read out loud

Josh Snyder x NO THEFT

2011-09-05T08:51:00.000-07:00

Josh Snyder has been doing Weddings/Portraits for awhile & wanted to redo the presentation of his work. He wanted to stay far away from any modern logo that involved any subtle or blatant suggestion to photography. I was super excited to take on the challenge. After discussing some personal traits of Josh and how he wanted his work to be considered we leaned on the classy turn of the century style. Prior to this final version we were working with a couple more literal takes on some traits we had narrowed in on. Those traits were : Old baseball logos, Arizona, Old signage. I wanted to share these as well as I'm a fan of 'em. We did end up keeping a minimalistic version of the monogram in the final version.

Noah Gundersen | ST Paul De Vence | Keving Long X NO THEFT

2011-08-25T10:46:00.000-07:00

(click to zoom)

I recently was hired by the talents of Noah Gundersen | St Paul De Vence | Kevin Long to do a poster featuring them all. I saw an old picture of a Las Vegas sign that had all this great geometric shapes / great type employed for each artist littered thru out, and in my head I saw this come together. After working on the Oh Dear! album cover my eyes have been open to using much more color, this deff. shows that growth. I wanted to include some close ups on this poster, I feel like each close up could be painted on a canvas in an old sign painter style.

OH DEAR! x NO THEFT

2011-08-18T09:42:00.001-07:00

(cover)

I recently had the joy of reconnecting with my friends Jacob, Brandon, & Justin. Garage Voice used to play shows with some of their bands from Tacoma back in the day and now they are all in one band OH DEAR!, pretty exciting. Several things that hit me right away in approaching this design was 1) Their music is colorful so had to rep that 2) they have 2 drummers and how they arrange themselves on stage has almost perfect symmetry, so wanted to have that reflected 3) When I heard the mixes for this self release I kept coming back to the lyrical idea of 'everything I said kept coming back to me' so the whole thoughts of sending out signals / receiving signals / recording signals was born. Working with a jewel case format was new to me, so it allowed for the vision of the record to really expand. VANJA. shot all of the album art and helped me meticulously arrange all the pieces, would not have been possible without her assistance (can't wait for her site to be up so I can refer the world to her) Voila!

Please check out OH DEARS! new release HERE

(back page of insert)

(cd)

(inside tray, cd rests on top)

(back of album)

CRU ISSUE 2

2011-08-16T14:12:00.000-07:00

Open publication - Free publishing - More ace hotel

The 2nd Issue of CRU came out last week and it was an incredible humbling exciting process. I want to thank some people who made this issue specifically possible: Mike did some killer interviews, Brian brainstormed hard with me and delivered some great info graphics, Will did a great review on Zeitgeist and I'm stoked to see his words in every issue, Vanja hustled hard with me->proof reading, exporting, arranging deff. wouldn't have happened without her, Jennifer,Kaylyn,& Tina gave me great photos to work with.

I'm excited for Issue 3 that will coming out later this fall, Mike, Brian, & I are already hustling on it.

Take a minute and check the issue out then share!

GV TOUR POSTER x NO THEFT

2011-08-11T10:59:00.000-07:00

GV is going on tour! I can't wait to be back in CALI and see some of my other favorite people that don't live in Seattle. I'm specifically looking forward to SAN FRAN + SLO, some amazing shows booked there and amazing peeps. I'm really excited to show these new songs to our friends especially since the last time they saw us we were touring with Freeze & Thaw material. We got a lil more electric since then, hopefully no Bob Dylan thing will happen. ALSO this will be the first time we've toured with THEE organ, so that will be an interesting body building factor to our tour. Patrick & I are doing 2 GV tshirts for this tour! Stoked about that too. What else? OH Blue Bottle in San Fran WILL get raided. Jus sayin'.

Tony Kevin Jr. x NO THEFT

2011-08-09T11:43:00.001-07:00

My friend Tony is playing the Tractor Sept. 1st and my other friend Benjamin happens to be on the same bill, it's going to be a great night. When Tony asked me to do a poster for this show I had a defined direction pretty much nailed down, I talked to Tony about it and he told me as long as I can keep it to my simple style to pursue it. Well that kept bouncing in my head and I dropped my original idea and with the word 'simple' I set out on this poster. I wanted no texture, same muted variations on a color, and of course lots of space. I came up with this style, committed to it, and made up a story in my head. I'm excited about this direction and hope to carry on the themes/story into other pieces in the future.

I get to work on a lot of diff. projects and it's always nice to work with someone who trusts you to do something new with their name. Tony is one of a couple peeps who have really let me explore and I'm so thankful!

LOWLANDS

2011-08-03T11:49:00.000-07:00

Tom Rorem of Lowlands asked me to do a special poster for their last show with Joel Schuman (an incredible piano player!) I was stoked to work on it and put some ideas i've been having for them down. There's something so classic about Lowlands, they have a great pulse on old America, I wanted to pull that out. So I antiqued it all, old Delivery truck delivering their goods, slight type treatments of the Gaslight era, and threw in a stripe for some motion as a current touch on the old that's in their sound. Don't miss this show!

I really want to screen print this one.

Garage Voice x NO THEFT

2011-08-03T11:34:00.000-07:00

For awhile GV has been scheming on releasing a new site, a site that would be minimal, place high priority on single posts, and relate visually where we are going musically. We also wanted to be able to tell people exactly what we're doing with music and let that brand us, so we put 'GRIT, GOSPEL, & SPIRITUALS'. I also finally found a font I'm happy with to use with Garage Voice for awhile, its an old font used on old records from the 60's, I'm a big fan! So with our visual theme referring to the older nature of where we are going with our music we also decided to throw our names into the mix to match the old vinyl aesthetic of old Jazz/Blues/Gospel records.

After several attempts with genre / color / type, we all agreed on this! Bruce found this great accordion tab feature & did all the back end stuff with our friend Nate True, he's really developed a fine touch for Wordpress stuff, seriously, if you want someone to help redo your site into an easily manageable site, you need to get in touch with Bruce. Here are some screen caps of the site. Make sure to visit too! www.garagevoice.com

We also brought the branding over into our bandcamp, its nice seeing similarity in both aye?

NOAH GUNDERSEN x NO THEFT

2011-07-25T08:41:00.000-07:00

Noah Gundersen came to me with a very specific vision. He knew the cover, the back, the cd image. We sat down together and just got it done, a really cool way for me to work with a client. Noah had seen several images that our friend Ben Blood had taken over in Germany, they greatly resonated with him and the his album title 'Family'. I also got to have a sneak peek of this album and I'm SO excited for everyone to hear it in its entirety. Noahs voice is captured so well, his guitar touch featured, Abby's contribution incredibly thoughtful. Noah is back putting his voice where it best belongs, I'm so excited! The release show is Aug. 6 at Columbia City Theatre, last time I checked there still were some tickets left :)

Earlier today I posted an album cover I did for Lower Lights Burning not knowing it wasn't suppose to be public yet. I've taken it down for another day to shine, I'm sorry to LLB for putting it up and sorry to everyone who saw it ahead of time! My bad!

SUMMERTIME

2011-07-11T00:21:00.001-07:00

FIRST ISSUE OF CRU!

2011-06-09T15:04:00.000-07:00

I'm excited to announce LGC's first online magazine. Brian Lambert of OLD FUN has joined our team to bring his skills to this magazine and other design needs that will come up. Have a looksy! Click on Fullscreen view too.

Open publication - Free publishing - More japan

NO THEFT x SPIRIT WALKER EXPEDITIONS

2011-06-07T13:07:00.000-07:00

My friend Kaylyn has worked the past several summers for Spirit Walker Expeditions as a kayak guide + photographer. Several months back she told me she had passed my name to one of the owners of SWE as they were looking into a new logo. After some great conversations over the phone / email we started digging into the project. I wanted one of the main highlights of a kayak trip to be featured (whale spotting) and keep font work reminiscent of old national park wood signs out front of its property. Several versions later + incredible insights from Stephen & Jai we wound down to the above. Working with people who communicate well makes my job a breeze & gets me all the detail I need to do my job right.

I can't wait to get to Alaska and experience one of their tours first hand, have a looksy at what these fine people offer and what you can encounter in Alaska ->HERE

NO THEFT x ARTIST HOME

2011-05-24T15:16:00.001-07:00

Artist Home recently started using the logo I designed for them. I can't say enough about the quality of people that run Artist Home. After working with Kevin Sur & Melodie Knight on this project I've come to understand their invaluable contribution to Seattle's fruitful music scene as well as the high standards they have set to run accordingly to.

After understanding Kevins' history of DIY days of being on the road and turning everything into something useful I kept coming back to the safety pin. It represents the punk methods that propelled Kevin into steady work with music, I wanted that to be seen. The above is the final one they chose, but I wanted to show proposed logos as well that I dug, I usually don't do that, but couldn't help myself.

Le Grand Cru x Japan Compilation

2011-05-03T11:33:00.001-07:00

Today a special compilation became available on Le Grand Cru's bandcamp. It features a heavy Sea-town roster with songs that haven't been public till this compilation. The proceeds go to Direct Relief and will be put to the use of rebuilding the precious communities of Japan that were hurt during the tsunami.

I'm so proud of the artists who were happy to donate to this album, Kaylyn Messer for her long hours on filming/editing, Vanja for shooting the album cover, & for my partners Mdot & Mark for being the best people to work with.

Japan Compilation, by LE GRAND CRU from LE GRAND CRU on Vimeo.

GET NO THEFT TO INTERLINK CONFERENCE.

2011-04-20T17:36:00.000-07:00

(Click to see at full size)

I found out about this incredible design conference 2 days ago ->INTERLINK<-
Being a freelancer has many benefits of freedom, doing what I enjoy for income, working with incredible people. One of the draw backs is an income that is in constant flux. As this conference is very soon I realize that my financial options don't provide enough to get me there. I've come up with 6 pledge levels that each have special perks. The biggest pledges are the best deals I've ever given for clients and the rest have some sweet custom perks that are being created now!

If you are unable to contribute financially, please pass the image along or even post it on your blog, that would help equally! Thank you for your time

NOTHEFTDOM.COM

BORDERLINE TREE WORKS

2011-04-20T15:39:00.000-07:00

I just finished branding for Borderline Tree Works last week. Ben Rubinfeld is 100% bonafide arborist. He prunes trees, saps trees, planks trees, shapes trees, preventative cutting of trees, restores trees. He has a degree in all of this, certified to the teeth. It's impressive to meet someone who is this skilled and with something I'm mostly clueless about.

I created 1) Logo 2) Stationary 3) Logo for Truck decal/Work shirts. Check em out.

BACK GROUND TO A VISION COME TRUE

2011-04-07T10:48:00.000-07:00

Just over a year ago I took on freelance design full time. I at the time was really struggling. I had been laid off a really great paying job because of an injury, the Christmas Season was challenging to get through because of it, and I was coming back to Seattle with no job.

I cried out to the Lord and He heard my cry.

I was extremely anxious about meeting financial responsibilities & doubtful of being able to make a living while recovering from my injury. I felt directionless, and in that fear, everything seemed overwhelming. The very next day I got an email from my friend Noah Gundersen asking me to do 2 posters for some big shows that were coming up. I poured myself into them. A floodgate had been opened, my frustrations started to reside and my hope was being lifted with this opportunity. After approval and posting all of these I started getting job after job. All of it was word of mouth, I got jobs just when I needed them, just when I had finished a job, just when I would need to send out rent.

The Lord was steadfast and secured me.

Now over a little year later I'm happy to announce my site NOTHEFTDOM.COM ! This site first and foremost is a testament to the Lord's faithfulness. Secondly the support I have received from my musical community and friends has been astounding. I'd like to share a couple names that have made today possible:

Ben Blood: He has been a constant reminder of excellence in his work ethic & communication. He has pushed and prodded me towards today.

Patrick & Bruce: Have been fresh outside eyes , forced me to charge my worth, pushed me to get this site up.

Karli Fairbanks: She is a daily inspiration in her trademark style, amount of work she puts out, and is very giving in her encouragement and support.

Mike Young: My faithful Le Grand Cru partner, he has taught me to live up to my commitments, communicate more effectively, and selflessly told me time & time again that I'd blow up and if I needed to leave LGC he would support me 100% to do so (Ain't gonna happen!)

Paper Astronomer: These kids trusted me to create out of my vision of them time and time again, that trust taught me how to better work with clients and to dig deep into their need.

Vanja: My girl who has made me think long term in my work, firm in my value, and lifted me up when I was despairing.

Dallas: The Web Guru himself who has generously given of his time and input to make this site possible.

Today is the first phase of my site, I have 3 more sections that will be coming shortly and a new blog just for my design work.

Thank you everyone for saying a kind word, asking me to do work for you, sharing my name with other people who needed design needs met, taping posters up, staying up late in my garage printing posters, buying me coffee & food when I couldn't afford it, Thank you!

FLANNEL

2011-03-30T22:58:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I cover up the fact that I only wear this Flannel.

SWAP

2011-03-30T22:51:00.001-07:00

Sometimes Dallas & I swap glasses, on purpose.

MATCH

2011-03-30T22:38:00.000-07:00

Sometimes Tric & I match, not on purpose.

NO THEFT x GV + LION CO.

2011-03-09T11:13:00.001-08:00

Garage Voice will be playing our first show in Astoria at the end of this month thanks to our friend Cabell who is in LION CO. This will be my first time in Goonies territory, STOKED! We're going to do more Freeze & Thaw material at this show (+pump organ), a little break from the blues/alt gospel menu we've been pushing as of late. I'm loving this new line art direction I've stumbled on, this piece features a little more of it, click on it to see more detail.

NO THEFT x YOUNG LIONS

2011-03-08T18:47:00.000-08:00

Young Lions is a band that doesn't play enough in my opinion, BUT they have a SWELL show coming up at the High Dive! It's an incredible line up (have you seen BJA with his band?!), gonna be hoot n' holla show. Jus sayin'. Brad (drummer of YL) wanted the poster to convey the camaraderie between the bands + have a blue collar feel. I took the colors from an old union card from the 30's that I found, I discovered the font LEAGUE GOTHIC (thanks Karli!), and I discovered some new techniques on accident in Illustrator that allowed me to imitate line art / manual gradient. The blade for rock n' roll edge, the shaking hands for the united effort of the bands, the globe in hopes this kinda thing continues to spread. BLAH.

Come to this show! I'll be there too!

NO THEFT x NORTHWEST BANDS

2011-02-10T13:43:00.001-08:00

Jacquee of Northwest Bands asked me to do a poster for their 8 yr anniversary show. I thought of the number 8 and right away saw a log being cut with the falling piece making the 8. The imagery easily fit into the NW legacy of timber kids so I looked no further and pumped it out. I've been using more of my pen lately, I'm wanting to pursue more tangible art outside of the computer to add to my work. This will show in some upcoming pieces I'm currently working on.

Congratulations to Jacquee & NW bands! Hit up this show to see some of my friends celebrate this event!

NO THEFT x SEA FEVER x NOAH GUNDERSEN

2011-01-31T16:40:00.000-08:00

(click to zoom)

Noah Gundersen asked me to do a screen print for his show with Sea Fever / Pablo Trucker in December. I needed to make a print that could be sold at the show and at the same time promote it. I couldn't find a solution that I liked enough so I made 2 diff. prints. One that is all type based and the other piece strictly for Sea Fever in promotion of their album release of "Go Find Your Love". The diff. type faces together was a breeze and I took some of the hand drawn parts and moved em over to the strictly Sea Fever print. Theme wise I wanted to push old nautical shipping town aesthetics. I used some old type, drew some images from old black & white photos from the 1800's and making the entire print 1 color sealed the deal.

It's great to start the year with new prints, they will first be available at this show! I'm going to be doing more prints this year, branching out with bigger projects/clients, and launching my site (in about 3 weeks!). Here are some close ups:

NO THEFT x THE COURAGE

2010-12-16T13:32:00.001-08:00

The Courage asked me to do a print for their special New Years Day show at The Triple Door. Noah + I looked at a lot of prints and what we liked about different pieces for about 2 weeks. It's nice finding out other artistic appreciations from musician friends. Noah has a great sense of artistic value and why things work, it was great narrowing down a direction because of this.

How The Triple Door looks and runs their business instantly holds class. I wanted the poster to reflect that as well as the organic strength of The Courage. I listened to their record "Fearful Bones" on repeat for days and kept coming back to their song 'Wandering Bird'. I drew 2 diff. bird versions and offset them a bit. I then placed the hook line in a gear and surrounded the piece with a border to make it look more like a book. I like doing little things that break the piece so I pulled the image through the frame for a little touch. I went Audubon on this.

Noah + Ivan came to help me print them, they were warriors, we braved black outs too, the electric kind. Here's some snaps of the process:

NO THEFT x GARAGE VOICE x Patrick Michael Toney

2010-12-15T13:01:00.000-08:00

Patrick and I usually just work on screen printed posters together. We both have different artistic backgrounds and sometimes we struggle thru a solution, but it always enhances the final outcome. This poster is straight up turn of the century print with the whole workers union flare. The hand holding lighting felt really fitting for the rock n' roll that will be happening tonight, it's gonna be swell AND our last show of the year. We be playin' new tunes y'all! GARAGE VOICE

NO THEFT x BENJAMIN DOERR

2010-12-15T12:54:00.001-08:00

Benjamin Doerr asked me to do a poster for his release of St. Paul de Vence that happens this Friday at The Tractor. Benjamin & I share a special history to our home country France as well as having grandparents who were from the south who served in the French Resistance. I can't wait to hear the stories of his grandfather that he sewed to tunes in St. Paul de Vence.

I made the poster as a reflection of the 3 week journey Benjamin did in France to hear the stories again at the feet of his grandfather. Turning the flag into a suitcase instantly came into my mind. I wanted the type to reflect something about St. Paul de Vence so I looked at 100 wood carved signs that hang in front of every shop there and mimicked their type treatments. Voila :)

NO THEFT x PABLO TRUCKER & TK JR

2010-11-17T10:45:00.000-08:00

TK JR. & Pablo Trucker asked me to do a poster for their Conor Byrne show this Friday! TK said 'it can be very simple, even just type' so I dove head first. I've been using this great industrial era font Bebas Neue on a couple pieces and it fit for what I was goin for. I wanted a worn/old type/heritage piece. I tattered the letters, put a dusk version of the red/blues for the USA heritage feel, and then stacked the 2 names in alternating form to give a cohesive element of how their live show will be like. Both bands are working on new material and I'm excited for it to go public!

NEXT CAR

2010-11-09T23:55:00.000-08:00

NO THEFT x AMANDA DuFORD x TCS

2010-11-05T10:13:00.001-07:00

Amanda DuFord's album release show is this evening. I'm proud to see her commitment begin its payoff tonight. Patrick & Bruce of Garage Voice will be backing her up at this special show and I'll be opening the night with the assistance of some of my favorite people. Casey from Paper Astronomer will join me with guitar & vocals, Will Frei on picking guitar and his wife Tina Frei who shares the title of my favorite female vocal with Gemma Hayes. These 3 gifted friends of mine are about to have some significant changes in their lives that may alter Thomas Carr Stiles a bit, so I decided to do an old type poster for myself to remember this show by in remembrance of them

NO THEFT x Paper Astronomer

2010-11-04T01:01:00.001-07:00

Paper Astronomer has a couple more shows before the years end so for 2 of them I decided to do a 4th grader paper construction series. They make me think of old posters of space that I use to have on my walls :) I designed, cut these out, and had VANJA. shoot/edit all together in less than 24 hrs. I love when projects are effortless!

I've included a couple of zoom ins so you can see how that paper lifts. It was a blast and turned out just how I desired. The space ship required a LOT of x-acto knife patience that my cramping hands have scorned.

Paper Astronomer is the best unknown band in Seattle. Their show at Chop Suey last week is in my TOP TEN best live performances ever. Go see them while it's not expensive too. I'll see you there! I like seeing them together to :)

Thomas Adam Moffitt

2010-11-02T00:03:00.000-07:00

Every week I look at Boston globes incredible photo coverage of whats happening in this world. I was scanning thru their latest post on the currents of Afghanistan and was chilled by this picture of Thomas Adam Moffitt. His stoic face with pimples, short hair cut, in his best uniform with the colors behind him made me think of my brother Zachary who is in the service. It looked just like him and the more I look at this picture the more I see my brothers face. Thomas Adam Moffitt died a week ago in Afghanistan at the age of 21. My brother just turned 21.

It's an emotional aching swirl that tugs at so many strings of life, belief, ethics, family. I grow weary of the heightened fear of terrorism thats mass distributed by every outlet, I don't want to see this face above and not be moved. I don't want to feel casual about death in any of its avenues. I don't want to feel that the death of any one is acceptable.

FOTO CURRENTS

2010-10-30T10:54:00.000-07:00

NO THEFT x AMANDA DuFORD

2010-10-21T15:10:00.000-07:00

Amanda DuFord approached me months ago to do her first official full length. Through our hashing out of ideas we built the record on the foundation of not having the album look like anything typical to the singer song writer stigma that is rampant in design (zoom in photo on face and slightly modified text, jus think disc makers design). For a month we poured over concepts, type, color, textures, placements, there wasn't one thing we didn't talk about. Amanda has a gift of scrap booking so the physical texture and lift off the page became a theme to build around.

I read her lyrics and drifted into so many places. The theme of the record is to not be overcome by doubt and it's numerous circumstances, to accept the vulnerability that comes with growing, and to accept the strength of grace in the good & ruff. I thought there should be a visible gradient of the ruff to deliverance. I did this in 2 ways: 1) Her lyrics reference a run down shack that's a safe trap, I conceptualized that with barren trees/stormy clouds/jagged mountains and then built a heavenly city where the final outcome lies 2) obviously color.
I put the whole imagery in a single drop of rain for reference to the album title. I kept the edges scrappy & incomplete to mirror the scrap book theme.

BASIC METHOD: Thumbnail, build in Illustrator, print each piece out, transfer to water color, water color each piece, arrange by laying each piece on top of the other, send to VANJA. in Michigan to shoot in 3 diff. formats digital/35mm/Hasselblad (we chose the 35mm for the grittier grain), edit film, add type. VOILA. The tear drop alone is over 2ft tall.

For the back of the record I thought it should reflect the outcome of the themes: the Heavenly city. I didn't want to jus zoom in on the city for the back, so I made the city out of each piece where as the cover is 1 piece with the city painted on it. Both the cover and back have a small path in them, 1 to lead from the shack up, and then seeing the path again but in gold leading into the city, kinda pilgrims progress path of sorts.

Working with watercolored paper naturally bends it, so when laying it down it created these excellent depths by the unique shadows from those bends. This is my second all watercolor album cover (with VANJA. shooting it as well, this is the first ALBUM we did) & it's the biggest project I've done. I want all my work to be considered a natural extension of the client I'm working with. I never want my work to be blaring NO THEFT, I want people to think of my client more than they have before and this I consider the greatest accomplishment of my work.

Amanda is having her album release show at the Q Cafe | Nov. 5 | 8PM | $8, my GV brothers will be backing her up and she asked if Thomas Carr Stiles would open, I'm in.

NO THEFT x Paper Astronomer

2010-10-20T14:55:00.001-07:00

(click to view larger)

Paper Astronomer are hard workers. Strict long practices 3x a week, they put their songs under brutal attention, and they're constantly releasing new material for their fan base. These attentive efforts are going to pay off soon, there's some good things for them in play.

They asked me to do their self titled EP with the Tiger Astronaut I did for their Tractor Tavern show. I decided the best way to keep it clean was to only have type on the back, keep it curved- san serif-vintage NASA style. I kerned each track to have equal width with the others and that brought another space dimension. To keep it close to the Tractor print we decided to screen print it ourselves, I wanted to push it further by putting a blank off white square under the Tiger making a frame within a frame. I then thought while we're at it lets do a secret print on the inside that you can only see if you cut the tabs off. I came up with a special type for their initials and made an antenna with visible audio waves. I had Casey (lead singer) come over and write out some lines that he and Brian (bass player) had wrote for the EP (I had him write out everything on their last EP as well) and put it on top. I'm really proud of how clean the designs transferred into printing them out. The smallest font size I did for the print was 9pt, SWEET.

(click to view larger)

I'm always inspired by Paper Astronomer's work/songs/performances. This album isn't up at their site yet, but will be hopefully soon. Pat on the back boys, you did it again.

NO THEFT x The Voetbergs

2010-10-19T13:13:00.001-07:00

Liddy Voetberg asked me to do a poster for their show at the R.E. Bennett Auditorium that will also feature the incredible talents of the Konzelman Brothers & Hanneke Cassel. It was a challenge working with 3 diff photos that were very diff from each other and make the piece design friendly. I decided old playbill and rustic orange were my allies. This is going to be a talent explosion, go, be challenged & inspired!

NO THEFT x AMY SEELEY

2010-10-18T21:21:00.000-07:00

My friend Amy Seeley asked me to do a special cover for her digital release of "Catalinas" that was 1st made available on her birthday. It's a new direction for her, same rich wonderful voice surrounded by subtle electronica landscapes. I listened to this song on repeat while I thumb nailed and dissected the lyrics AND you know what? I'm still not tired of it :) The song explores an experience she has at the mountain scape of the Catalinas and how this inspires her to draw more life out of hers.

Visually I decided to make a key hole out of the mountains and the setting sun against a layered backdrop of the sunset sky, I then made a skeleton key out of a custom calligraphic 'C' for 'Catalina's' to represent that experience/place being the catalyst of her pursuing newly discovered inspirations. Spatially it almost follows the rule of thirds with the descending Sun breaking the tension of the top third as well as breaking the mountains to give slight depth to the landscape. I really enjoy the color choices, it really makes it for me. I'm also proud of how cleanly it matches her song musically & lyrically.

Amy Seeley is an absolute gem to work with. She's prompt on communication, willing to explore the design her music makes me feel, and always honest. Please have a listen & support her.

NO THEFT x LLB

2010-10-15T16:41:00.001-07:00

Lower Lights Burning asked me to do a poster for their big home show. For some reason whenever I have thought of his band I've thought of old lanterns. I finally was able to put that vision to use when I found an old lantern at Goodwill for 3 bones. This is the most time i've spent on a poster before, all drawn besides the text, it's one of my favorite pieces. I thought the fall leaves would be a fitting replacement for fire that would naturally come after a lantern was bashed.

I'm taking the time to think more before getting on my computer to create, it's allowing me to pull from so many more places.

I'm going to this show AND was jus asked to play some Thomas Carr Stiles songs before LLB's set! NICE!

Todays Inspiration

2010-10-06T22:51:00.001-07:00

While rolling 2 tires across a street into the back of an old Honda Vanja is selling (takers?) I saw this color tattered leaf. It stayed in my car all day till I started sketching my latest piece for Lower Lights Burning. A sweet purchase from Goodwill joined the sketch too, I'll share later this week.

I've been looking at things outside of blogs/ffffound/design heroes lately. To do so I've been picking up my pen more, just sitting around and thinking, resting, praying more, getting outside, connecting with strangers. I'm excited to share how these changes are impacting my work. I'll be sharing the latest very soon with a few album covers for 1) Paper Astronomer 2) Amanda DuFord 3) Amy Seeley, couple posters and other printables.

A note on nature: It will always have the best design, the best color swatch palettes, and the best inspiration. When in a slump, step outside.

GET ON ME!

2010-10-05T14:08:00.001-07:00

I usually don't dig the NIKE's except when the Chi-Town Dynasty was cementing it's empire with the Jordan/Pippen cornerstones ->I was wearin every endorsed pair LOYALLY<-

Since my hoop dreams dissipated from the results of low ups and other interests flooding I've left the laces & soul of the NIKE realm. Couple days ago I stumbled on these NIKE AIR WILDWOODS and I've been peeking at them on my desktop 3x a day. HOLLA!

Togetherness is better than apartness

2010-09-25T01:08:00.000-07:00

I again have had to wait for Vanja to come back to Seattle. She's promised to never go back to Michigan again unless it's with me and has assured me no more babies will be happening anytime soon from her sister...not really to either. Holding her hand has to be my favorite thing in the world, next in line is avocado's, sweet tasty yummy avocado's...MMmmmm.. ALSO Vanja has my favorite smile, crazy huh? and apparently she owns many sunglasses.

Patrick Toney

2010-09-25T00:31:00.000-07:00

I've known Patrick since 2000. Since then we've done a lot together: Went to Mexico and upon our return started a band with Bruce Pearson, gone thru many hair styles, many all nighters, dated sisters (I'm still with mine :D) , went to a Seattle Super Sonics basketball game before Oklahoma took em, grew out our beards for a month with our good friend Mert, moved to Seattle and shared the same roof for the last 6 yrs, we've been accountable to each other in many areas, we've eaten SO many fried egg sandwiches and ramen (he likes putting pieces of lettuce in his), we've shared some design projects recently that I only see getting bigger/better, we've made each other endless pots of French Press, we've jumped in on the same melody/harmony/whistle out of the blue countless times, we've shared a lot of clothes, we've spotted each other so many times, we've become firm on Coca Cola.

This is what I can think of in a couple minutes. He had a birthday on Thursday and had the good fortune of having his mom here for it. I count Tric the dearest of friends and am blessed to call him my brother. Pat him on the back the next time you see him, if you gain him as a friend your life will be richer in SO many ways.

GV PRINTING

2010-09-17T19:36:00.000-07:00

All B&W series over at GV's site on our latest printing project. Shrek it out!

Claire's House Warming

2010-09-14T17:46:00.000-07:00

Claire invited us to an incredible house warming last eve. I had the BEST hot dog i've ever had, seriously, Lebanese cream cheese, home made olive tapenade, Dijon mustard, ketchup, grilled onion, wheat bun, beef with no extra crap. HOLLA! I didn't get a single non blury foto of Claire, but her back is towards you at least. Congrads Claire! What a lovely time & place you have!

LGC x The Courage

2010-09-13T01:16:00.001-07:00

Le Grand Cru teamed up with The Courage for a special T-shirt to celebrate their first official full length record. Only 100 were made and was first available last night at their album release show. They will be available during their tour in support of 'Fearful Bones' as well as briefly on LGC's site.

I'm very fond of The Courage and to create with them in mind was a true delight. High Five friends, so proud of you and your craft!

NO THEFT x Paper Astronomer

2010-09-13T00:28:00.000-07:00

This past Friday my good friend Melodie & I printed 100 ltd. screen prints of my latest piece for Paper Astronomer's show at the Tractor Tavern. It's one of my favorites. It's an incredible thing to have an idea, sketch it out, and 2 days later being a print. A great satisfaction.

Another satisfaction that trumps this greatly is having the trust of a client. The trust to deliver a piece that's the best compliment and natural extension to their craft. I've worked numerous times with PA and each time they have let me pursue casting a vision and running with it. This trust has allowed me to push what I do in exploring new design directions even though some of em may be nasty. This piece has surpassed my vision for it. I'm well pleased. GO to this show, ALSO my boy Tony Kevin Jr. is playing too, HOLLA!

I Gotta Girl

2010-09-11T01:05:00.000-07:00

I have a girl and we're both from Michigan. We love to go to the lake and she'd probably say that she loves to go to the lake and that she has to drag me along until I say 'babe, that's not true, I love the lake'. This one time we got a spicy chiken sandwhich, medium frie, lrg coke on the way to the lake. She wasn't hungry and jus said 'I'll have a bite of yours' which meant that in a short few minutes she would actually be hungry and I would give half of everything I would have to her even though she would be like 'no babe, i don't want to eat your food, jus eat it' and what man could sit around eating food when his girl is hungry? ALWAYS get more than one frie.
We both have sweet teal shoes.

Things I sometimes forget about Vanja: She can speak Croatian fluently. Crazy right? She only pulls out the eastern tongue for the Sabbath blessing and when speaking to the fam. Mob? She can be really street hard, faces, getting things done, clothes, music, hand signs, did I mention faces? She loves fresh flowers and I never get them for her, food or flowers...never mind, that's a lost battle, FLOWERS. She loves kids, being around em, teaching them, playing, taking care of, I see such a beautiful side of her when she's around children, it's oh so nice. She's FEARLESS, seriously, what she's willing to do, jump out of planes, take buses late at night, invite homeless people to join our table when we eat out, do dishes as soon as we're done eating, grocery shop with a ravenous boy, move to Seattle to be closer to me :D WOOT WOOT!

Something I forget about myself: I love my birth place Paris, when I hear someone speak French my mind works differently, new synapsis, old memories, I melt a little and then get sad because I don't speak French and haven't been home since '86. I'd like to spend a chunk of my life in France one day, reconnect with my family, work and write French music.

This is what a Friday evening in Michigan looks like during the summer. I didn't edit this photo at all, just like this. I miss Michigan and I miss my girl too.

Paul Mcobb

2010-09-08T00:41:00.000-07:00

I jus found another desk I would enjoy having. Maybe in the future den?

FOTO CURRENTS

2010-09-04T15:08:00.001-07:00

NO THEFT X LLB

2010-09-03T14:46:00.001-07:00

I'm drawing more and finding more fonts that I like to work with. In regard to color/mood I think of one word for this piece, and it happens to be one of my favorite words: Apothecary.
Come out to see my pals Lower Lights Burning on the 17th!

Richard Amsel 1947-1985

2010-09-03T01:04:00.000-07:00

This brother produced such iconic work in his short life, he did movie posters for Indiana Jones, Chinatown, Hello Dolly, The Sting, very prolific. The amount of his memorable work for such a short time challenges & inspires me. This week has been the busiest week of my life thus far. My time is precious these days, so recapping hasn't been a priority. I can't wait to show some of the latest pieces that are coming out of these hectic crunches. For now look at this swell piece above.

WWI & WWII

2010-08-26T18:31:00.001-07:00

The Queen in army jumpsuit. I love this snap

Surrendering German U-Boat arriving in London

Massive artillery

Young Dutch children waving to Allies

NO THEFT x Pablo Trucker

2010-08-26T17:35:00.000-07:00

Pablo Trucker is working on their full length record right now. HUHZAH! I love em and their tunes. You may get to hear some new tunes at this show!

I started this poster on type. I usually see the rest of a piece around type. I stared at Pablo Trucker for 3 days in this masking I did using the font Alte Haas Grotesk. I then looked at old WWI black & white photos that i've been collecting and found a great one to base the image off of. I wanted to make it look like a book cover, something that you'd want to turn the page to find out why he's got his eyebrow cocked up and maybe at who its attention is given to. I haven't used my drawings with masking yet, so this is a step into another new direction. Design is endless.

GO to this show, it's gonna own. I'll be there too!

I WANT

2010-08-25T01:07:00.001-07:00

Gearing up for the Fall with modesty

2010-08-24T13:27:00.000-07:00

In the past week i've sold quite a bit of my clothing for groceries sake. This has made me 1) cherish my remaining articles 2) made me want to live more simply 3) in that modesty having premium quality articles that last.

In saying that I'm on a mission for: A new casual & dress belt | J.Crew cardigan from a previous post | 3 fitted collar shirts that can handle tucked in our out & about | 2 bow ties | 5 more pairs of subtly interesting dress socks | a pair of corduroy's | and these Eastland gems beneath | AND a Falls scent of course.

LATEST

2010-08-17T18:00:00.001-07:00

I've never been so swamped. I feel like I say that often, but it's even more true each time I do. Maintaining all my involvements is quite a juggle and I cherish the patience/grace/encouragements from all my peeps involved in the different things with me. These are 2 posters I've recently done. I don't have time to explain em out, nice break right? :D
I can't wait to show Amanda DuFord's album that VANJA. & I jus finished, I think it's my best work yet.

ALSO my first solo show will be Sept. 3 at the Upper Room w/ Summer of Persimmons & The Head and The Heart. I'll be going by Thomas Carr Stiles for my solo work and I'll explain that sometime.

After Years of Waiting

2010-08-02T00:42:00.001-07:00

J Crew delivers. I've been on a cardigan hunt for 4 years now. Each season I've been let down by quality & fit. This year J Crew made the cut/color/blend that i find just great! A proper cardigan is an investment that a gentleman should welcome. I've had my current cardigan for about 6 years now and it's time for a new one. It's functional, perfect for dress up/dress down, and really ties an outfit together. Looks great open & closed too, I can't say enough about a well made cardigan. Seasonally it's great, just perfect for the entrance of Fall as well as the start of the spring when its warming up but you still need some sleeves.

Now I'm going to sell one of my younger brothers to Egypt and then grovel my way back and depend on him years later when the famine strikes. This is my scheme to purchase the above.

J CASH

2010-08-02T00:15:00.000-07:00

The song you made famous he would do and then no one would remember your version because after hearing his version no one could dare think it was anybody's elses song. That's how amazing Cash was.

FRED PERRY CHUKKA

2010-08-02T00:11:00.001-07:00

I'M A FAN

DESIGN: The two sides of a sharp sword

2010-07-30T09:30:00.000-07:00

I'm weary of design being used to jump on the band wagon of pointing fingers at BP. To me the sarcasm in it makes light of the situation and dumbs it down. It's easy to be critical of others in the first place and 10x easier when others make mistakes. I'd like to see design make a turn for the better with the rescue outreach that is so greatly needed for the ocean/inhabitants, the jobs that are suffering at the cost of depending on the coast, & for great doers to arise from this tragedy.

I've chosen two pieces that are contrasting in my mind and direct attention to the spill in two diff. ways. The first is by Gavin Potenza whom I'm admire greatly. He constructively takes all the attention from this current spill and zooms out to other oil spill tragedies that have occurred. I like this because it's easy for one to be narrow minded when pain is involved, so to see the other sufferers in your spectrum deff. changes your perspective.

The other piece i've chosen is sarcasm heavy to show the polar opposites that design can have on the same topic. I haven't researched the designers identity, I'm not here to spread a fire, I want to see mending.

BE CREATIVELY HEALTHY

2010-07-30T00:42:00.000-07:00

Hello fellow creative kids who use their skills for income. You owe it to yourself to stop what you are doing and read this ARTICLE

M KNIGHT x BEN BLOOD

2010-07-30T00:34:00.000-07:00

(fotos by Ben Blood)

A couple weeks back my pal Melodie had a birthday bash and Ben Blood took snaps thru the evening & did a special photo booth at the end. See some special snaps HERE

ALSO why am I making such a face? What expression would you call that? I'm silly.

Karli & Caleb + ZUMI

2010-07-29T22:37:00.000-07:00

My friends Karli & Caleb married each other this past weekend. It was one of my favorites weddings i've been too. Deeply spiritual, great live music through out, and Karlis amazing design touch was everywhere. When we arrived right before Karli walked down the isle Ben ran over to me and said 'here, shoot some stuff' 1 a minute later the wedding started. I didn't get as much as I had hoped, there was SO much amazing things to shoot, but the master of visual gold will take care of that for ya'll...ahem.. cough..Ben Blood. Here's a video he pieced together of some of the footage i shot. I'm so happy for these 2 precious people, i love em so much.

karli and caleb from Ben Blood on Vimeo.

MY NEXT DESK

2010-07-28T11:23:00.000-07:00

Crate & Barrel

NO THEFT x TONY KEVIN JR

2010-07-23T12:03:00.000-07:00

Tony is playing the The Abbey in a couple weeks, it's an excellent opportunity and in the midst of a great community of musicians/listeners. For this poster I wanted it to be more intimate and shy away from harsh lines of design. Tric took a snap of TK last week at Neptune and it's been on my mind since. I wanted to draw it as a modern bust, jus neck and up. I was about 3/4's done drawing it and my pen dried out, I was kinda grumpy about it, but then jus decided to go with it. I kept it all pen related with the exception of the block behind TK, my friend Heather was over hanging out while I was finishing this up and I asked her to write Tony's name in Pen. I was sold, I had her write all the information for it. (You're a champ Heather).

Design aside, TK has been writing like a warrior. His new stuff is killing it live, I'm very eager for his first Full length.

AMANDA DUFORD x NO THEFT

2010-07-21T20:38:00.001-07:00

I have finished all the watercoloring/cutting out of my new record cover for Amanda Duford's first release. It's my most ambitious project yet and I'm super proud of it. VANJA. is tag teaming with me again on it with her foto skills. I can't wait to share this. This is it all packaged and ready to be shipped to VANJA.

HAPPY BASTILLE DAY

2010-07-14T12:53:00.001-07:00

LIVE STRONG x TOUR DE FRANCE

2010-07-09T13:22:00.000-07:00

There's not a day that I don't think of my grandparents Thomas A. Stiles and Mary Lou Carr Stiles, I was blessed to be by their side when they passed away from cancer. Their role in bringing me up will always be with me, as I mature, as I have my own children, and hopefully I'm alive when they have children.

I just saw that Lance Armstrong's LIVESTRONG is doing this thing called 'Chalkbot' where you use 40 letters to right a message. It gets posted on their site and some will get printed on signs to be put on the side of the road that Tour De France treks through. It's pretty cool reading some that have already been posted. I encourage ya'll to right something, hope gives courage in so many ways. This is one small way of spreading it. Here's my 40 letter message.

Go HERE to write a message.

Listening to:

2010-07-07T17:08:00.001-07:00

My goal by years end is to have all of The Black Keys on vinyl.

LOG SEATS

2010-07-07T12:59:00.000-07:00

I want to make these!

NEXT PROJECT

2010-07-07T12:11:00.000-07:00

Visit the Botany Factory to get excited about plant nurturing.

Elliott Panigot

2010-07-07T00:02:00.000-07:00

My little brother (ahem... 6 '3) turned 18 today! This kids a genius. Got great scholarships to go to college, has a wicked sense of sarcasm, and good looking of course..he's a Panigot. I'm excited to see more of his unfolding life and what he will do with it. 8 yrs ago he drew this picture of me playing a guitar. I hang it next to my Pablo Picasso 'old guitarist' from the blue period on my wall. Love you kiddo!

Amy Seeley

2010-07-06T10:25:00.001-07:00

Amy Seeley asked me to do a poster for her show at the Woods coming up. I've heard about this venue and seen live performances of when it first opened on KEXP's blog. I'm stoked for her to have a show here, I'd deff. like to go, shoot, maybe I will. The concept hit me quick, piano player+venue hint. So I masked some sweet wood grain in the piano outline and went muted colors on it. I did this version with a tight gridded type box and another version pulling out the venue name because of its growing notoriety. I'm posting the one I'm more fond of :D

Amy is a dear to work with and it's incredible working with someone who is this active with pursuing music. I got some sneak peaks of her recording process during her time in Montana. I can't wait for those to go public. Very organic, instruments everywhere, just looked like a lot of fun. If you're in Portland Aug 11. make no other plans besides being at The Woods, gonna be a treat!

In Disguise

2010-07-06T10:23:00.000-07:00

This is making my day so far.

Animated Goodness

2010-07-05T01:35:00.000-07:00

Just saw this trailer, has an intriguing mysterious story with cool design elements. It's currently playing here in Seattle! Have a peak and see what you think.

JEEP

2010-07-05T01:09:00.000-07:00

On this cold rainy 4th of July in Seattle several terrific things happened. I grubbed up with my extended family : Ben Blood, Roald & Lauren, Hillary, and Buce. We had 3 grills goin! We really porked out! Another amazin thing that happened was Hillary saying she had a Jeep, this sent a shot of nostalgia quickly into my Michigan avenues. We shared our families both always having Jeeps and both of us learning how to drive stick in em. I remember going to Uncle Tommy's house and he said 'heres the keys, lets go into the corn field and learn how to drive stick'. That was a great no bars full boar experience. I think I was 12.

(this is the one I drove today)

Hillary then told me 'wanna take it for a spin?' I was too nervous to take someones Jeep on a spin and insisted she drove and I'd go for a ride. We went out and she schooled me on ALL things Jeep. She named all the parts, explained the different engine types for different Jeep models. It was a full thrashing of my naivety. She finally got me to take it for a drive. It was much different than the easy Honda stick. You had to kinda man handle it, the gear shift wasn't really smooth, the stick needed some muscle to move it, and it also had an extra gear with an extended release on the clutch. As soon as I got the hang of it, I wanted to drive over everything and forget the roads! It was fantastic! I came back super gitty.

Thanks everyone for a swell 4th. Thanks Hillary for a glimpse of my past and hopeful future of having a Jeep!

I WANT ONE

2010-07-04T13:23:00.000-07:00

Summer Currents of JUNE

2010-07-03T21:03:00.000-07:00

Sperry does a Chukka

2010-07-02T00:57:00.000-07:00

I'd wear these.

GET LEGIT

2010-06-30T23:19:00.000-07:00

I'm getting some NO THEFT biz cards made. A bit overdue.

PATAGONIA

2010-06-27T17:12:00.000-07:00

Nice illustrated print for Patagonia by Geoff McFetridge (a Legend)
they have some sweet T's, check em out.

YOUNG THE GIANT

2010-06-27T10:17:00.000-07:00

I posted this album cover done by Invisible Creature a little bit ago that I really dug for the band Young The Giant. Yesterday along Switchfoot, The Almost, Ok Go, Dynamite Walls, and others, this band got up on stage and caught my attention. It was love at first sound. Think Delta Spirit and The Walkmen joining forces to be one band. Thats how good live they were. I'm now really nervous about getting their upcoming record in case the production doesn't match up with their superb live set. Shoot, it was outdoors too and they killed it.

Watch out for these gents, i'm stoked!

SPOT ON

2010-06-24T10:01:00.001-07:00

This is pretty accurate and amusing. Click to view bigger.

YIKES

2010-06-21T18:37:00.000-07:00

Find out how effected your digs would be HERE if the gulf spill hit you.

KEY DIGITS to GREEN THUMBS

2010-06-21T18:20:00.001-07:00

In the midst of furious hustle to produce work for clients it's nice to detach your digits from the computer and put em to use outside. Today I cleaned up the weeds clinging to the declining wall of our driveway. After that I decided to get one of our planter boxes packed with interesting flavor. I salvaged whats left of my terrarium (sorry Jen & Josh, they needed more sunlight than Seatown could give), my Ikea plant, and a lil flower and a single Rhododendron. I found some really neat moss around the cracks of our drive way and packed it around too.

I have another smaller planters box that I would like to plant some pretty flowers in. Anyone recommend some cheap pretty flowers to get? Maybe a couple of diff ones? Talk to me!

I've really been getting into plant life & farming. I most likely will end up on a farm one day while pursuing GV/design/LGC.

BEN BLOOD x WM

2010-06-15T22:20:00.001-07:00

My pal/brother Ben Blood has jus taken some sweet snaps of Washington Mile! It's cool cuz i jus did a poster for them a little bit back. It's nice seeing different various creative types working with similar artists for different projects. High-Five Ben, and High-Five WM for working with him! Keepin' it local y'all in the TWO-O-SIX!

NO THEFT x MELODIE KNIGHT

2010-06-13T17:35:00.000-07:00

My pal M Knight is having a HUGE birthday party this year. She's having pals from bands play, foto pals takin snaps, and all of this being at the Showbox Greenroom. For the space I think it's going to be crazy crammed by amazing people, looking forward to it.

M K wanted me to include musical notes/clouds for the poster to reflect the stage decorations. I stay far away from those elements usually, as well as hearts,skulls,lightning bolts, card symbols, etc. It was a challenge to try to find a way using those elements that I could agree upon. I decided to go with an old poster bill approach and stick to building a type structure layout first and then include the illustrated elements. I stuck to 2 colors for a letterpress hint and made them both a deep rich color. It was nice working on a piece that required a lot of text and structural play. Mind stretching!

NO THEFT x Q CAFE

2010-06-10T19:49:00.001-07:00

The Q is having a songwriter showcase specifically by the ladies! I instantly wanted to steer away from anything pink or outright girly BUT I did want to have a tender look. I stuck to muted colors, dashed crossing lines, slight curves to the ink pen, and a little cursive for the Jane Austen touch. I was concerned that if people only focused on ALL ladies songwriter showcase that they may dismiss it and miss out on a swell show. SO I kept the ladies out of the title.

I think diff. sexes can deff. bring wonderful unifying/differing perspectives. Regrettably, it can also bring quick judgmental views. With any art or profession I think a human being should be known by their skill & character, not their sex. Their sex is what brings an incredible insight that delivers a unique light onto their art/work. Jus some thoughts. I love the boys & girls! Stay nice to each other!

Home Remodel

2010-06-08T18:54:00.000-07:00

I was in MICHIGAN for the past 3 weeks putting in floor boards for my Mom and repainting the walls. It's all brand new! Huhzah! My Mom snuck in some snaps of me slaving away.

living room

cutting boards

dining room

before & after of dining room

end of dining room/hallway to stairwell

finishing last section

Vanna White pose and getting Henry Winehard Rootbeer & celebrating like a man with my beast of a brother Benjamin (6'4 ya'll).

YIRG : MY COFFEE CHOICE

2010-06-07T21:46:00.000-07:00

The small subtle sign outside

The beans I enjoy the most

A happy camper in San Fran's Blue Bottle

Blue Bottle has my favorite coffee in America so far. When we go thru San Fran I usually buy a bag or 2. This little bit below is about the coffee that I got from their site, it sounds high brow, it amuses and informs me. I just found out you can order from them! HUHZAH!

The Yirg is the most delicate of all Ethiopian coffees: the mint-julep-sipping younger sister to the burly, assertive Harrar, or the conniving Sidamo. At this roast-level (which we are calling medium-plus), much of the oven-cleanery aftertaste is eliminated, and what we are left with is a mild cocoa powder and vanilla bean flavor, with reasonably good body, and low but interesting acid. As it cools, hints of jasmine float delightfully to the surface. This is a coffee on the demure side: this organic Yirgacheffe is to hearty robust fudginess as Rickie Lee Jones is to impeccable diction. In spite of the above, it takes milk or cream reasonably well, and is best as a filter or French press.

Get some and Know em

NO THEFT x PA

2010-06-03T14:15:00.000-07:00

Paper Astronomer is doing a very special all acoustic show coming up. I don't know if I can share this or not, BUT Bruce & Abigail Gundersen MAY be joining them... PA can own both electric and acoustic sets. They toured with Garage Voice for 2 weeks strictly doing acoustic, did an album release show split acoustic/electric. The kids are versatile and I'm excited to see how they will flip this new record onto the acoustic side. For this piece I suggested an acoustic guitar with a moon eclipsing a light sun for some astronomy feel and for the sound hole.

I've been trying to change the venues name from being just on the poster to having an emblem/logo feel. I started doing this with Q Cafe pieces and now with 'Soul Food Books' I took a vintage publishing logo approach. This is one element of the poster design that I'm trying to refine to bring extra subtle differences.

You don't want to miss this show. It can be easy to skip a local artist show if they are playing often, been there for sure, but this is gonna be for the gums folks.

NO THEFT X LLB

2010-06-03T12:59:00.000-07:00

Lower Lights Burning are doing a show at the Q Cafe next week and the entire line up is WA roots. I had to do something with that, so I went old fashioned on the microphone and made it grow from WA state soil. Simple textures with simple diffused colors. BAM! If you want to hear quality NW music come on out! ALSO my pals Le Wrens are playing, and they are precious gems!

WIN

2010-06-02T13:08:00.000-07:00

NO THEFT X TONY KEVIN JR

2010-06-01T14:22:00.000-07:00

My good friend/brother Tony Kevin Jr is playing the Showbox market Greenroom soon with Young Lions. I'm always excited to hear of the doors opening for him and I'm stoked about this show! This is the first poster I've worked on with VANJA. (her site is coming soon, ahem..and so is mine), we've done the Paper Astronomer album cover together which was much more laborious, kinda funny how that happened before a poster. I did the type treatment and she took the Holga pictures. I love seeing film with design. Mmmmm. We ended up choosing 2 Holga shots for it, one taken off the Pike over pass & the other from the mountains views in Leavenworth, WA. A nice Seatown mix. I think we'll be working on more collabs in the near future.

Q Cafe Benefit

2010-05-27T04:54:00.000-07:00

The Q Cafe is having a benefit show to raise funds for revamping the current sound system. GV and other Seatown acts I enjoy will be joining the cause. So proud of the expanding/fulfilling vision of the Q. Stoked as always to be involved.

French Film

2010-05-27T04:31:00.001-07:00

I shall be watching these 2 films very soon.

Afraid of Everyone

2010-05-27T03:41:00.000-07:00

I instantly liked the National when I first heard them. Their song "Fake Empire" swept me quick, and their latest record "High Violet" is doing the same. Their performance on Letterman is very tasty, great wind instruments, joint singing (Sufjan joins the ensemble), as well as a decent mix on live TV, a rare occurrence. Enjoy

Dan Auerbach

2010-05-19T23:05:00.000-07:00

I really really like this song a lot. I mumble it probably twice a day.

SUMMER KICKS II

2010-05-17T22:44:00.000-07:00

SUMMER '10 Fragrance

2010-05-17T22:19:00.001-07:00

This is my official cologne choice for this Summer. It's a grown up Lacoste meets Acqua Di Gio. It's light & fresh with woodsy undertones. I think its great for: sunny afternoons outside, semi formal occasions, and even for elegant dinner outdoors. Versatile with good recognizable character. Read the following for what's been said about my Summer choice:

"Introducing Dolce & Gabbana's newest fragrance for men, Light Blue Pour Homme. Drawing upon their native home of Italy, this innovative design team have captured the sensuality of the Mediterranean. A refreshing blend of citrus notes combines perfectly with masculine woods and subtle spice to create a distinctive fragrance that epitomizes relaxed sophistication.Notes:Sicilian Mandarin, Frozen Grapefruit Peel, Bergamot, Juniper, Rosemary, Szechuan Pepper, Rosewood, Musk Wood, Incense, Oak Moss.Style:Mysterious. Confident. Sensual."