JRF for Poster Child Prints 2013

The fine folks at Poster Child Prints recently invited me to concept and design another print edition for 2013. As usual, the subject matter, format and color palette was completely open and I chose to create a follow up the graphic theme of my 2009 release, Untitled (Borders Series). In extreme contrast to that four color print, which were precisely mixed by hand, the 2013 edition, Mono (Borders Series) is a simple one color print; black on white.

Whereas the film for the Untitled (Borders Series) was actually rubylith, hand-cut at 100% scale, the film for Mono (Border Series) was created digitally, using a coarse halftone screen to achieve the illusion of multiple densities.

The edition is limited to fifty pieces, each 18" x 24", and individually chopped, numbered and signed and will be released exclusively through Poster Child Prints on January 9, 2013.

Vinyl Revisioned: Gang of Four/Entertainment!

Gang of Four's debut 1979 release, Entertainment! is an underground classic that I never tire of hearing. Oddly enough, I only just discovered it a few years ago and for someone that is a huge fanatic for just about every other UK punk, post-punk and new wave band from the same era, I am still shocked that I was not exposed to it much sooner.

Perhaps it was the fact that the Gang of Four lacked a particularly, dynamic or iconic visual element associated with it, compared to a band like the Buzzcocks or the Sex Pistols. Those albums are so ingrained in my mind as the pure forces of that musical era. With that in mind, I set out to tackle a redesign of an underground classic, that was new to me.

Appropriating a contextual cue from the original album artwork, I incorporated both stereotypical imagery of "Cowboys and Indians" and topical information such as newspaper headlines. I have designed a visually dissonant work that echoes with themes of disillusionment and alienation found amongst the content of the lyrics.

Vinyl Revisionists

I'm proud to be one of the exhibiting artists in Vinyl Revisionists. Opens Friday, March 30, 2012 at Warner Brothers Records in Burbank, CA.

Gang Of Four - Entertainment!

Ether, the opening track from the debut LP, Entertainment!, by Gang Of Four. Released in 1979 by Warner Brothers Records in the US and EMI in the UK.

This LP is also my selection for an upcoming exhibition at Warner Brothers Records, where my redesign/reinterpretation for this post-punk classic will be displayed. The show opens March 24, 2012. More info soon...

JRF for Obey Clothing/Artist Series

JRF x OBEY from OBEY CLOTHING on Vimeo.

Bill Daniel

Bill Daniel is a pretty interesting guy. He's most well known for his documentary, Who is Bozo Texino?, which is an amazing film about a nearly-extinct slice of American subculture.

Daniel has also spent years wandering the country, doing still photography, hand-crafting silver gelatin prints, making zines and generally doing good stuff. Check him out.

DDC-051 "Philadelphia Freedom Poster"

I'm a fan of DDC and the personality behind it, Mr. Aaron Draplin. He does great work, cares about the history of his medium and is funny as hell.

I guess Draplin's been doing a lot of speaking engagements/lectures and knocking out amazing prints to promote and accompany the various venues.

To summarize: support this dude. He does kick ass shit.

PLINC Catalog

I'm a huge fan of the boys (and girls) over at House Industries in Yorklyn, Delaware. Their latest project, the digitization of the overwhelming Photo-Lettering (PLINC) archives, has been online for a few months now. If you're a designer, be sure to go check it out...and be sure to sign up for their new printed PLINC catalog.

Above images House Industries © 2011

REFERENCE LIBRARY/Taliban Don't Surf PT. 2

My previous post, below, showed some of the content and concept of the Taliban Don't Surf print. Above are a few aspects of the craft of the design; from first thumbnail sketch (dated 2/21/11) and notes, to illustrating type specimens and creating other analog elements for use in the collage. After a few dozen digital comps, films are ripped, screens are coated and burned, inks mixed, paper trimmed and registered and squeegees pulled.

The final product, a two color, 18" x 24" screenprint, on 100# archival, black stock is available now (6/30/11) via 1xRun.com.

REFERENCE LIBRARY/Taliban Don't Surf

A few pieces of digital ephemera that serve the story of the upcoming Taliban Don't Surf print, available June 30, 2011, exclusively at 1xRun.com.

New Bohemia Signs

Typophiles in search of inspiration should check out some of the beautifully crafted specimens from New Bohemia Signs in San Francisco, CA. This kind of signage is a obviously a rare thing these days and really add some visual spice to the pedestrian/bicycle-friendly neighborhoods in SF.

New Bohemia Signs and Steve Powers (ESPO) have an upcoming exhibition at Guerrero Gallery and their Flickr set is worth a look, too. Photos via Juxtapoz.

House Industries / New Serigraphs

House Industries and David Dodde have teamed up again to design and craft a series of new screenprints. I'm definitely digging this Caslon type specimen from the PLINC archives, and it's available here.

Dodde told me that this one was (technically) a doozy to print...

REFERENCE LIBRARY vol.4

A collection of gratuitous, yet-to-be-categorized thumbnails for a multitude of in-progress projects currently cluttering my digital desktop. Thought it might be interesting to determine if some coherent themes are developing or reflecting my train of thought....