Twenty More Years of Dragon Con Artists in Hotel Keys

Earlier this summer, I shared the history of badge and program artists at Dragon Con. But there’s another collectible that was added 20 years ago now–customized hotel keys in the host hotels. 

For the first six years, starting in 2005, there was a single piece of art used on all of the host hotel keys. Then in 2011, there were two versions, nearly the same with slight background variations. The following year, we began seeing different art in each hotel. In some years, the artists are different at each, and in a few, the keys connect to make a single piece of art, which is generally sold in poster format as well. 

Last year’s keys featured not only scenes from some of the con-going crowd’s favorite media franchises, but set against a background of the host hotels themselves. (This is the only year for which I can easily remember which key came from which hotel!) Artist Eranga D was offered the theme “Versus” for this key set. “Incorporating the individual hotel backgrounds to each piece added a layer of complexity in terms of making the art readable to the eye – especially when shrunk down to the size of a key card,” he said. “The negative space style I used for them can be a challenging mess when there are multiple elements to the piece. I was able to navigate and fine-tune this over the few months I worked on them.”

When the keys were revealed, he learned exactly how popular these collectibles are, not only for those who need them to access their room for the weekend, but for all con-goers. 

“Then came time for the announcement and art reveal during the opening week of Dragon Con,” Eranga said. “THIS was when I first got an inkling of how popular the key cards are at the convention. My social media blew up and I was flooded with questions regarding the availability of prints or other merch. This continued to play out wonderfully at the show. I met so many amazing attendees who brought their keys by to get signed and/or just drop by to say a kind word about the art. It was a singular experience and I rode the high of that weekend for weeks after.”

If you missed a chance to catch his keys in 2024, he’ll have prints available in the Comic and Pop Artists Alley, booth 129. Other past key artists attending this year (no guarantee what key-related goods they’ll have, though) include: Andy Belanger (111), Tim Doyle (515, 517), Chandra Free (127), Paul Mounts (322), Nooligan (722), Chris Uminga (123), H.C. Warner (C3), and Derek Yaniger (C1).

Click on any image of past keys below to enlarge it. Click names for artists’ websites and links to prints where available. Are we missing a link? Drop me a note.

* The Courtland Grand hotel was a Sheraton for many years (most of the years represented here), but by the time it had its own key had been renamed.
‡ Denotes years that the keys connect to make a larger image–click the year to see the complete design.