10 Questions for the Walrus Audio Design Team
The team at Sugaree Licks ran an online poll to guitarist from around the world. The question asked was “Who are the manufacturers with the most creative and amazing pedal artwork?” The leader in the clubhouse was a popular manufacturer out of Oklahoma, USA, Walrus Audio.
So we reached out to Tyler Evans at Walrus Audio to ask his design team 10 questions.
1. Do you have a single artist or utilize a team for your effect pedal artwork?
We have a few guys that we work with depending on the style and concept, but lately most of the art has come from Christi Du Toit and Adam Forster. Occasionally, I’ll contribute. The EB-10 is one I did, as well as this years and last years Black Friday pedals.
2. Where has some of the artwork inspiration come from?
Depends on the pedal actually. Whenever we decide on what the new product is going to be, we’ll have a meeting and everyone will bring name ideas or concepts. Once we’ve aired out all the stupid names, offended each other by not liking a name that the other is really stoked on, agreed on a name and then come back to a name that belonged to the guy that was offended we didn’t like his idea the first time, then we’ll discuss an art direction.For example, the ARP-87 Delay art came from researching space, stars and galaxies. I was at home one evening watching T.V. and looking up ideas for the unnamed delay pedal, and I came upon the ARP-87 galaxies. Its basically a theory that these two galaxies that are circling each other will collide. I thought that would be a perfect name for the pedal.
3. Are there particular colors your team stays away from using?
Not really. There are some colors that don’t print well on certain types of powder coat, but we will typically try several combinations of ink colors with powder coat colors until we find what we feel fits best.
4. How important do you feel the artwork is in relation to pedal sales?
Very. Obviously, we want the pedal to sound amazing and when you’re on a dark stage playing in front of a crowd, you’re not thinking about the art. You just want it to sound awesome. But, as a creative director with a graphic design background, I’m going to make sure the pedal looks as good as it sounds.
5. Have you ever used a suggestion by a guitarist/fan for the name of a pedal or artwork idea?
Off the top of my head, I don’t think we have.
Although, the Kangra was co-designed with SNL guitarist, Jared Scharff. He took a journey to the Kangra Valley and his trip is what inspired the name and the art.
6. What is the marketing teams favorite design to date for a Walrus Audio pedal?
This answer will be different for everyone here, but since its just me that makes up the marketing department, I love the art for the Slö. And, also some limited art that hasn’t been shown yet. 😉
7. Is there a possibility of a mythical character or beast on a future pedal?
8. Is there a particular beer Walrus Audio employees gravitate towards?
We tend to see a couple ones continually show up in the fridge here. Coop F5 and Anthem Golden One are pretty good.
9. If you could get free user rights to one superhero or cartoon character for a pedal, who would it be? What kind of pedal would it be?
Some fans may remember a certain Black Friday limited run of pedals that were supposed to have art inspired by a famous space opera that was met with a cease and desist. We tried multiple times to contact someone about permission and never got a reply. So we announced the pedals anyway and just like magic, we got a call. We’d be happy to revisit those if we had free user rights.
10. Will you be debuting any effect pedals at Winter NAMM 2020?
We’ll be debuting something new that Walrus hasn’t done before!
I would like to thank Tyler and his team for taking the time to answer our questions. Walrus Audio is making amazing looking, and more importantly sounding, guitar effect pedals. We are excited to see what the future holds for new items to add to our pedalboards. As always, user comments are appreciated.