Proposed projects for the semester

• Show poster: Justice at Sonar, March 9
• Show poster: Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks at the 9:30, March 28
• Show poster: Autechre at the Black Cat, April 17
• Art show poster: solo show at Artifacts, July
• Event poster / promotional items: Momentum Tulsa, event is mid-June (promo items should be done early May?)

Proposed schedule:

February 5 – set schedule, decide on bands for show posters, sketches/concepts for the first poster
February 12 – refined color concept
February 19 – finished posters (edition of 30*), sketches/concept for second poster
February 26 – refined color concept
March 4 – finished poster (edition of 30), sketches/concept for third poster
March 11 – refined color concept
March 18 – finished poster (edition of 30), sketches/concept for solo show poster
March 25 – refined color concept
April 1 – sketches/concept for Momentum Tulsa
April 8 – finished solo show poster (edition of 75)
April 15 -
April 22 -
April 29 -
May 6 -
May 12? – This is the extra exam day, but I’m putting it on here just in case I need an extra week to get everything printed.

I realized that I can’t fill everything in yet because I don’t know when the deadlines for Momentum are. Assuming those deadlines aren’t extremely early, this is the general schedule.

*edition of 30, so I’m not using a whole lot of paper for a poster that I may or may not be selling. If I can swing a deal with the venue, I can always print more.

Dead tired right now, this week has worn me out. Here are some quick images:

Saul Bass movie posters:

Art Chantry:

thedecoderring.com | Surprisingly, I discovered these guys through a Design*Sponge Guest Blog post about affordable artwork. Geoff Peveto, Paul Fucik and Christian Helms make up the Decoder Ring, which is based in Austin, TX. Besides the gorgeous posters (“simple, smart and pretty” to borrow a quote from their approach to design), I was really fascinated by the Fine Art prints that they’ve done in collaboration with other poster artists. They’ve posted pictures while they’re in the process of printing and it’s one of the most addicting things to look at. I couldn’t find a whole lot of extra info on the Decoder Ring, but it’s okay because Geoff Peveto was so kind as to answer some of my questions. Scroll down to see the interview. Thanks Geoff! Here’s what I did find: blurb on the Portfolio Center website about Christian Helms, blurb on AIGA Austin. Also of note: the American Poster Institute (of which Geoff is the president), Coronado Studio (where Paul Fucik is a master printer), & Flatstock Poster Convention (which is magical).

When you were in college, what did you think your career was going to be?
Ha! Excellent question. My short answer is I had no idea. Long answer is my High School counselor pointed me towards medical school and the Navy bugged me for about two years to join their Nuclear Physics program since I guess I had pretty high science scores on tests. I thought that was retarded but I went ahead and started out in Pre Med. Did that for a year and hated all the math so I switched to Advertising which was pretty cool. I also hated getting out of bed and going to class so I chose a one semester on, two off plan. When I came back for what would be my Junior year I started in Graphic Design. Had some lousy instructors so I moved over to studio art where I really got into the curriculum and settled with a ceramics “focus”. So I had a really reverse progressive career path. Doctor to ashtray maker.

At the end of it all my girlfriend graduated with a Graphic Design degree and I went “What the crap am I going to do with a ceramics degree? Let’s get the hell outta here” We moved to Austin and I did nothing related to art for about three or four years then I started making posters and screen printing. So I guess that’s when I finally figured it out…

Describe a typical workday (week).
It’s a balance of designing and printing plus a pretty steady amount of e-mail and actual business management. I run the Print Project we do now where we bring artists in to work in our studio for a week. There’s a lot of scheduling and booking flights and hotels and working with the artists to get them here. Then the external stuff I do as President of The American Poster Institute. Organizing Flatstock is pretty much a year round job at this point. We do four with one being in Europe and then there are additional smaller shows we are involved with. So I guess the typical day is busy.

What are the highs and lows in a typical workday (week)?
Highs: Landing a really great client, Finishing a job you and the client are happy with, getting a nice e-mail from someone who you inspire when you are just trying to make good work. Creating…

Lows: Setting up to print and having something fail miserably. That really sucks. Getting stumped on a concept isn’t too hot either…

What are the toughest problems with which you have had to deal with in this job?
We are really critical of our own work and push ourselves to always do better and better design. That can sometimes wear you out but ultimately it keeps us on our toes. Sometimes client management is a challenge. You have to respect their needs and wants but at the same time it’s our job to guide them to the best end result to represent them. Sometimes that is a delicate balance.

What do you find most rewarding about the work?
Putting together a solid concept, executing it and having the client really respond positively to the final. Sometimes it’s easy to have a great idea but getting it down on paper and making it work can be tough. Getting it to all come together is a great feeling.

If you could give me some advice on entering this field, what would it be?
Don’t be afraid to work. It’s going to be hard more than easy. And don’t ever stop learning and looking for inspiration.

How did you get started screenprinting?
I started designing posters around 1999 and the first poster I helped print I met Paul Fucik. Paul and I hit it off and started a company. Paul taught me pretty much everything I know about printing.

How do you come up with the imagery for your posters?
We really study the band and their aesthetic plus a lot of our work is based on lyrics. We use a lot of our own photography and illustrations and have a pretty huge library of images. Ideas come from all around. But if we aren’t designing something relevant to the band and their fans we are pretty much failing.

Has screenprinting changed your process at all? How?
Yeah and I recommend anyone who wants to design posters learn how to screen print them. It really makes you think about the design when you limit your self to two or three spot colours. It’s a good exercise to scale it back and still try to make a successful design.

thebirdmachine.com (see also dianasudyka.com, matdaly.com) | I was first introduced to the work of Jay Ryan when I took screenprinting in Spring of ’06. Pepe or my TA, Ramsey brought in the book 100 Posters 134 Squirrels. I fell in love with the illustrative, narrative (the squirrels!) quality of his work and hand drawn typography. He’s able to make type and image really work together in all his posters. Check out the book for some great interviews/insight into the process and lots of posters, of course. I have to thank Jay for the many tidbits of advice that have made my basement studio adventure easier. Not only is he a great poster artist, he’s a really kind fellow. I actually feel a little silly posting this, knowing he will eventually read it (hi Jay!), but I know I’ll want the reference later on. You know, when I’m 50 and I’m trying desperately to remember the good old days of undergrad when I never slept and instead typed up my research on my blog like the total geek that I am. Anyway, back to the point. Diana Sudyka and Mat Daly are also a part of the Bird Machine or work closely with the Bird Machine, if I understand correctly. Diana’s work is very painterly and organic. Diana seamlessly incorporates elements seen in her artwork into a poster which still presents information in a clear manner. Mat Daly’s work is more abstract, which I really enjoy because posters in general tend to be fairly narrative. The breakdown of images into geometric shapes reminds me of pixelation and the play between technology and a (more) hands-on method of working, which may or may not be the intention. Here are the Google goodies: an audio feature from Gapers Block, a video from Coudal Partners and another video on YouTube on Jay Ryan. An audio interview with Diana Sudyka on the Storque, which I relate to on the aspect of working with friends and having that whole situation blow up in your face. A short article from the Chicago Reader about Mat Daly (and many other Chicago-based printers).

Another one tomorrow because my coffee is beginning to wear off and I’m probably typing nonsense anyway.

This poster is hanging in my room right now.

aestheticapparatus.com | Aesthetic Apparatus was my first exposure to the screenprinted poster. This happened when I was either a sophomore or junior in high school. I have no idea why it took me until October 2007 to buy posters from them, but I do have an old Elk shirt that is sadly, splattered with ink and photo chemicals. Well loved to say the least. Anyway, some actual research… Aesthetic Apparatus is Dan Ibarra and Michael Byzewski and they are based out of Minneapolis, MN (My actual hometown. Shhhh, don’t tell Tulsa.). Their official biography is here. I wrote a little paper about them when I first took Screenprinting with Pepe Coranado in ’06 and found a wealth of links about them and have tried to re-Google a fraction of those links. Here’s a page that has an entire presentation that they did for the Alberta North chapter of the Graphic Designers of Canada in ’05. You Work For Them has a great profile on AA, I can’t find a date, but based on the images that they posted, it seems recent. This is a video that shows the guys going through the process of printing (if you’re watching this in a public / quiet place, I suggest turning down the volume or putting it on mute). Here’s some more video from Coudal Partners that gives you a mini tour of their studio space, a sense of how they got started and some hijinks. Speak Up also has an interview with AA circa 2003.

I can’t possibly finish all of these links tonight, maybe I’ll do two or three a week. Here’s a peek of what’s to come: thebirdmachine.com / dianasudyka.com / matdaly.com, thedecoderring.com, programmablepress.com, thelittlefriendsofprintmaking.com, thesmallstakes.com, iso50.com, and many more.

It’s time to get crackin’. Here’s my assignment for Tuesday:

For next week, I’d like you to concentrate on describing the problem you’d like to solve, as well as researching posters/poster designers/other influences for your project. This will be ongoing, but I’d like you to get a solid jump on it. We’ll look at your research, and talk through your approach.

Some questions to think about are subject matter, relationship of the posters to one another, and how the process (screenprinting) will inform the work.

I’d like to create posters that are informative, that relate conceptually to the event they are promoting and that would grab the attention of a passerby. I have one project lined up with the Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition doing a poster as well as other printed promotional items for Momentum Tulsa (the website hasn’t been updated since ’06) in June. I will be printing a large edition of posters (a couple hundred?) to sell at the event, as well as sending them a digital version of the design to be printed and distributed around town. All of the promo items should be cohesive in design; retaining the red/black/white color scheme and the train theme (I do not have to use the same train). I would also like to create a poster for my second solo show at Artifacts, which is happening in July. (Is it fair for me to be doing a poster for myself?) I would also like to print this in a large edition to be sold at the opening and closing and then later on etsy. I’d like to do three other posters for bands, but I haven’t worked anything out with a specific venue or a band yet. Though I guess I could do show posters that aren’t for a particular show? Something that would be for my portfolio.

The posters don’t have much to do with each other since they’re for different types of events (with the exception of the band/show posters), but I’d like for them to be in “my style.” I don’t want to get so caught up in what “my style” is that they all look the same, but I’d like to further develop the handmade, handwritten, textural look that I was working with on my Voltage paper sample (at the end of the entry) and use it as necessary / if necessary. Obviously, it’s not all about appearances. A lot of research will have to go into each poster. They’ll just relate visually in the way you can tell a Little Friends poster from a Small Stakes poster.

There are a number of technical aspects that I will have to work with by using screenprinting as my medium. I’ll have to think about my image in layers as I am creating it. Screenprinting ink looks and behaves differently than something that is offset printed or digitally printed, so I will also have to consider (physically) how the colors will interact with each other. Also, if I choose to use photographs, they’ll have to be halftoned (or posterized) and possibly separated into process colors. I’ve worked with screenprinting for a few years now and while I’m hardly an expert, I feel comfortable with the process and feel that I can use it to my advantage.

I’ve got a ton of research on poster artists, but it’s going to take a little while for me to gather up all of the information and post it, so that’ll be coming soon.