Patrick Gage Kelley

Layer Tennis

Mentioned, done. But no 4srsly people. Have you checked out Layer Tennis? If you have been around any Friday afternoon this fall then it is likely I have messaged you about it across the internet. Layer Tennis, which historically has its roots in Photoshop Tennis, which I will always attribute to Shaun Inman, regardless of whether or not it started before him, works with people simply uploading photoshop files and then someone else building off them and reopening, and so on.

However with the newest Coudal Partners implementation of Layer Tennis the game has become a bit more competitive, more of a spectator’s sport, and much faster paced. There are ten volleys between two generally well-established designers who have fifteen minutes per round to return a competitive blast to their opponent.

At the end of the match (they start at 3 PM eastern each Friday, and end at 6 ish) there is some pretty informal discussion and then a winner is declared. Marian Bantjes who I absolutely love! won! which makes me very happy. Their match was particularly interesting, because they played it in Illustrator (which I feel was a huge assist to her and made it even more of a struggle for Armin).

Also to keep people occupied during the down time, there is a guest announcer who provides wonderful insights into the process (which I expect, and am told, is just as much work as creating something beautiful every fifteen minutes in visuals), as well as some contests and forums for remixing the elements as well as discussing the match as it progresses.

So next weeks should be good, I am routing for Scott Hansen who designs some really awesome posters, don’t forget!