The Story of Timmy's Trumpet.
It was at the Frequency Festival in St. Pölten that the first prototype changed hands. Karl Schagerl and I stood beside it, holding an instrument that had spent weeks taking shape in my head, on screen, and finally on the workbench. A trumpet that was never built to fade into the background.
The brief came as part of my work as a designer at Schagerl Music: a signature instrument for Timmy Trumpet, one of the most in-demand stage performers in his field. This was not a side project of my own — it was part of my role at the company, and that is exactly what made it compelling. A brand with more than sixty years of craft on one side, a DJ with main-stage energy on the other. My job was to find a design that brought both together without letting one swallow the other.
Timmy wanted a black instrument if possible. Of the available finishes, I went for matte black — no shine, no hiding, a surface that doesn't reflect the stage lights but absorbs them. Exactly right for letting the gold parts stand out all the more.
So the statement was gold — not across the whole instrument, but as an accent: the braces rendered in gold, a deliberate contrast against the deep black. An instrument that doesn't blend in on an EDM main stage, but takes a stand.
To turn the idea into a real part, the work moved to the workshop of a CNC specialist I know. The spec: 24-carat real gold on the braces — not a surface trick, but genuine material that behaves under stage light exactly as intended.
For me, design doesn't end at how something looks. I also defined the technical specifications for how the braces are mounted on the instrument — so the concept wouldn't just look right, but hold up to what it promised. Form and construction had to match, otherwise it would have stayed a nice sketch.
The „timmy" wordmark was cut from brass sheet and gold-plated, in parallel with the braces. Seeing the freshly cut raw logos on the workbench is always the most satisfying step — when what has existed in a vector file for months suddenly becomes material.
The logos are mounted on the bell — visible but not loud. They sit exactly where audience and camera can read them when the trumpet is raised. A detail that only works if it speaks in the same tone as the rest of the design.
Over time, the concept has grown into a small family. For special performances we've built one-offs — a green edition called the „Green Hornet", and a red one too. The logic is the same as on the black original: one clear, uncompromising colour that reads instantly on a stage, gold as the accent that carries the silhouette.
Only the statement changes — and with it the energy the instrument brings into the set. Black for the main programme, green and red for the nights when the staging has already moved into different territory. Three colours, one build.
In the end, all the preparation comes down to one moment: instrument, spotlight, crowd. This is what the design was made for — the trumpet reads even through the pyro shower, doesn't disappear into the stage light, carries the silhouette.
The moment the finished prototype finally rested in Timmy's hands at Frequency was the payoff for everything that had, until then, only been a plan. The design was created as part of my work at Schagerl Music, in collaboration with the team and the artist.
Design & concept: Oliver Kendl, created as part of my role at Schagerl Music.
All 16 images from this session, in full size.
To the gallery →Read on.
Sabi & Eliska
Two very different models, a stylish Airbnb in Vienna, a charity calendar — and a fire performer I only recognised on the second look.
Nika on a Vienna Rooftop
A fine-art calendar shoot in a two-storey hotel apartment above the rooftops of Vienna — with a professional model from Ukraine, a makeup artist named Anny, and the best on-set company in the world.
Zoltán Kiss
A trombonist, an autumn forest and a CD cover that didn't exist yet. Portraits for Zoltán Kiss's upcoming solo album, out of the studio and into softer light.