Rick Caballo Re-Enhances the Life and Legacy of the Late Bo Diddley
The Graphic Design USA Awards (GDUSA) announced Bo Diddley’s The Originator website as a winner in GDUSA's 60th anniversary Digital Design Awards. As head of creative and co-founder of Nashville’s award-winning marketing and PR firm, Rick Caballo of Dead Horse Branding has been recognized for his eighth GDUSA win. He is awarded this time for designing the brand new Bo Diddley website, solidifying Diddley’s legacy in the digital age.
This is the first digital brand enhancement for the man who created a genre of music that inspired generations and influenced artists like The Rolling Stones, Elvis Presley, and Jimi Hendrix. The competition recognizes the power of design to make or break effective digital communities. As a trailblazing American rock and roll singer, guitarist, and songwriter, Diddley’s legacy lives on as the Bo Diddley Estate teams up with brand management company Dead Horse Branding.
Together they are working on a tribute album, which includes a compilation of Diddley’s greatest hits with some of the biggest A-List artists from the country, hip-hop, rock, and pop worlds, along with unreleased music, a bourbon line, guitar partnerships, charitable work, and a music bar and venue in downtown Nashville. The Bo Diddley Bar and Museum will be an immersive experience for the Diddley legacy where fans can honor the true icon and be transported back in time to the 50s and 60s, where Diddley revolutionized rock and roll music. As Rick has elevated the digital presence that has won a GDUSA Website Design Award, this brand re-enhancement offers a lasting musical legacy for a true influential act that created his own name, his own guitars, and his own sound.
During his lifetime, Diddley was a strong advocate for our youth and strengthening our communities. He spent much of his time performing at schools, encouraging kids to pursue education and excel at their highest. With each new generation of music fans, Diddley’s legacy continues to impact generations of rockers as the family continues to partner with foundations to bring awareness and make a call to ‘STAND WITH BO DIDDLEY’ by creating a merchandise line that gives back to charities that support our youth in need by keeping them off the streets, in school, and emotionally supported.
Rick shares, "It’s a true honor to be entrusted with the care and responsibility of Diddley's brand legacy. For the impact Diddley has made, he is sadly under-celebrated. My goal is for his name to be re-uplifted and remembered as a true pioneer of music and life. Having a brand that is rich sonically, visually, and emotionally made it easy for us. I continue to learn so much as I uncover his story!"
Born and raised in Australia but based in Nashville, TN, Rick is an art director across many mediums, including fashion, art, graphic design, music, video, and everything else in between. This accomplished renaissance man has found inspiration not only in Diddley, but also in icons who Diddley inspired, such as U2, The Rolling Stones, and Bruce Springsteen.
Kendall Minter, attorney for the Bo Diddley Estate, says, “As Trustee of the Estate of Bo Diddley and on behalf of his family, we congratulate our branding and marketing partner, Dead Horse Branding, on their recent Graphic Design USA Award. The preservation and re-enhancement of the legacy of the iconic Bo Diddley is our joint mission, and the re-launch of the website and new strategic alliances for merchandising, NFTs, a documentary film, product tie-ins, and branded music and dining venues are just a few of the present initiatives. And we’re just getting started.”
Diddley was known as "The Originator" and coined the term ‘Create, DON’T Imitate’ because of his key role in the merge from blues music to rock and roll, influencing a host of legendary acts including Buddy Holly, Elvis, Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, and The Rolling Stones, to name a few. His 1958 debut album "Bo Diddley" is listed on the "100 Music, Movie, and TV Moments That Have Changed the World." Diddley was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and received Lifetime Achievement Awards from the Rhythm and Blues Foundation and a Grammy Award from the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences.
GDUSA has been celebrating and awarding designers for 60 years. In 2018, Rick was named GDUSA’s person to watch. In 2019, Rick brought home two American Web Design Awards, and in 2020, he received the International Design Award for a coffee table book he photographed, designed, and co-wrote for legendary music producer Tony Brown.
To learn more about the GDUSA Design Award, please visit GDUSAGraphicDesign.com
For more information on Bo Diddley, please visit Website, Spotify, YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram.
For more information, contact Dead Horse Branding at the following:
Danielle Reiss
Dead Horse Branding
Phone: (949) 421-9787