Is Lightbox Expo Perfect For You? Every Aisle, Every Booth Reviewed

Is Lightbox Expo Perfect For You?
Lightbox Expo just happened this past week in Pasadena, California. Adventures In Design podcast host Mark Brickey walked every aisle and checked out every booth trying to figure out who this event is perfect for?
Mark spent over ten years as a professional illustrator and printmaker. Doing hundreds of live events and setting up many DIY maker booths. He takes his experience to Lightbox expo to try and determine who this event best serves.
If you're an illustrator thinking about being a vendor, a student or entry-level designer trying to break into the industry or a supplier of illustration tools for the creative workforce, Mark shares his insight to help best inform your decision for making it out this event. Before you book your flight and buy your pass give this video a spin.
Every aisle and every booth was explored on Saturday. The video captures every aisle but before recording Mark did a double walk of every aisle to see every vendor on the floors work and booth.

[@BobbyChiu]

If you asked around, there were actually a lot of people that sold out. I went around and talked to most of the artists about sales. When you went to the ‘darkest corner’ of the convention, you can see Nathan Fowkes and I know he sold out of his new book on the first day. Definitely not ‘every booth reviewed’.

[@alexanderchacon8058]

Eva Vilhelmiina Eskelinen's books also sold out! Definitively there was not such thing as a "darkest corner", there wasn't even a slightly dark one.

[@dominickkhan7554]

Bobby Chiu I was laughing so hard when he said underdogs😂

[@KreativeHogwartsLegacyGUIDES]

lol he said darkest corner, then shows nathan fowkes one of industry bests, then proceeds to ross draws and loish and has no idea who they are.

[@ciscoponch67]

Thank you, Adventures In Design. Not only was your coverage of LightBox informative, but my Gawd, the sound quality, for an event like this.....TREMENDOUS!!!! Best audio, EVER!!! My ears appreciated it!!!!

[@miketallman2569]

Great review. Thanks for the perspective, Mark!

[@donebysaturday206]

Inspiring to watch.. so much good work in one place! Thanks for sharing, especially from the aspect of a designer and someone with such intense vending experience. Felt like an insider walk-through. Awesome!

[@robanderson2140]

Thanks for giving us a tour Mark! That cardboard booth was pretty rad

[@robertx4231]

Awesome video as always. Very good insight on what to expect from Lightbox Expo.

[@michaelhoughton4868]

Really great overview of Lightbox, with a ton of great insight and analysis. Super cool getting to see some of my favorite Instagram follows in their booths too, especially that amazing cardboard build out. Really inspiring stuff that makes me want to stow my illustration ego and make it out next year to be blown away by all the talent!

[@cbryant53]

Yoooooo this was the best event coverage I’ve ever seen

[@plutonis6562]

Looking forward to attending this next year, hopefully. Seems like a great event. Thank you for highlighting the booths that stood out to you. Helps to get an idea of what's eye-catching. Of course, even that is subjective, for what might stand out to one person may not necessarily be note-worthy to another, although there are definitely certain displays that will automatically throw their hands out at you (that little model display was adorable).

[@andrenayeArtIdol]

This was so helpful, a friend just told me about this, and I wasn’t sure about it. I have been looking on KZbin for at least one video on it from someone’s experience and your video was great. I’m definitely going to go.

[@gayaanimation8685]

“A consumer that wants to be you and have your job” lol keeping it real.

[@richalexander1138]

Thanks for this, planning on going this weekend and wanted an idea of what to expect!

[@mrnvisible]

Thanks for the walk through. Added to my list of things to do.

[@nowhere-land]

Great info breaking down the potential for this event. Helpful for people possibly looking to attend or vend at this next year. Thanks for recap brickey!

[@nowhere-land]

@@HeyBrickey You definitely sparked my interest with this video. Will be looking into it for sure! I may diver deeper on the roster of people they had their, and see where I might fit in. Thanks Mark!

[@brandtfarmer]

That blooper clip was money. Great video, Mark!

[@RailroadJerk]

I'm 1/2 way through this and loving it, but I gotta go back to work. Two observations: 1) Loish is a bonfide illustration superstar, hence the lineup for her reviews. Love her work. 2) The woman in the glasses that waved to you? Babs Tarr. My God, she rules.

[@deadbluehawk]

I went in having no real idea what to expect from this con. You did a great job showing the attendees, venders and products. I feel like I have a pretty good understanding of what Lightbox is, if it’s something I would want to attend or get possibly get a booth at. Thanks for the insight.

[@AndersonBluu]

I think this is the perfect mixture of AID with video. It really felt like the podcast with a added video bonus. I would love to see more of this.

[@NateBear]

Omg. That pop in from the bottom! Had me LOLin'

[@tintinabulle1942]

Thank you for your reporting on the matter ! I am an artist aspiring to come and having a booth over there ! Everything looks so cool !

[@vitaniharton4765]

Very insightful, thank you!!!

[@anim8rJMunoz]

First time watching your videos & maybe your focused on your specific audience or intention was to only show the artist alley but an entire building with 3 days of workshops was missed on this video. Access to take workshops with industry veterans, many considered leaders in their respective fields, all accessible to your choosing included for the price of the days admission. Something students, aspiring artist and even those in the industry looking to level up or learn from leaders in other fields could take advantage to have access to people normally not accessible in this manner. Another side of Lighbox expo which focused on sharing and furthering art. I think I saw you walking around with your camera at some point. Cool to see this.

[@nickysoh]

Great review! Really wanted to get a sense what and how lightbox expo feels like for it's first year, especially coming from a visitor's standpoint.

[@mannycartoon]

Great video as always sir. I think you really killed it. You were out the gate with a really strong perspective on the show. Hopefully you found d time to make contacts for some cool new guests.

[@dorkafricska6102]

Thank You very much for this video!! For someone from Europe this whole event looks like a Family. Everyone's an artist, and art connects us! and its just so wonderful, I hope it lasts forever! I'll be there one day guys. Ricky and John John spotted 7:11 :D

[@doggonestudios]

Great walk through for those of us that couldn't make it! That cardboard cut out booth rules!

[@RailroadJerk]

Finally finished it! My personal issue from the get-go is that I’m an illustrator that’s a big fan of other illustrators - Mark and I have discussed this. If I were to attend Lightbox, I’d be too busy fanboy-ing and wanting the greatness of those in attendance to rub off on me like some sort of creative osmosis. That’s all well and good, but would it be a productive use of my time? Probably not. Not yet anyway. So, Mark, I thank you for giving us a glimpse of what this is about. I’d been hearing about this on Twitter and IG and hadn’t a clue on what it was.

[@tonytran8431]

WooWoo.mp3 - nice walk through and insight. Definitely big talent energy at this expo. Thanks Mark! ... ... ... Dog.

[@carlosmoralescreative]

Nice review! i'm planning on going next year but for portfolio reviews and meet Ad's and companies no booth!

[@tonymendez4978]

This looks pretty cool, and appears to have a super chill vibe similar to Dcon.

[@Avalon19511]

Personally speaking to me Lightbox was like that pristine place in the forest you find with no one around, just you and the forest, maybe it was just me who got the vibe but to me it seemed artist were not there to make a buck as their first priority it was simply to be in a place where it was just artist from all walks of life and industries. I hope the ones who were there to make a buck as their entire motivation get filtered out.

[@Avalon19511]

@@HeyBrickey Oh I completely agree that an artist has to make a living I get that, my point I was trying to make was that I didn't get that vibe at Lightbox:)

[@KreativeHogwartsLegacyGUIDES]

@@Avalon19511 he doesnt get that lightbox was made because other conventions were more of just business and lightbox wanted to actually be about the art. it was started by an artist. alot of these artists made a killing anyway, they are world famous, so imagine thinking loish and rossdraws didnt sell out.

[@simons.1844]

Very informative

[@ejay3k]

Really informative video and loved the format. Would be 100% if you used a higher frame rate camera.

[@rolandorodriguez8975]

When you said, "Hello Ladies" that girl with purple hair and glasses is Babs Tarr. She is a professional comic book artist. She designed the current look for BatGirl.

[@jaysimaginarydreams8498]

wish to know how this lightbox expo is different or possibly better than other art conventions and why someone would want to come to this one over the other more main stream or longer running cons.

[@iBurnedaHouse]

Tip for people wanting to bend there: books sold a lot. Also I think you could only vend there if you were in the industry.

[@KreativeHogwartsLegacyGUIDES]

bobby chiu is in charge, you can just ask him no? he has his own channel.

[@sanitize808]

I saw myself! I’m a celebrity now 😎

[@Novanim]

Trent Kaniuga long lost brother? Thank you for this review

[@josiahh.3437]

I was standing in the portfolio line at about 3:28. I was actually like 3 people away from the front. The line didnt actually snake out to the other side. They were like three different lines in the same area. There were like three different lines for the portfolio reviews.

[@KreativeHogwartsLegacyGUIDES]

yeah alot of this video is wrong.

[@josiahh.3437]

@@HeyBrickey My intention wasn't to belittle your video or anything. I was just pointing out my experience when I was standing in said line. Giving some insight to people who might be wondering more about the lines. I actually quite enjoyed the video and your insights as a working professional and as someone who has done conventions.

[@josiahh.3437]

@@HeyBrickey Apology accepted. Yeah, it happens. I sure did. Got some really helpful tips. Currently working on that stuff.

[@josiahh.3437]

@@HeyBrickey It was a first come first serve for those reviews. They told us that it was limited to a certain amount of people. Luckily my friend and I got to the review a little early, so we were close to the front. I don't know about the longer line.

[@rtperrett]

What is your impression of Lightbox Expo vs CTN Animation Expo if you had been there? I want to check this event out, and it is even better that it is in Pasadena, can't beat the charm and atmosphere of old Pasadena and it's a paradise for foodies.

[@QTcomicsPOP]

I wish i could've been there

[@QTcomicsPOP]

@@HeyBrickey i think i will

[@imthe-1891]

These prints are gonna make me go broke I WANT THEM ALL

[@Artis_whatitis]

Love the video but it was a little hard to watch because of the constant camera movement being very blurry and hurts the eyes (I’m in my 20’s lol) but something about your camera settings or rendering settings made this difficult to watch

[@andis9076]

Camera is blurry.....anyway, going there tomorrow.

[@ashantiartist]

I liked what you offered to us, the viewer, in this video, but my God, you have got to get a camera that can focus if you are going to do more of these.

[@KreativeHogwartsLegacyGUIDES]

4:01 this is Lisa Wiley, while she does childrens book illustrations, she also worked on Destiny 2 dlc, particularly Anna Bray from warmind dlc. I don't think you should put the title every aisle reviewed when you don't know who these artists are. 12:14 you don't know who mike mignola is. 17:49 lightbox supports the industry OVER the artist?

[@danrazART]

This is probably the darkest review of any convention. "the convention caters to people who want to be you or take your job." Nice job with the ironic commentary. I found it very interesting. I can't deny some of your concerns but I think you are being too judgmental! This is the very first year. This was designed as artists respectable answer to ctnx. It is totally wrong for you to judge vending options. Because light box is all about exposure! Your tips and tidbits about exposure were very helpful and entertaining. Normally people love to spend more money on less costly things. And less money on highly costly objects. So books, cards, posters, sketches and souvenirs are good options for vending. Happy hunting tiger!

[@dedrox3d491]

Just a perfect comment. 👏🏼👏🏼

[@calebconheady4677]

This seems like an oddly negative leaning review as if you were purposely looking for things to criticize or stir some controversy. Maybe not your intention but it feels that way. I personally had an amazing time there and left with so much knowledge and inspiration. It was such a fantastic expo... I feel like this review is so off the cuff and lacking any sort of... in-depth review or analysis about why this convention was made, what it has to offer for attendees and vendors.

[@joepekula]

This was insightful. Get interactive and do something different to draw traffic.

[@BradPitbull]

HILLARY 4 PRISON

[@Alinoraable]

You stole trent kaniugas voice right?

[@Novanim]

I was thinking the same XD

[@riccia888]

I didnt finish the video. your camera movement is the worst it makes my dizzy.