Rickshaw

Inspiration from the web. I love the simplicity of these posters as well as the designers’ other work. (Click on the links to see more)

Allan Peters‘ Poster-On-A-Stick. More here.

Micah Max’s Explosion in the Sky concert poster. And in his own words:

The firecrackers and their abnormally long fuse, represent the band’s ability to go from quiet, shimmering beauty to bold, loud passages in an instant. It’s always fun to do work for a band that I greatly admire.

Hat tip: Twig & Thistle

Beautiful. Reminds me of summer.

I never saw this film, but  I always remembered the poster. Designed by Michael Gillette.

Lena Corwin’s Travel Poster from BJ. The mail gods were interfering with our plans to get this poster in our hands, but Lena persevered, and it finally got to us! The poster is basically a tour of European architecture—italicized!

Some of the best things to receive, buy, share are Mike Perry’s printed works. I snagged Issue #2 (Swimsuit Edition) of Untitled, a zine devoted to his shifting interests. I admire how each element of it—the pictures, clothes, drawings, etc.—belongs to a collaborative effort and one does not outshine the other. Anna’s poetic black-and-white photographs and Mike’s innocent injections of color are the perfect complements.

Untitled Issue # 3 One Photo Shoot

This poster was tucked among the zines as a nice surprise. It looks like a dog-pile of monsters made out of sherbet. I think it’ll go perfectly in my classroom!

Olly Moss’s film poster remixes. Genius. I really admire how he uses  limited tools to perfectly capture the essence of the subject—something I try to reiterate to my students. I can’t blame them for thinking kitchen-sink maximalism is good; ads and magazine pages today are so crowded. I got a headache flipping through my sister’s Seventeen magazine last night. Those layouts are craazzzzy.

Gah. These are so good. And he’s only 22!

Chau and I saw a lot of posters over in the little village of Flatstock tents on the far end of the Pitchfork festival.

And here are the posters we bought:

Here are some of the impressive talents we stumbled across, including links to old favorites:

Aesthetic Apparatus
The Small Stakes
Alana Bailey
Boss Construction
Landland
My Associate Cornelius
Weathermaker Press
Spike Press
Doublenaut
The Half & Half
Delicious Design League
Vahalla: did the Feist poster, in something like 6 or 7 passes
Hero Design Studio: did the Grizzly Bear poster
Diana Sudyka
Strawberryluna
Crosshair: uncannily mimic photos
Mat Daly: the wizard behind two of our prints
Decoder Ring
Methane

While browsing for the list of poster artists, I found some other American Poster Institute members. Makes us want to silkscreen. Maybe we need to pick up equipment.

Gimme! Today, I came across these beautiful posters by artist Eric Tan. Inspired by Disneyland attraction posters from the 60s, he is famous for his “retro-futurist remix posters” of popular films like Indiana Jones and The Incredibles. This one for Up reminds me of the See America project put out by the Works  Progress Administration. The folded creases makes the poster even sweeter. Here is Tan in his own words:

I think retro advertising might work because they’re based in something we’re all used to seeing. There’s a comfort in that. There was a defining look to past decades that immediately brings you back to those days. If our job as artists/communicators is to evoke a feeling and/or emotion out of a piece, it’s a good way to instantly bring the viewer that feeling of nostalgia.

more of his work:

WPA |Montana

I’m definitely going to keep these in mind as references for future assignments. Maybe I can have my students revisit their favorite movie or vacation postcards as a catalyst for new designs? Their bookcover redesigns came out wonderfully but I can’t post any due to copyright. Must find a way to do this.

I’m in the process of cleaning out 20+ years of files from the teachers that came before me. To keep me sane, I’m doing mini sessions, and today I stumbled upon an awesome find! At the bottom of one of the filing cabinets was a collector’s edition of the School of Visual Arts subway posters from1987. They’re printed on nice paper so I’m debating whether I should laminate them or not.

ReadyMade commissioned 5 brilliant artists to create WPA-style posters with a contemporary message. Luckily for us, they are available for download. I’m planning on printing and posting them in the computer lab. Maybe it’ll keep my students inspired and focused—not sneaking in video-game time. Maybe.

Enjoy

I can’t wait to get my hands on the If You Could print series. It was only recently that I discovered this awesome project, and by then, a lot of my favorite prints were no longer available. Luckily I can have all 28 prints from 2008 in miniature. Isn’t it cuter that way? I also like this year’s format, because I can frame individual pieces without ripping them out of a book. A few of my favorites:

L to R: Emily Forgot, Rob Ryan, Luke Best, & Tom Gauld