Design+Music Panel

Lawrence Azerrad – Moderator

Lawrence Azerrad is a Grammy Nominated Graphic Designer and Creative Director, and is the founder of LADdesign (laddesign.net), Since 2001 LADdesign has created graphic design and comprehensive visual identity systems for clients such as Sting, Universal Music Group, UC San Diego, USC Roski School of Art and Design, Blue Note Records, The Silversun Pickups, Esperanza Spalding, The Skirball Cultural Center, The Beach Boys, WeTransfer, UCLA, Red Bull Sound Select, and an Eighteen-year client relationship with Wilco, the award-winning American alternative rock band.
Azerrad is a producer and creative director of The Voyager Golden Record 40th Anniversary Edition and is the author of a Supersonic: Design and Lifestyle of Concorde, a design history of the aircraft to be published 2018. Azerrad is the chair for AIGA’s Design+Music program, a national initiative to explore how design thinking can make a positive impact on the music industry.
Azerrad has spoken on design at TEDxUCLA, Amazon Conflux Conference 2017, AIGA National Conference 2017, Hopscotch Design Conference 2016, and three Re:Design Conferences.
Prior to opening LADdesign, Lawrence was an art director at Warner Bros Records, creating packaging and artwork for artists such as Miles Davis, and The Red Hot Chili Peppers. He has taught Graphic Design at Art Center College of Design, He currently serves as an Advisory Board Member for the Los Angeles chapter of the AIGA.

Kris Lamb

Kris Lamb is the Vice President of Promotion for Big Machine Records, the flagship imprint of Big Machine Label Group. Prior to Lamb joining BMLG in 2010, he executed all West Coast Promotion strategies for The Walt Disney Company’s Lyric Street Records. Lamb is also the Adjunct Professor for Music Promotion Strategies at Belmont University, his alma mater from which he graduated from in 2005. Lamb has played an integral role in the development of platinum-selling artists such as; Taylor Swift, Tim McGraw, Rascal Flatts, Sugarland, Zac Brown Band, and Steven Tyler.

Josh & Bethany Newman

Provided by Bethany Newman

Josh and I met in the design program at the University of Tennessee, having five classes together one semester. There was no escaping one another. During the summer program in New York City, we kind of realized we were going to be together and that eventually, as grown-ups, we wanted to have our own design firm. We’re grown-ups now and each day try to make ST8MNT a perfect design nirvana.

Josh worked part-time for a Nashville graphic design firm while in the Printing & Graphical Arts vo-tech program at Hillsboro High School, so was no stranger to design at an early age. I grew up in Memphis enjoying fine arts and Print Shop Deluxe on my dad’s Macintosh Performa. Graphic design seemed like a practical major choice for an art degree. Through the years Josh designed many CD packages for EMI and Forefront, created the WOW branding, as well as creative directed many music videos. He’s animated and directed for CMT Networks, National Geographic Networks, TLC, GoDaddy and the Atlanta Braves. Meanwhile, I’ve held positions at small design firms, an interactive agency, a startup and was director of creative services for the Mercury, MCA and Lost Highway Records imprints under Universal Music Group before founding ST8MNT.

We are opposite in our design strengths and love truly collaborating with each other and our talented creative team to push the work further. We are passionate about building brands, the brand experience, and their campaigns across ever-changing mediums. Every day we strive to build a new kind of creative agency, one that’s nimble, future-forward and blurs the lines of what design “is.” Notable work includes Taylor Swift ’s last four albums, LiveNation, Bonnaroo, National Geographic Channel and the Atlanta Braves.

Josh leads creative as Executive Creative Director; and I run ST8MNT by leading business development and client relationships. Design thinking solves really big problems and I encourage designers to realize they deserve a seat at the executive table. I am very involved with the international Entrepreneur’s Organization, and enjoy the personal growth and energy of entrepreneurship. Josh and I feed our need for inspiration through traveling overseas with our two hilarious and rambunctious children – Ava and Alex.

Tom Osborn

Veteran marketing expert, Tom Osborn, is currently at Q Prime Nashville, transitioning recently from the VP of Marketing for New West Records.  He has also has overseen the worldwide music marketing initiatives for the likes of Warner Bros Records, Kobalt Music Services, Epitaph/Anti Records, and Capitol Records.

Throughout Osborn’s career, he worked at both major and independent labels and has implemented innovative and successful marketing campaigns for some of the biggest names in music as well as emerging artists. He has worked with a broad spectrum of artists ranging from luminaries Tom Waits, Lenny Kravitz, Nick Cave and Devo to modern heavyweights The Flaming Lips, Wilco, The Black Keys and Mastodon to acclaimed songwriters Noel Gallagher, Ben Folds, and Glen Hansard to Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees Fleetwood Mac and Paul Simon. Additionally, Osborn’s impressive resume includes stints at Vagrant Records, Mammoth Records, ARTISTdirect and Atlas/Third Rail management.

Osborn is a graduate from the University of Southern California with a Master of Fine Arts degree as well as a degree from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Currently, he is on the board of directors for the Give a Note Foundation which launched in 2011 in partnership with the National Association for Music Education. And is a member of the 2018 Music Leadership class.

Jennifer Peters

Jennifer Peters has been doing print pre-press production in the music business for over 15+ years. She first started at Geffen, moving onto Capitol Records and is currently with Concord Music.

Working with dozens of designers and artists over the years on various packages, some of her most memorable experiences include: Geffen – Beck, Hole, White Zombie, Garbage, Sonic Youth and Slash. Capitol Records- Coldplay, The Beatles, Radiohead, Geri Halliwell, Chingy and OK GO. Concord Music – Paul McCartney’s “Memory Almost Full”, Chick Corea, James Taylor, Paul Simon and Esperanza Spaulding.

Throughout her many years in the industry, she enjoys the challenges of working with a diverse collection of designers and the multitude of many different packages.

Music has always been her inspiration for pursuing the vast career she has and is what brought her into the business; packaging was just part of what she would purchase along with the design, now coming full circle, it’s only befitting that packaging would be her livelihood.

Living most of her life in California, she just recently moved here to Music City and is already loving it.

She is thrilled to be a part of this endeavor of bringing Design & Music together.

Scott McDaniel

Scott McDaniel currently serves as Vice President of Creative for the Nashville Convention & Visitors Corporation, overseeing the creative team facilitating visual art for the city of Nashville. McDaniel joined the NCVC in July with over 20 years experience in creating visual art within the entertainment industry.

He recently led the Sony Music Nashville creative team – overseeing artist imaging, album packaging, photography, design and video production for the label group’s recording imprints: Arista, Columbia and RCA Records. Working with established icons such as Kenny Chesney, Miranda Lambert, Brad Paisley, Carrie Underwood to new and developing break out artists such as Old Dominion and Maren Morris.

McDaniel knows the craft of visual storytelling as he has personally crewed on over 100 films, videos and has helped to facilitate over 350 photo sessions for multiple genre artists, brands and celebrities. Additionally, he has commissioned over 400 music videos and long-form films to award-winning film directors between the Country, Rock, Gospel and Christian formats. His experience includes both film and video creative director and producer credits for live concert performance music films, feature length film, documentaries and music videos.

McDaniel previously served in artist development with EMI Christian Music Label and oversaw the creative services department at ForeFront Records working with artists such as Tobymac, Stacie Orrico, Audio Adrenaline and dc Talk.

McDaniel currently serves on the Motion Picture Industry Advisory Board for Belmont University. He has also served in both the national and local Nashville Chapter of the National Recording Arts and Sciences Academy. McDaniel is a member of the Country Music Association and Academy of Country Music. He is recent graduate of “Leadership Music” Program Class of 2015.