Mixmag and Monkey Shoulder announce Shoulder to Shoulder design competition

Going out ignites the senses. It’s full audio-visual, touch-smell-and-taste immersion, as you’re hit from every angle by booming soundsystems and flashing lights, the heat of dancing bodies and gulping of chilled drinks. The best parties put their all into this multi-sensory experience, being creative with every element.

This summer, Mixmag and Monkey Shoulder are going Shoulder to Shoulder to rewrite nightlife for the better, and we want your input. As part of this movement, we are calling on budding designers and artists to help us create a one-off, memorable artwork for our pair of epic house parties, set to take place across the UK this summer.

Visuals have always been a crucial element of the nightlife experience. From the funky designs of old skool rave flyers to the eye-catching outfits to the graffitied venue walls sprayed by B-boys and street artists; all kinds of optical influences form the aesthetic of nightlife.

Our design competition is calling on creatives to submit an artwork that celebrates nightlife, tapping into existing inspiration and bringing your own innovation to the fore. We’ve put together a package of assets, including imagery and colours, which are encouraged to be incorporated into the design and are downloadable here.

Be it graphic design, spray painting, illustration or graffiti inspired, we want you to channel all the sights, sounds and feels of nightlife into a vision of what nightlife means to you.

The winner will receive a prize of £500 and see the artwork brought alive in the space at both of our UK events, which you and three friends will also be given guestlist to. Find entry details below.

Working in partnership with Monkey Shoulder, the 100% malt whisky made for mixing, our Shoulder to Shoulder campaign goes beyond this design competition to ask how you, our beloved partygoers who form the backbone of scenes across the UK, would reinvent the night. A series of polls will help us decide how to create the perfect parties, which will be soundtracked by energising sets from talented local DJs and soon to be announced household names.

Celebrating local party scenes is at the heart of everything Shoulder to Shoulder is about, and we will also be supporting the tireless work of organisations that give vitality to nightlife and make our nights out happen with calls for charitable donations.

To enter the competition, email your artwork as a WeTransfer link to [email protected] with the subject line ‘Shoulder To Shoulder design competition’, where they will be viewed and judged by Mixmag’s Art Director and the Monkey Shoulder team.

Submissions should be designed to a 3:4 portrait format. Artwork should be scalable for printing on a large scale.

The deadline for submissions is Monday July 31st 1pm, and entrants must be 18 or older. Full terms & conditions apply.

Keep your eyes locked to Mixmag’s Instagram and mixmag.net for more information on Shoulder To Shoulder coming soon.

Follow Monkey Shoulder on Instagram.

Donate to Music Venue Trust, Night Time Industries Association and join the Free The Night campaign.