{Chicago band The Detholz! are coming to Birdy’s on July 17 ••••••• Another must see is God Made Robots.}

Gig Posters are often a designers best creative outlet, because of two things:

1. Great Music

2. Less restrains on the normal content guidelines of a project/client

You can get more abstract if you want to (depending on the band) or follow a certain theme that will not only compliment the band/music style but attract the eye to your poster.

I couldn’t tell you the exact formula for creating the perfect poster, I’ll be honest, I’ve never created a poster that I was so in love with that I felt it was perfect. I’m kind of a pessimist in that way-there’s always something wrong that I want to fix or “do better.”

I believe creating a great poster design has a lot to do with finding an object, theme, story to pull from and building around it. The artwork should stand out bold but still allow the reader to figure out the name of the band and venue. There may be other info you need to include like ticket prices and sponsor/promoter logos, but if your design can incorporate the important information without distracting from the focus of the poster, you’ve figured it out.

A grid is always helpful too. If you get anxious thinking about a grid, just think of it as a blueprint that helps you figure out where info or art can go, and you can change it at anytime. You will also need to figure out if you want the flow of the design to be vertical or horizontal, broken in thirds, or simply scattered into a pattern-like distribution.

{Another version of The Detholz! poster that is a little weaker in organization-I plan on turning it into a wallpaper with more black space.}

There is a weight and clarity to poster art. If you shove too much information onto it without sketching or figuring out a grid or  some way to organize the text with the art-the poster will appear cluttered and the excitement or mystery it could of brought is lost.

Unless it’s a festival with several acts and events going on at the same time, putting everything including a google map into a poster design will be terribly hard to balance. You can be selective about how much info needs to be included. Anything that will overcrowd the poster or appear as overwhelming with info, can usually be fixed by directing people to a web site for more info or suggest a program/take away piece the day of the event with more info on it.

I appear to be the Sausage Event go to girl. Which is an honor, being that I am of Slovenian heritage. I grew up with homemade sausage, Jimmie Dean never stood a chance against the Slovenian Sausage makers of Haughville.

Even though I’m a vegetarian now, I still crave the sage/garlic/fennel decadence of it’s taste. I often try to make my own version of tofu sausage. For those of you that crave it and gotta have the real thing, check out the St. Al’s Sausage Feast on January 23, 2010 (Holy Trinity, Bockhold Hall).

Whewww, it’s been a hectic couple of weeks. Classes have started and I’ve been teaching new group of lovely students as well as finding it easier to adjust to networking/meeting clients.

First off, I’ve been working with the Slovenian National Home to help promote and design print materials for their annual Slovenian Festival. Sausage, Slovenian Beer, Potica, and Accordian Players….the perfect celebratory occasion for those who want to cut loose this Labor Day Weekend and enjoy something from the old country.

The Adoramus choral group played last Sunday and the SNH is getting ready to host a sausage, button-box show down at the Slovenian Home on Friday. If you are looking for a little something to do that’s out of the ordinary First Friday art gallery events, stop by and bring your accordian!

The last event of Slovenian Festival is on Sunday, where the Slovenian Home picnic grounds will start the day off with a Catholic mass at noon, cut a rug polka style, more sausage (of course) and celebrate until early evening. Nzdstravia!

Next on my adventures in design–my favorite place in Indianapolis to find inspiration, Midland Antiques.

I know I’m not the first graphic designer to spend hours combing through the eclectic objects, furniture and ephemera of days of past. Ever since my friend Cara turned me onto this place back in 2006-I have to spend at least an hour (actually an hour and a half) stimulating my eyes to all the possibilities of DIY decor and treasure trove pieces that line each booth from floor to ceiling.

Today I stumbled upon some gothic letters, some very sexy-mad men-esque aprons and plenty of other objects. Because some of the vintage items at Midland are bit pricey, you have to dig and explore to find certain pieces to fit your budget. I’ve never walked out of Midland disappointed, I always find something or “somethings” for under $25. The gothic letters were only $2 a piece, and I’ve been into stenciling this summer so the letter “Q” will be of wonderful assistance as I play with it on my office walls to create patterns.

I may even use it for an upcoming logo/identity. I’ll post later how the letter(s) come into play.

Here’s one for Friday night’s show at the Upper Room.

Here is my latest poster creation…The next show that is sponsored by Woxy.com is the upcoming alt-country/rock-a-billy showdown at Birdy’s. Check out The Heartless Bastards, Mandy Marie and the Cool Hand Lukes and the incredibly multi-talented, Mr. Shelby Kelly of Creepin’ Charley and the Boneyard Orchestra.

Things are still going fast for me-lots of packaging and collateral pieces for good ole Schlage door hardware as well as grading midterms and learnin’ the students at Ivy Tech.

My vacation to New Orleans last week was too short.