Your vote counts: alum's design a top pick for Rascal Flatts album cover

Chris Pepple | 02/06/2009

Rascal Flatts will release a new album in April entitled Unstoppable, and they asked their fans to design and choose the cover. The trio of Gary LeVox, Jay DeMarcus and Joe Don Rooney has risen to unbelievable heights in the music industry since their debut eight years ago. This year they partnered with the People’s Choice Awards to give their fans a voice in the next album cover. Submissions for the cover design were accepted in January. Judges recently chose the cover design by Lipscomb alum Garrett Dickerson (’08) as one of the top four choices to be voted upon by fans.

Dickerson, a marketing-graphic arts major, hopes to see his design on the next album cover. “I’m thrilled by this opportunity and hope fans vote for my work. I wanted to take advantage of this opportunity for national exposure for my designs, and I just heard that I made it into the top four. My studies at Lipscomb really gave me the tools I needed to launch my career in the graphic design field,” said Dickerson.

“With his academic interests in marketing and graphic design, Garrett is a model example of interdisciplinary techniques. He knows very well how fundamentally linked marketing is to design, and he is committed to that fusion. His design for the Rascal Flatts cover proves that,” said Laura Lake Smith, assistant professor and chair of the department of art.

“Design can be taught and learned, but Garrett is a gifted student who has an eye for good design. An eye for design comes naturally to him. I had him in my Corporate Identity class and my Package Design class. As a class project, I had my students submit designs for the branding of the AGAPE Golf Tournament to be held this spring. Garrett’s design was chosen by AGAPE to be on their promotional material for the tournament. People recognize his talent,” said David Thomas, adjunct professor in the art department and former co-owner of Anderson Thomas Design.

Click here to see the four finalists and vote for your favorite design.