Graphic design has been an integral part of our community, yet its lineage goes largely unnoticed. Since the inception of a centralized community, designers have graced the community and left their legacy, but the question remains: which were the most influential?

Today, Club Penguin Armies has a strong design team responsible for maintaining both a consistent standard and one that is visually appealing. Outside of this organization, graphics play their part in individual army communities: server icons, event graphics, and other smaller graphics like trophies. It’s unheard of for branding to go unnoticed, as the eye is the first judge, followed by rational thought. 

Graphic designers are comically and truthfully referred to as underpaid and overworked, but I’d argue they’re also unrecognized. The legacy of Club Penguin army graphics goes as far as the early days of the community, so I’d like to bring the ten most influential designers to the public’s attention.

As a disclaimer, this is an opinion post as I’m a designer who has roots in armies from 2013 to the present day. There are other great designers not mentioned: CSY, Apollo, Carlos, Andy, Stromae, Revan, Dino, etc. This isn’t to discredit anyone or say they haven’t had a hand in development, it’s to recognize the people who strong-armed the community into innovation. Additionally, special thanks to Dino for his expertise both as a historian and as a designer, which helped pay proper respect to the designers on this list. 

First, honorable mentions. This is for people who are strongly part of today’s development, but had their hand in a niche just as influential. I’d like to extend another honorable mention to Antman for pioneering AI graphics.

Disney

Now, this is a funny choice, but the truth is that we depend on their graphics. Given that they built this game of Club Penguin, all assets we use to this day, the choice of shading, style, everything comes from this game. Even if assets are drawn, the relation to Disney’s style still holds as the very blood of this community’s graphics. Without the penguin, there is no Club Penguin, and there are no Club Penguin armies.

Delcrux

Gunguins is a graphics shop everyone wanted to order from. Delcrux created the penguins that have the greatest longevity by custom-drawing his penguins to fit poses, items, and styles that Disney never had in their own assets. Now, is he the greatest penguin artist? That’s hard to say since every army has artists of more diverse backgrounds, but selling to the community and making this accessible for all is one of the greatest services in the community.

KappnKrunch

Kappn’s contributions aren’t so much in graphics but rather his ‘movies’. Though most are hard to find today, Kappn led this movement of creating stopmotions with Club Penguin army sprites, which was a creative form of storytelling that hasn’t been replicated. It was a fresh breath in the community and another form of media enjoyable. It was influential for being something unheard of and well executed with the technology of the time, which I thought more people deserve to know about.

Dxdzn

The best way to explain Dx’s influence is through writing systems. Writing developed across the world in parallel, leading to similar outcomes of communication with different mediums. Later mentioned is Monsoon, and in parallel, Dx pioneered similarly to her. Personally, Dx is one of my favorite designers for his Dark Warriors graphics, but his contributions are limited to his respective armies and a few others. He demonstrated this minimalist style of graphics at a time when graphics were far from appealing, pieced together in programs like Paint.net without as much freedom in manipulation. 

DrFlen

Flen is widely known for his insanity, but so are many artists (one particular one who cut off his own ear). That being said, Flen’s contributions have been across the table and more important in the grand scheme of modern technology. He has done graphic design, having had the opportunity to design CP Army Central, but his greatest contribution is to web development. The development of media sites: CP Army Hub, CP Army Headquarters, and presently CP Armies, without sites maintained as well, there wouldn’t be a community to display graphics to on a wider scale. His greatest importance is in the sites mentioned, which have been the beacon of an army community, and its subset: the graphic design and art community. 

Commando717

Commando is known more for his creation of the Rebel Penguin Federation, but lesser known and more influential is his development of the first map. Without the abundance of servers and in an age where creativity is more important than ever, the map ushered in years after its development, with CPA recently creating a new and beautiful map. It’s a graphic that added entertainment to this community, feeling more territorial and embodying the concept of an army beyond events and a top ten. He also drew his share of penguins, likely predating Tomb, who is mentioned below, but mostly for RPF rather than for the community. 

And now for the top ten. It’s important to add that these figures aren’t added for pure artistic ability, as that’s a task we cannot truly compare due to the abundance of designers, but rather their influence:

1. Pringle64

It’s important to note that the top three might seem outdated, but their influence triumphs over any other figure on their list. Without any of these names, army graphics would not have gone down the route it did. Having said that, Pringle is one of the fathers of Club Penguin Army graphics, using his position at CPA Central to pioneer a style in an era where style was nonexistent. Despite this blank canvas, the work he produced had longevity, surviving years beyond its creation due to its professionalism. Pringle notably designed for CPA Central, Fire Warriors, the Army of Club Penguin, and others, but unfortunately lost in history. His legend states he used the platform of CPAC in its infancy to promote these graphics, and time would show his work didn’t just pave the path; it created one for all designers to follow.

2. Tomb147

If there’s anyone the community must pay their flowers to, it is Tomb147. In the infancy of Club Penguin graphics, Tomb is the father of the army custom. Did he create it? Probably not, but what Tomb did was create a ‘mass-production’ like workflow introducing manipulation, usage of cutouts, and leveraging the diverse amount of penguins Disney produced to form army customs. It is very hard to discredit his work for this large contribution, but he was also a very talented designer who helped shape the earliest stage of graphics during a time when style was not unified. Below is his Night Warriors header, which is truthfully my favorite graphic in Club Penguin armies (tied with the Light Warriors header that gives a similar vibe with a different color scheme).

3. Pochoma123

An early CPA Central awards post cited the retirement of Tomb and Pochoma as unfortunate as the retirement of Pringle, which already speaks volumes of the kind of designer he was. Pochoma and Pringle are the only two people who are recognized for design in their legend descriptions, which really does make sense. Pochoma had involvement in media graphics and armies, furthering to create this proper style that had yet to be defined. In an era of overcontrasting colors, illegible fonts, and flat shading, Pochoma helped to introduce proper practices into the art. His Ninjas header only captures a glimpse of art he made that would survive today, demonstrating a modern standard as far back as 2012. Pochoma’s work is also unfortunately lost to history, but on the bright side, his memory survives for me to share with you how influential he was to graphics. 

4. Blizzard880

I like the term used in my Underworked and Overpaid post, Zambmania, describing the time I mass designed for armies. But if there’s anyone who did this first, it was Blizzard880. I would argue Blizzard had the most successful graphic shop to date, with outreach spanning across various prominent armies, Light Troops, Ice Warriors, Golden Troops, Team Blue, Golds, Underground Mafias, Fire Warriors, Doritos, Army of Club Penguin, Watex Warriors, Army Republic, CP Army Central, and that’s just a few to name. If I had to attest to anyone inspiring my designs, it’s definitely him because no one had as much publicity or designed as much as he did. Blizzard received honors like second best graphic designer in both 2013 and 2014, competitive years as Monsoon made a name for herself, but its graphics introduced branding for most armies that would stick until their closure. His style popularized the usage of gradient maps, which created a clear contrast between backgrounds and the penguins, which provided clear readability and visibility of both the penguins and text. 

5. Monsoon

Blizzard was a household name and set a high bar. The person who raised the bar higher for years to come would be Monsoon, who became synonymous with graphic design for her crisp visuals. When motivating Dx, it was mentioned that Monsoon would revolutionize this minimalist style, but her creativity didn’t stop there. Monsoon’s magnum opus would be the header for Club Penguin Army Central, which became synonymous with media graphics for its elegance, its characterization of media, penguins designed purposefully to fit the graphic rather than reusing existing customs, etc. The beauty of her graphics came from using Illustrator to draw items onto the penguin, resembling the style of Disney without reusing their assets blindly. Despite her artistic ability and greatness, Monsoon ranks fifth solely because the accomplishments of the others paved the path. As far as skill goes, it would be a different list where she is in the upper echelon of designers that can’t be touched so easily today. For this reason, Monsoon was considered the greatest designer by the end of Club Penguin Armies, as per her award.

6. Zambi4

Putting myself on the list feels a bit wrong, but looking at the community, I do deserve a position here. Though my graphic career began in 2014, it was in the private server era that I had the opportunity to become a giant alongside Koloway. In my position as Executive Producer, I spearheaded the first graphics tournament of this time (and won, which isn’t a great look for optics). In 2020, I designed nearly every army in the top 15, had a hand in every major organization, and stretched the limitations for what was possible in an army header. My proudest achievement is introducing .apng as a valid format for animations, creating much higher quality work, and enabling interactive animations. Today, my contributions are thin, but I continue to design entirely custom penguins inspired by Delcrux, have my hand in designing custom items for the CPA Org, and continue to create site designs. In short, my influence is not just as a designer who helped pivot new design trends, but also in resuscitating the grand community.

7. MrWyoskyguy

My personal mentor figure and one of my closest friends, Wyo, thrived in one of the most competitive eras of graphics. Competing with the likes of Monsoon, Dx, Stromae, etc., during a time akin to a golden age of design, yet he stood out. Wyo was a jack of all trades and a master of all: he designed sites with the knowledge of CSS to perfectly execute his creativity. Wyo began to take off as the top designer with very little rivaling his expertise, and received proper recognition ranking on many graphic designer awards throughout the year. Though the idea of group-based graphic design shops floated around, I truly believe Wyo had the most success with these (apart from Royal Designing, soon to be mentioned) as he worked with top figures like Delcrux and Monsoon, delivering a quality that set new standards for aesthetics in the community.

8. Zeer

Zeer serviced the Small/Medium community heavily with a few majors, but his greatest contribution to armies is the opening of Royal Designing. Graphic design shops were popular individual endeavors, and group-based shops had people come and go, often dying fast. Royal Designing survived for years past 2014, with a constant rotation of talented designers entering, and was one of the few powers that could rival Monsoon and Wyoskyguy’s dominance during this competitive era. Royal Designing included designers held in high regard at the time, such as Carlos, Ming, Apollo, myself (though I wasn’t anywhere near as good as I am today), etc. Every designer had their foundation and made strong careers with RD, helping bolster their own careers while creating the most successful group-based design organization known to the community. Though associated with the shop, Zeer was a talented designer with a reputation that attracted top armies and media organizations around his work.

9. Ming

If you look at most graphics today, chances are the style can be traced back to Ming. Ming ran solo and had moments as a part of the Royal Designing group that Zeer formed, being one of its most reputed members, and it was rightfully so. Though his strength was in Xat chat inners, headers consequently were strong with the inclusion of assets that made them feel more than just a flat image. The ‘Ming’ style would grow heavily popular alongside his usage of overlay assets, adding textures to the image inspired by those present in YouTube gaming graphics. Though it wasn’t on a large scale, he helped push SM Army Central to run a graphics tournament (which was the inspiration behind CPAH’s own rendition) and has contributed extensively to the development of the community. His abilities are exceptional, as recognized by CPAC as the third-best designer by the end of the armies. It’s important to note that Ming’s headers were great, but his strength came from inners since they had more space for expressive graphics at the time.

10. Koloway

Koloway is by far the first big designer in the CPPS-era, a time where graphics were either scavenged from older armies or they were slapped together, putting practicality over aesthetics. Together, we created the graphics for CP Army Hub, which was a media site to serve the community at its largest. Before that, he primarily designed for the predecessor organization, CP Army Media, which has been his greatest strength: standardized graphics. Media graphics tend to be disorganized due to unenforced standards. What changed media from this time was a new standardization in media, and Koloway was the person who brought this very idea to graphic design. His work for CP Armies alongside Flen and Dino created the modern style and was the first large style to stray away from the traditional penguin-text mold, creating an aesthetic that strengthens the professionalism of the organization. He stood alone at a time when the design community was at its smallest and led its growth, which truly makes him deserving of being one of the most influential designers in history. His recognitions would be captured through honors in CPAH and CPA, which are rightfully deserved. 

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The graphics community is considered stagnant today, but it’s at a far better place than in the past. These figures brought unique backgrounds – e.g., Ming in gaming communities, Pochoma and Pringle from Club Penguin cheat sites, and Koloway from professional web design – which shaped styles to create the standard that our eyes accept. Often, we judge a graphic without further thought, and that’s because it’s an iconic style, one that we can recognize these figures for shaping over the years. Again, special thanks to Dino for extensive help in developing this. What do you think about this ranking? Will design see any big changes, and if so, who might be next to join this list?

Zambi
CPA Frame Mogger

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