In a little over a decade, DesignerCon has gone from a fun little show at the Pasadena Convention Center to a mammoth two-hall, 800-vendor blow-out at the Anaheim Convention Center.
In keeping with the eccentric niche randomness of the DCon spirit, here are some of our favorite Best In Show moments of quirky greatness.
Best Old Friend with a New Name: Wunderdsmack Studios, formerly known as Vinyl Smack. A favorite of ours for a few years now, makers of appealing do-it-yourself affordable paper art sculptures.
Best Use of Glitter: Art School Funk, who sources his glitter from shops that are closing and other ingenious places that have vintage supplies you can’t find in stores anymore to create his sparkling skateboards.
Best Place to Find a Pop: Pop-Life. Last year Funko showed at DCon, but not this year, which left a lot of Funko fans scrambling for a place to find some of those wonderful little boxes of happiness — an itch Pop-Life was happy to scratch.
Best Fashion Dolls: Pidgin Dolls. Finally the creator has moved to the West Coast, so we can start seeing his amazing creations at all our favorite conventions!
Dolls Most Likely to Give Us Nightmares (although yes, please, we would love one for Christmas): Mab Graves, whose one-of-a-kind creations had almost completely sold out before her signing on Saturday afternoon.
Best Use of Cookware: Donovan White’s Slap Packs, whose cast iron skillets are meant for framing not flaming.
Best Edible (but not like that!): Urban Aztec’s $20 Chocolate Hot Sauce is both a work of art and a nice addition to any bedtime snack.
Best Lego Sculpture that also can be an ad for HBO: Dr. Manhattan by the Collective, a large scale Lego sculpture that made us want to run home and catch up on Watchmen.
Most Mystical Cats: Ash Evans delights and amazes.
Best Activist Cats: HomoCats, settling the question of whether or not felines are pro- or anti-Trump.
Most Collectable Business Cards: Mimi Yoon, whose swoon-worthy miniature art pieces made us want to grab them all up.
Most Likely to Get Us To Buy Something: Joey Chu, an in-demand artist who attends only a few cons per year.
Most Compelling Live Art Installation: Dela Deso/Gallery LA.
Best Use of a Musical Instrument: Tripper Dungan, whose ukuleles are playable.
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