I designed this ‘Booty Vision’ shirt (buy the shirt here) for my friends in Planet Booty, the band and performance spectacle by Germart. Germart is the art empire of the brothers Germick; you may remember Ryan Germick from my interview with him. His brothers Nate and Dylan perform as Planet Booty. The shirt portrays Dylan “spying some intergalactic booty.”
Below is a video the boys made to promote a recent performance. I find the video so amusing and that ambient background music so mesmerizing that I’ve watched it ten times. Listen to the Planet Booty record here.
I haven’t been this crazy about a band since I was a Cobain-obsessed teenager. During the last month, my casual interest in early-80’s punk band The Misfits has mutated into a devilish craving. I’m a fiend.
At first, I had written The Misfits off as just another low-fi thrashing experience, but then a series of thrilling revelations occurred. I discovered the band’s taste for sci-fi and horror-themed songs (‘Teenagers from Mars,’ ‘Night of the Living Dead’). They have a song about a werewolf, a song about The Fly, songs about Jackie O. and Marilyn Monroe. I was stunned when I realized the power and range of diabolical Misfits mastermind and frontman Glenn Danzig, “a powerful vocalist who didn’t so much emulate Elvis Presley and Jim Morrison as embody their cocksure attitude and charisma,” according to the iTunes review of the band’s debut. This is a hardcore punk band, led by a melodic crooner styled after Elvis, singing songs about martians and vampires. It’s the strangest hybrid, a creepy Frankenstein creature of a rock band, and the whole thing is utterly hilarious. That’s how I became a Fiend (Danzig named his self-published Misfits fan club enterprise the ‘Fiend Club,’ signing some of his letters to friends and fans with “Stay Cool Ghoul”).
They want your skull.
As early as ‘78, the band was already branded with a name, logo, hairstyle (the incomparably inconvenient ‘devilock,’ a lock of hair narrowed into a horn-like sheath that hangs between the eyes), and sound that all thoroughly embodied their signature campy horror style. I dug further and futher, and before I knew it, I was spending way too much time YouTube-ing vintage Misfits clips and Googling nerd-alert search terms like “Glenn Danzig biography” (watch him show off his book collection). After years without a serious new musical obsession, it was a real joy. I love Grizzly Bear but bands like that don’t encourage obsession. If part of your look is being casual and appearing not to try too hard, your fans will probably follow suit. An Interpol tattoo is surely a rarity.
The band’s most well-known song is ‘Where Eagles Dare’
The final revelation came when I started reading Misfits lyrics. Some of the band’s songs are so fast and raw that it was occasionally difficult to hear the lyrics properly, but I soon discovered a lyrical genius in the eccentric meathead-to-be Danzig. I thought I heard a rousing chorus of “I want your soul / I need your soul.” This struck me as a passable, somewhat generic love song. My jaw literally dropped when I learned that the song title was ‘Skulls,’ the chorus was actually “I want your skull / I need your skull,” and the lyrics told a gory tale about a demonic psycopath with a skull collection. Holy shit. If you can see the humor in it, and if you’re a fan of horror films (Danzig was raised on the creepy/silly horror classics from 50’s film production company Hammer Horror), it’s heaven.
Even if you don’t crave more two-minute-long songs about the undead, I recommend being youthful when you can this month. Pursue some of those unbridled passions that can shrink away amidst the stresses and obligations that come with adult things like age and career and time. It’s good for you. Sometimes it takes work to find bands that you adore – research and browsing and recommendations and sometimes years of listening to music you enjoy but don’t always fiend for. But it’s worth it, so find what you fiend for. And remember, as the Descendents once said, “Thou shalt not commit adulthood.”
Yesterday, I held a photo shoot in a mannequin factory for musician Boots Factor (of Stephen Kellogg & The Sixers). It was a very exciting adventure; here’s a sneak peek.
My great friend Ryan Germick drew this ‘Party She-Wolf’ in my honor. This drawing is a reference to the Magnetic State ‘Party Werewolf’ t-shirt design, which you can purchase to support the World Wildlife Fund.
In the context of contemporary branding, what is the meaning of a logo? The short answer is that it has greater power than it did several decades ago.
I just read a quote from graphic designer hero Paul Rand that really made me think. Rand is quoted in this Smashing Magazine article about logo design as defining a logo thusly: “a logo is a flag, a signature, an escutcheon, a street sign. A logo does not sell (directly), it identifies. A logo is rarely a description of a business. A logo derives meaning from the quality of the thing it symbolizes, not the other way around.A logo is less important than the product it signifies; what it represents is more important than what it looks like. The subject matter of a logo can be almost anything.”
This view on the meaning of a logo is no longer true. In fact, it has been reversed.
Again, Rand is my hero and I look to his work for inspiration regularly, but his most well-known designs were created during the 60’s, 70’s, and 80’s. Corporate branding has evolved drastically in the decades since.
According to Naomi Klein’s No Logo (published in 2000, this book is a must-read for anyone interested in branding or corporate identity), “The astronomical growth in the wealth and cultural influence of multinational corporations over the last fifteen years can arguably be traced back to a single, seemingly innocuous idea developed by management theorists in the mid-1980’s: that successful corporations must primarily produce brands, as opposed to products.”
In other words, Nike’s corporate identity – including, but not limited to, its ubiquitous ‘Swoosh’ logo – carries much more value and meaning than any pair of sneakers. In fact, that pair of Nikes will wear out in a few months (and you might purchase whatever new model they happen to be hawking at the time), but the Swoosh will remain untarnished as an image emblazoned on the side of billions of products and ads – and more importantly, as an idea in the minds of countless consumers.
Mr.Rand says that a logo derives meaning from the qualities of the thing it represents. But what about the generic package of cheaply-produced shoelaces that bear the Nike logo on the label? Surely consumers pay more for these shoelaces because the product is deriving meaning from the logo, and therefore, the brand.
During Mr.Rand’s career, the logo existed to support the product. For many of today’s megabrands, the product has become secondary to the idea of the brand and the logo’s symbolization of that idea.
The challenge for us graphic designers is to use this powerful tool for good and not evil! If you have skill and talent as a logo designer, use it to strengthen those brands and companies whose goals and motives you trust and admire (a.k.a. not Nike).
If Mr.Rand were still with us today, I’m sure he’d be at the forefront of developments like these. Here’s a classic interview with the endearing, no-nonsense designer for old-time’s sake.
Above is the flyer I designed for the 2010 Beard Ball, hosted by my friends at Build-A-Beard. The show is a benefit for RightRides, which is an organization that provides safe late-night rides home for women and LGBTQ individuals. Cool cause, huh? I thought so too, so I had my design fee donated to the organization. Hope to see you at the show!
I stumbled across this in an old sketchbook today and just had to put it online because I still feel very affectionate for it. This is a (skewed, poorly lit) photo of an oil painting that I did in college. The assignment, given to students in the Illustration Department at Parsons School of Design by the legendarily skilled and bawdy illustrator Alan Reingold, was to duplicate an oil painting by a famous artist.
I chose a Norman Rockwell painting (see Rockwell’s original here) in which I saw a whimsical concept and challenging photorealism. The last time I saw my version of the painting, it was in Dad’s basement somewhere, but I’d love to find it and frame it because it remains one of my favorite paintings I’ve ever done, despite the unoriginal subject matter. It represents a time when I was drawing and painting all day every day and learning all the time. I still work hard and learn always, but I rarely paint anymore, and, well, I’m a nostalgic sap, okay? There, I said it (as if it wasn’t already obvious enough by the fact that I chose to emulate a Rockwell).
This mosaic resides on the floor of La Bonne Bouffe, an Algerian restaurant and crêperie located at the corner of 2nd and B in Manhattan. I designed the restaurant’s menus, which are now available to view in my portfolio. The acronym ‘GOLES’ in the mosaic stands for ‘Good Old Lower East Side.’ According to La Bonne Bouffe owner Skander Belbekri, this mosaic was completed decades ago by an artist who installed similar mosaics free of charge around the city.
My first menu design was an exciting challenge. The design solution is tasteful and elegant, and we displayed an enormous amount of information on a variety of menus, including brunch, dinner, and takeout. For further menu design inspiration, check out this analysis of the menu design strategy at Balthazar.
I highly recommend the food at La Bonne Bouffe; Skander takes a great deal of pride in his fresh ingredients and mouth-watering entrees that deliver authentic French and Algerian recipes to New York appetites. View the menu design.
This blog is written by Dan Redding, a graphic & web designer, illustrator, and the owner of Magnetic State design studio. View the Magnetic State design portfolio.
Below is a video the boys made to promote a recent performance. I find the video so amusing and that ambient background music so mesmerizing that I’ve watched it ten times. Listen to the Planet Booty record here.
