Lauren Melton.com

Growing up I always took art classes in school (Mrs. Buell and Janet Newton were a couple of my teachers). It was not until Newman Smith High School, that I realized what I should do for the rest of my life (although my parents and an aptitude test thought I might be a better Civil Engineer). I should design party flyers. Well of course I can't only do party flyers, but it was my first shot at doing any sort of advertising.

I don't have samples of most of the flyers I designed in high school (There were probably about 10 total). I had to operate under an alias, because my parents would have killed me. Check them out, they are pretty interesting. I also have a party flyer from college. If anyone has party flyers from Newman Smith High School in 1987-1989 please send them to me.

Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters “Acid Test”

While at Texas Tech I read Tom Wolfe's book "The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test". While researching a little about the Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters, I discovered a poster they did for one of the Acid Tests they did in the 60s. It was exactly what I had been searching for. If I still did party flyers, I would have ripped off so much from the what I call the greatest party flyer ever. Definitely worth a look.

This is a party flyer I designed from Newman Smith High School in 1988 at Northlake in Coppell. Jay Spalding and I threw about our 5 or 6 parties before this one. It was our most successful party as well. No fights and there was no loss of money. The Seagram 7 and Muff Crew were in full force at this one. It was also our first party with a live band ... Double Kross (later changed name to Double Cross), a band we had play at a couple of our parties were a couple of guys from Jesuit High School in Dallas and a couple of guys from Newman Smith High School in Carrollton.

This was our last party we threw. It was in 1988 at Northlake in Coppell. HUGE PARTY. A few thousand people showed up for this one. There was a four foot high stage that we built for Double Kross (later changed name to Double Cross) and the old heavy metal radio station in Dallas, Z-Rock decided to use it for a big party with Winger the next weekend. A riot broke out and ended our party throwing careers. This party was out of control, way too big for a couple of teenagers to try to put together.

Rumor has it that Vanilla Ice (Robbie Van Vinkle) played at this party...

My roommate and I JD Robertson had a two keg party at Texas Tech in 1994. We had many friends coming into Lubbock for this party (10 partygoers stayed in a two bedroom house). It was on the weekend that the Red Raiders of played the University of Texas (just a few weeks earlier our mascot/horse was killed during a football game in a bizarre accident). It was also Halloween weekend. A great party. One guy, Eric Baum passed out 1 hour into the party (about 8:30 thanks to Scott Eden’s trash can punch). The Beastie Boys showed up in full Sabotage gear (it was Halloween). Outrageous fun. Cops busted us at about 3:30, sent everyone home, except the 10 people staying at the house). So the party continued in a much smaller fashion with 10 people.

Rumor has it, Scott Eden was seen sitting alone on the roof of his house naked ... It's only a rumor right?