About ZDCA
Posted by Zack Darling
PRINCIPALS
Zack Darling
CEO, Creative Director, Executive Account Manager
Zack Darling Creative Associates, Greenfield Graphics
Zack has been a professional graphic artist since 1995. Prior to discovering his calling in digital art he was a manager of a pre-press department, writer, journalist, and editor-in-chief of a newspaper. Zack started Greenfield Graphics & Printing in 1997. The company’s artwork in print and electronic media developed a loyal following. His passion for the creative side of graphic art is evident in his music industry designs, yet he also exceeds in creating high-impact corporate marketing materials. His mastery of the crucial design programs has allowed him to not only produce effective commercial designs, but also bring his graphics deep into the realm of fine digital art. It is this creative look that has built Zack a reputation as one of the most dynamic visual artists in the music and event industry.
Event Producer, Production Manager
Mystic Beat Lounge, Decadance, Harmony Festival
Zack Darling began his career as an independent event producer in the North Bay and San Francisco, where he cut his teeth in the dynamic underground and later professional rave scenes. In 1999, Zack co-founded the Mystic Beat Lounge, a new kind of production company that merged live concerts, DJ sets and performance theater (alá Cirque du Soleil), with 21st century visual effects, to create large-scale maximum multi sensory concert experiences. In this time, Zack also produced many successful music events in clubs and other smaller venues through his nightclub, Decadance.
Today, under Zack’s leadership, the Mystic Beat Lounge is best known for the Techno-Tribal Dance, a cutting edge production that has become an integral part of the Harmony Festival, the largest music festival in the North SF Bay Area. Over ten years, Techno-Tribal has developed into an annual, 7,000 plus, over-the-top production characterized by cutting edge sound and visual technology with live, DJ and traditional music, fire theater, acrobatic and aerial performances, inflatables, and an interactive live-art zones.
Zack is also the night time production manager of the Harmony Festival, and oversees all of the festival’s after dark productions. Zack works with other producers as an event designer and consultant such as Earthdance Festival, Sea of Dreams, Burning Man, Reggae Rising Music Festival and many others. He has worked for Burning Man festival for 9 years and for the past 5 years, he has served as the North Bay Burning Man Regional Contact.
As a graphic designer and creative director, his highly imaginative, custom creative art for posters, fliers, programs, websites, iPhone apps, and branding has built Zack a reputation as one of the most dynamic visual artists in the music and event industry today. Zack Darling Creative Associates, specializes in event marketing, concert & artist promotion, e-commerce websites, apparel design, social networking, product creation and branding. He is partnered in Inflatable Arts, which specializes in large, illuminated three dimensional props that transform venues.
From his the 500 person night clubs to the 40K+ Burning Man Festival, Zack’s production experience has provided him with a broad understanding 21st century festival and concert production.
Full Titles Include:
CEO, Creative Director, Zack Darling Creative Associates
Night Time Production Manager / Creative Director, Harmony Festival
Lead Producer / Co-Founder, Mystic Beat Lounge
North Bay Regional Contact, Burning Man Festival
Resident Graphic Artist, Earthdance Festival
Executive Producer, Inflatable Arts
Producer / Co-Founder, Decadance
Kate Schneider
CTO, Webmaster, Data Specialist, Account Manager
Zack Darling Creative Associates
Kate is a web applications engineer with 14 years experience in the high-tech industry. She began her career in 1995 at a small computer magazine in Emeryville, California, as an assistant to the Webmaster and aspiring IT technician. Since then and through a wide variety of both traditional and progressive, independent places of work she has honed her skills as a web-centric data wrangler and user interface developer, including running a small web development outfit from 2002 – 2004 in Anchorage, Alaska. With a passion for data and databases as the center of her world, Kate brings a high standard of work and accomplishment with her to any project and an extensive list of experience points and knowledge upon which to draw.
TALENT POOL
James Curtis
Designer, Video & Multimedia Specialist, Account Manager
James made his first website at age 12 with a 66mhz PC. By age 14, he was proficient at damaged photo reconstruction using scans, color correction and raster typesetting. His love for online games technology and a desire to bring gamers together thrust him into the beginnings of the internet/IT. James’ first designer, flash animator and webmaster role was with a start-up incubator company. As lead designer and webmaster for 2.5 years, James developed new websites and branding concepts to expand the company’s award-wining, gaming-related services, providing the internet with latest gaming news and acting as Microsoft’s and the United States Army’s official server administrator.
In late 2002, James went freelance and provided print and web design to most of Sacramento’s electronic music culture. He also continued to pursue a degree in Managerial Economics and Human Resource Management at UC Davis and earned his Adobe Certified Expert qualifications in Photoshop, Illustrator and After Effects.
In 2008, James worked on title sequences and animation for the documentary film, Who Killed Chea Vichea?. The production was recognized by several awards.
During his work with Ursa Minor, as their director of photography for videography, lead animator for motion graphics, and senior designer for logo, web and print assets, James designed and animated the MC Yogi Vote For Hope music video promoting Barrack Obama in the 2008 presidential election. The video has over 700k unique views and endorsements and broadcast air time on major broadcast networks and industry publications.
Subsequently, James went independent again and freelanced as a consultant for BBDO’s Starbucks Grassroots Movement video (featuring MC Yogi), as well as Squarespace, Parrazi, Microsoft Windows Mobile, Republic Project, Zhiing mobile, and Apple.
Johnathan Haber
Account Manager, Marketing Strategist
Jonathan Haber B.A. has a dymanic and multifaceted vision for the role of social media and Web 2.0 platforms in fostering economic, social and cultural change in the world today. He is passionate about the capacity for education based marketing materials to self propegate and self disseminate in the modern web atmosphere. Jonathan is the founder and creator of a social media marketing blog and an open source curricula on the ever changing landscape of new media marketing. Jonathan will serve as an account manager and as a key component of our sales force, investing his gifts in communication and vision clarification to secure and retain our ever growing client base.
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