If you’ve ever seen our magazine, you know we love two things: great guitars and great design. And that’s why we love Aaron Draplin, Portland, Oregon’s larger than life guitar geek / design-phenom. Over the years, he’s done branding and logo work for huge brands, designed magazines, created posters for scrappy bands and all points in-between (heck, he even made the Koll guitars logo). His aesthetic is unique, his energy is infectious and his Instagram feed is one of our favorites. Back in 2019, we had him on the Fretboard Journal Podcast, talking about his career trajectory, his love for guitars, and his coffee table book.

We recently saw that Draplin was going to make one of his recurring appearances at the big 2021 Adobe MAX conference. What we didn’t expect was a guitar connection.

Watch his lecture here and see how, in just 15 minutes, he designs an SG-inspired guitar patch / sticker design. It’s pretty mesmerizing, even if you don’t know a thing about graphic design.