Published: Tue, July 20, 2010

Updated: Tue, July 20, 2010

Waytao Shing

Beth Hempton sells her Wondercraft at a booth, Mohawk upstairs

Premiering design in a whole new way, Pixel Pop paired the design of Austin’s fashionable duo Team Fabrication, Jennifer Rea and Erin Mikulenka, with the energetic drawings of illustrator Chad Townsend.

“The goal with Pixel Pop is to merge multiple disciplines to create a fusion of art and interaction. A true fusion of music, art and fashion,” said co-promoter Candace Carlisle.

Held at the Mohawk July 16, Pixel Pop fused all five senses in an event that displayed the work of Austin artists, Team Fab and Townsend. On display all night were several booths by local artists and craftspeople. Selling wares from gold chains to baby clothes, each booth brought a unique flavor of design to the table.

Beth Hempton, a self-described designer, maker and teacher, ran a booth for The Wondercraft, a collection of work by Austin artists that sells at the Art Pad on Burnet Road. Besides the line for babies that Hempton designed, Wondercraft also touts the works of over 20 other artists, with products like feathered headbands, organic t-shirts, hand-drawn greeting cards, journals and jewelry.

“We wanted to be a part of this event for its awesome blend of Austin artists and culture,” said Hempton as she wrote receipts and sold crafts to the Mohawk’s eager customers.

What would a night of Austin culture be without a taste of the one art form that makes the city the live music capital of the world? Bands Candi and the Strangers and The Bubbles played sets to highlight a “pop aspect of the show,” according to co-promoter Adi Anand. Main act, The Happen-ins, wowed the crowd with a harder sound and more soulful lyrics. Miguel Angel, known as his DJ moniker uLovei, filled in music between the bands’ sets.

In the center of the night’s activities was the fashion show put on by Team Fab with drawings by Townsend. The event’s theme of bringing comic book characters to life came to the stage with the design team’s fashions. Six models showed off outfits created by Team Fab while drawings of each fashion done by Townsend were projected behind them. Posing like favorite superheroes, Team Fab’s Gaga-esque designs projected a sense of Wonder Woman meeting her funky side.

“In the end, the results turned out great on both sides. Talking with them [Team Fab] during the show they said next time they want me to design the clothes and they interpret the designs, which for me is pretty exciting. I have spent over 15 years as a conceptual artist on many animated TV shows, animated movies and video games that this is the first time that I can think of where I can physically see my designs, so I hope we do this again,” said Townsend.

Part of the proceeds from the event benefitted Health Alliance for Austin Musicians, HAAM, a local charity that provides health care to Austin-area musicians.

“We wanted portions of the proceeds to go towards a local charity, and we really believe in and respect what HAAM does, so we went with them,” Anand said.

While plans have not yet been made for Pixel Pop 2, Anand and others hope that this was only the first “issue” and the start of an annual event.

“Although we never want to call anything ‘the first annual...’ lest we jinx it, we did plan on this being an ‘issue #1’ (comic book style). So based on what we perceived to be the success of the night, we're definitely going to look into making it an annual event,” Anand said.