Rock show poster/flier design; trends in, the future of, etc.

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What trends do you see in rock show poster/flier design in your town?
What do you think will be the next trend in rock show poster/flier design?

― n/a (Nick A.), Thursday, 28 July 2005 12:38 (twenty years ago)

Here in Chicago, animal-themed designs (especially birds) are still pretty popular. Skull motifs are just as popular as ever.

Everyone seems to either do the shitty photocopied fliers or gets posters professionally designed and printed by one of the artsy design groups. There isn't a lot of middle ground.

― n/a (Nick A.), Thursday, 28 July 2005 12:40 (twenty years ago)

this guy's big here in ATX:

http://obsolete-inc.com/gallery.htm

I don't know about 'trends' though as I think he's a bit derviative.

― Miss Misery (thatgirl), Thursday, 28 July 2005 12:41 (twenty years ago)

I make giant, poster-sized, one-off collages.

― roxymuzak (roxymuzak), Thursday, 28 July 2005 12:44 (twenty years ago)

ihttp://www.cricket-press.com/gallery.html

― Tinman: Set to Self-Destruct (cprek), Thursday, 28 July 2005 12:54 (twenty years ago)

I like this local groups work:

http://www.cricket-press.com/gallery.html

― Tinman: Set to Self-Destruct (cprek), Thursday, 28 July 2005 12:55 (twenty years ago)

whoops

― Tinman: Set to Self-Destruct (cprek), Thursday, 28 July 2005 12:56 (twenty years ago)

Seripop:

http://www.citypages.com/databank/25/1238/article12409.asp

http://www.modernfix.com/features/39/seri.htm

― Tinman: Set to Self-Destruct (cprek), Thursday, 28 July 2005 12:59 (twenty years ago)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v515/RJG/june.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v515/RJG/AUGUST.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v515/RJG/march.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v515/RJG/july05.jpg

― RJG (RJG), Thursday, 28 July 2005 13:06 (twenty years ago)

There's a band called The Language of Flowers?

Are they wibbling twee or shoegazing goodness?

I think that what, with ASBOs being slapped on record companies that do fly-posting, and the interweb as the principal medium of discovering music, actual flyers are kind of on their way out. Which is a shame, as I love them.

But I must admit, I haven't bothered making them in years. (And I can't remember the last time I got into a club/gig with a flyer.)

― Masonic Boom (kate), Thursday, 28 July 2005 13:15 (twenty years ago)

haha, i just listened to the pale saints' "language of flowers" last night!

― club soda (Jody Beth Rosen), Thursday, 28 July 2005 13:19 (twenty years ago)

i feel like making a poster right now. anybody need one?

― jermaine (jnoble), Thursday, 28 July 2005 13:38 (twenty years ago)

I don't know what the language of flowers' music sounds like

― RJG (RJG), Thursday, 28 July 2005 14:47 (twenty years ago)

Jay Ryan's posters are getting pretty popular in Chicago:

http://www.thebirdmachine.com/gallery/2004/2004_nekocase.jpg
http://www.thebirdmachine.com/gallery/2004/2004_tvotr.jpg

― jaymc (jaymc), Thursday, 28 July 2005 15:26 (twenty years ago)

I tend to like Ryan a bit better than his mentor Steve Walters, whose posters all seem to have this old circus/carnival motif that gets old after a while:

http://www.screwballpress.com/posters/p/pinetop_seven.jpg

― jaymc (jaymc), Thursday, 28 July 2005 15:29 (twenty years ago)

Here's what's probably Jay Ryan's most famous work, though:

http://trashotron.com/agony/images/2005/05-columns/03-18-05/chabon-final_solution_ltd.jpg

― jaymc (jaymc), Thursday, 28 July 2005 15:33 (twenty years ago)

I would have thought this would have spurred more discussion and less picture-posting. But I am naive.

― n/a (Nick A.), Friday, 29 July 2005 14:52 (twenty years ago)

Not that I have anything interesting to contribute, I just wish that others did.

― n/a (Nick A.), Friday, 29 July 2005 14:54 (twenty years ago)

Oh, but we (me and bandmates) were talking about how we wanted to move into using more abstract shapes/patterns instead of just the typical twee-but-forboding imagery I see around town.

― n/a (Nick A.), Friday, 29 July 2005 14:56 (twenty years ago)

I still really like Ryan's stuff. And I'm trying to remember what magazine I was looking at a while back that had spreads of the major indie-rock poster designers for various cities, along with comments from the bands on each one; the norm was basically what you'd think, brightly-colored semi-minimal sometimes-bubbly / sometimes-sketchy, lots of animals and submarines and telephones, the same aesthetic that prevails on t-shirts.

― nabisco (nabisco), Friday, 29 July 2005 14:58 (twenty years ago)

Well there's that big ROCK FLIER DESIGN coffee table book that just came out, I think it's organized regionally, or at least by designer. Then there's www.gigposters.com, which is pretty fun too.

― n/a (Nick A.), Friday, 29 July 2005 15:06 (twenty years ago)

fuck computer-made fliers, they aren't PUNK ROCK ENOUGH.

jay ryan rulez.

― hstencil (hstencil), Friday, 29 July 2005 15:09 (twenty years ago)

seripop are huge in montreal, they're totally awesome

― s1ocki (slutsky), Friday, 29 July 2005 15:22 (twenty years ago)

This guy is pretty good. nice use of muted colors/ b&w images and juxtaposition of pretty/ gruesome.
They can be a tad literal though, e.g. SKOTS has skid marks ho ho! And what's that? Locusts escaping on the Dillinger Escape Plan/ Locusts bill?

― Will(iam), Friday, 29 July 2005 15:53 (twenty years ago)

ihttp://myspace-566.vo.llnwd.net/00163/66/59/163019566_l.jpg

ihttp://myspace-112.vo.llnwd.net/00163/21/10/163100112_l.jpg

― firstworldman (firstworldman), Friday, 29 July 2005 15:57 (twenty years ago)

My girlfriend just bought me that Rock Flier Design book that n/a mentioned. It's great.

One trend I've been noticing lately, is hyper-detailed, hand drawn typography.

http://www.burlesquedesign.com/store/m_forensics.jpg http://www.burlesquedesign.com/store/p_magneticfields_t.jpg http://www.burlesquedesign.com/store/p_pelican_t.jpg http://www.burlesquedesign.com/store/p_boredoms_t.jpg

― darin (darin), Friday, 29 July 2005 15:59 (twenty years ago)

Oooh I like those.

― n/a (Nick A.), Friday, 29 July 2005 16:00 (twenty years ago)

i bought a language of flowers record but it was so scratched i couldnt hear it, really

― Homosexual II (Homosexual II), Friday, 29 July 2005 16:02 (twenty years ago)

i want to go to the winchester club, too bad i cant. its like 2000 miles away.

― AaronK (AaronK), Friday, 29 July 2005 16:14 (twenty years ago)

notesfrombelow
Urban Inks
and then there's li'l ol' me

that's what's happenin in the Bay Area as far as my eyes can tell. personally, I'm super-excited to see so much hand-drawn stuff being done these days. when I started out doing 'em in '99 there was pretty much nobody in town besides Kozik (who I hate). now there's a whole bunch, many much more highly skilled than myself.

― Shakey Mo Collier, Friday, 29 July 2005 16:16 (twenty years ago)

My girlfriend just bought me that Rock Flier Design book that n/a mentioned. It's great.

Can someone link to this - Amazon or something?

― Dr. Glen Y. Abreu (dr g), Friday, 29 July 2005 16:18 (twenty years ago)

xpost x3

maybe its supposed to sound that way :)

― AaronK (AaronK), Friday, 29 July 2005 16:23 (twenty years ago)

And n/a - I'm sure you can find freelancers that are willing to give you a good deal. Most designers who are in bands, like myself, are aware that musicians are on a shoestring budget and should be willing to charge decent rates since designing flyers is so much goddamn fun anyway. I would just go ahead and contact any designers whose work you're impressed with - a freelancer may suit that middle ground your looking for.

― darin (darin), Friday, 29 July 2005 16:26 (twenty years ago)

Oh but I enjoy doing it myself. We have fun as a band designing and printing fliers. I don't understand why indie bands from a DIY background hire other people to design their fliers. Well, I understand it, but I think it's a bit silly.

― n/a (Nick A.), Friday, 29 July 2005 16:28 (twenty years ago)

What do you mean, from a DIY background?

― jaymc (jaymc), Friday, 29 July 2005 16:30 (twenty years ago)

Dr. Glen - here's that book:

http://www.chroniclebooks.com/site/catalog/index.php?main_page=pubs_product_book_info&products_id=4247&store=&zenid=4e7905b497cbd8cea48dff6efa8f72bd

― darin (darin), Friday, 29 July 2005 16:31 (twenty years ago)

(xp) Like they champion the DIY lifestyle? Or they just happen to do a lot of stuff on their own?

― jaymc (jaymc), Friday, 29 July 2005 16:31 (twenty years ago)

http://www.uktvstyle.co.uk/images/standardItem/L1/AndyKanebiog_main.jpg

― RJG (RJG), Friday, 29 July 2005 16:32 (twenty years ago)

x-post to n/a:

I don't blame you! Designing flyers is a blast - I guess I misread one of your posts and thought you were looking for other options.

― darin (darin), Friday, 29 July 2005 16:45 (twenty years ago)

Has anyone checked this out:

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0896595846.01._AA240_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

― Dr. Glen Y. Abreu (dr g), Friday, 29 July 2005 16:54 (twenty years ago)

I got that for christmas like 15 years ago. It's great if you like the sixties psychedelic style.

― Boring Satanic Space Jazz (sexyDancer), Friday, 29 July 2005 19:33 (twenty years ago)

Does it end at punk?

Does it have a bit of the Kozik style stuff? I just want a bit, not a whole book full.

― Dr. Glen Y. Abreu (dr g), Friday, 29 July 2005 19:36 (twenty years ago)

naw it's got a bit of late 70s punk, that's it. (good stuff though)

― Boring Satanic Space Jazz (sexyDancer), Friday, 29 July 2005 19:38 (twenty years ago)

xpost

there's this one, too. it's a lot of fun, though it sent me on a totally impractical poster-buying binge.

http://www.artofmodernrock.com/AoMRCovers.gif

they have a site, too - www.artofmodernrock.com

― rogermexico (rogermexico), Friday, 29 July 2005 19:42 (twenty years ago)

plenty of kozik stuff, jay ryan, emek, justin hampton, etc etc

― rogermexico (rogermexico), Friday, 29 July 2005 19:43 (twenty years ago)

Ha: one of those fliers listed "DJ Salinger!"

― nabisco (nabisco), Friday, 29 July 2005 19:46 (twenty years ago)

I don't understand why indie bands from a DIY background hire other people to design their fliers.

Do you think these designers are hanging with Puffy in the Hamptons when they're not at gigs or something? I know of two TX silkscreen companies that are run by band members.

Another good reason to go a screenprinter/designer to make you a cool poster: you can sell it as merch.

― Miss Misery (thatgirl), Friday, 29 July 2005 19:58 (twenty years ago)

No, I don't think that. It's just, for me, part of being in a band with an indie/punk background is to learn how to do all aspects of being in a band as a band, not just to hire someone else to do it. I understand being a professional poster designer, it sounds like a lot of fun and if they can have a business doing it, great for them, I am envious. But I personally can't imagine paying someone to make a flier for my band. Part of it is that I enjoy the process, part of it is I have trouble justifying the expense, part of it is that I'm not very promotionally-minded.

― n/a (Nick A.), Friday, 29 July 2005 20:15 (twenty years ago)

It's complicated, though, I guess I'm just thinking from a small local band's POV. Obviously someone like Modest Mouse or whoever can't spend time designing a bitchin' flyer and then printing them up by hand and hanging up 8,000 posters around every town they're going to play in. But I have trouble understanding a local band that pays some artsty company to design and print fliers for their Thurs. night gig at the Beer Hut.

― n/a (Nick A.), Friday, 29 July 2005 20:17 (twenty years ago)

I have nothing to add, but I'd like to post my favorite poster ever.

http://photos3.flickr.com/6203781_d9c30db76b.jpg

― Jeff-PTTL (Jeff), Friday, 29 July 2005 20:25 (twenty years ago)

I guess it depends on who you know. I know lots of folks who design/make posters just for the cost of materials for bands they like. The enjoy helping out the scene and getting their art out there. I can't think of the last time I saw a xeroxed band flier around.

― Miss Misery (thatgirl), Friday, 29 July 2005 20:29 (twenty years ago)

fourteen years pass...

This may not be the most recent thread on the subject, but it's what I could find. These posters are amazing!

https://d3h6k4kfl8m9p0.cloudfront.net/uploads/2020/03/03124459/gambinoperthmerged.png

― DJI, Thursday, 5 March 2020 04:17 (six years ago)

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