar as an engine for a metaphor. As a calendar, I illustrated icons of the band’s 10 albums and their titles along the outer ring in chronological order, and represented four milestone festival events in the inner quadrants. I made sure to balance the band symbolism with the Mayan elements somewhat equally. I received a call from the band’s manager that I was selected as the winner and worked with their designers to prepare it for mass production.