What the hell is going on?

Hey, here’s another installment of questions people email to me and the answers I give. Remember, when in doubt, join a gang!

The sender’s email is in bold:

I have a few projects lined up right now for bands that are friends, but I need to start pulling in more regular work, and I am woefully ignorant about the business.

1) Do you or did you have any type of representation to get work? If so, any recommendations?

1. I don’t have a rep, or agent, or manager, never have and the way things are going, probably won’t. Many of my friends are also successful illustrators and they don’t have representation. The only illustrators and designers I know are the older ones (in their mid to late forties). I think having a rep is a throwback to a pre internet society, when a professional needed representation. These days, we can all reach out to people ourselves. I do work with agencies at times, but only here and there. I don’t feel like sharing their names as I get good work from them. You can search for reps on the internet, just google terms like “illustration representation” and submit your portfolio for review. Personally, I see a rep as someone taking money that is yours for doing something you can easily do yourself, but that’s me.

2) How much of your posters happen because the band is seeking a poster vs. you contacting them? (in my experience, it looks like most posters happen because the artist likes a band and then finds a way to hustle the poster. In which case, is it better to design the whole poster first, and then get permission to make it / sell it?)

2. There is no single way. Almost all answers to “is it this way or that way” type questions are both or a little bit of everything. With posters this is true especially because it is an independent industry with no set rules and only a loose code. You don’t want to make a poster without permission from the band, even if you haven’t sold it. Only by working with the band’s management are you totally legit. Venues and promoters are third party and usually unofficial.

3) What about contracts? Do you use them every time, and what is necessary to include in the contract?

3. Contracts are always good, but it’s better to call them agreements, it’s more friendly. I only use contracts when there’s big money involved. The bands are good for it and if you establish the terms in email, that’s good enough. I have never had payment issues with a client. Good items to include in an agreement are quantity of posters everyone will get, how much you’ll get paid, work deadlines, payment deadlines, and anything else that you feel is critical. Most posters are made without any formal agreements, just email confirmation.

4) Any advice in general? (hopefully not what Frank Kozik me years ago, “Don’t get into making posters, there’s no money in it.”

4. Kozik is a smart man and he’s right. There’s probably only three guys in the world who could make baller money from just band posters. The posters can make decent money, but you get more money from the work and popularity the posters generate. They’re essentially giant business cards. Things change all the time though.

Whaaaaaaatttt uppppp! Crazy for Cult at 1988 Gallery is in session again, for the fourth time. This is my second time participating in this event and the happenings just keep, well, happening.

For my cult movie, I choose, Rushmore, which, for me, is director Wes Anderson’s best movie, though all his movies are great. This print will be released and sold tomorrow (Friday, July , 2010) at Gallery 1988 in Los Angeles, along with the work of 100 other artists. The price will be announced by the Gallery.

My print, titled, Sic Transit Gloria, is a four color, hand screen printed poster on 18 x 24 inch 100 lb Cougar Cover paper. It uses metallic silver and glow in the dark inks to create a very magical look.

Here are some detail shots I took. I must warn you that this poster is hard to photograph because the silver reflects whatever it’s near, but I think these are good shots to share with you.

These pictures were taken of the poster in the dark and with a black light to show you how it glows. For the best results, use a black light lamp, with can be bought from many places online for less than $10.

Here’s a slideshow of the rest of the pictures I took.

Rushmore, the movie, has a very personal connection to me. I incorporated my interpretation of the movie into this art print.

In the movie, the characters Max Fischer and Miss Cross represent the need to move on and the the desire to cling to the past, respectively.

Miss Cross clings to her departed husband, Edward Appleby. She lives in his house and doesn’t want to move on. Whenever she talks about him, she reminisces. Her mentality is summed up in her Latin phrase, nihilo santum estne?
(Is nothing sacred?)

Max, is like Miss Cross, he wants to cling to Rushmore like she wants to cling to Edward Appleby. As a student of Rushmore, Max is almost superhuman, excelling in all the arts and humanities. His intellect is never in question, so one is led to assume his failing grades are intentional, as an effort to stay in Rushmore, rather than go out into the world. Despite Max’s many achievements, he will need to move on as Rushmore can’t last forever. Therefore, his Latin phrase is Sic Transit Gloria (Glory fades).

How does Max’s phrase apply to him though? It means that no single act or acts sum up our lives. No matter how great something was, you always have to move on, you can’t linger in the glow of past actions.

It sounds negative, but it isn’t. Glory fades means just that, glory fades, but it doesn’t ever go away completely. Its effects linger on, however faintly. This is demonstrated in the movie when Miss Cross says to Max,”You were a member of the Rushmore Bee Keepers weren’t you?/Edward Appleby founded that club”. Edward Appleby is dead, yet the accomplishments of his life still go on. The moment she says that to Max, we see a montage of him making the transition of putting Rushmore behind him, though not without a few hangups in the rest of the movie. Upon realizing that his actions will be remembered, in some way or another, he is finally able to move on.

I chose constellations because the ancients often saw them as the remnants of the achievements of heroes, long gone. Their glory has faded, but not gone away. Perhaps near the end of everyone’s life, they should look back on their greatest achievements, establish their constellation in the night sky, and share that constellation with the people they knew, to leave them with an everlasting and accessible remnant of themselves. Just something to think about.

Hi everyone. This is my schedule of events where I will be personally to hand out posters, shake hands, smile, answer questions, and give you quotes on car insurance. Occasionally events change, they get added or dropped. Please make sure that this schedule is the most up to date, as I will psot over this as changes develop.

Renegade Craft Fair Los Angeles has been canceled due to schedule conflicts. Please go there anyway, it is so much fun. Also, I can’t attend Crazy for Cult, but I have work in that show, as well as my Venture Bros print sold exclusively at Golden Apple Comics next door.

KEVIN TONG 2010 LIVE (20% LIVENESS GUARANTEED) SCHEDULE

Crazy for Cult 4D
http://www.nineteeneightyeight.com
July 9-30, 2010
Opening night: July 9, 7-10 pm
Gallery 1988
7020 Melrose Ave, Los Angeles, CA
-For the fourth time, 100 artists interpret classic cult movies. Results may vary, in terms of insanity! Admission is free.

Rock Paper Show- San Francisco
www.flatstock.wordpress.com
July 9, 8-10 pm
Levi’s Workshop
580 Valencia St, San Francisco, CA
-This is the San Francisco book release of the book Rock Paper Show, with API members available to discuss the history of API and Flatstock. Designers like Jason Munn and Dirk Fowler will be in attendance. Like in New York, I don’t know what my level of participation will be (speaking, signing, sitting) until I get there. Admission is free.

Flatstock 25- By the Bay- San Francisco
www.americanposterinstitute.com
July 10, 2010, 10:00 am to 6:00 pm
Golden Gate Park at the Hall of Flowers (County Fair Building)
65 Cortland Ave, San Francisco CA
-The Rock Poster Society is teaming up with Flatstock to present this incredible summer event. Don’t miss your chance to check out rock posters from your favorite artists! Admission is free

Flatstock 26- Pitchfork Music Festival
www.americanposterinstitute.com
July 16-18, 2010
Noon-10pm
Union Park, Chicago on the grounds of the Pitchfork Music Festival
1501 W Randolph St, Chicago, IL
-Come check out this special three-day Flatstock featuring 45 rock poster artists during the entire Pitchfork Music Festival! Admission is free to all Pitchfork Music Festival attendees

Renegade Craft Fair San Francisco
www.renegadecraft.com/
July 31 - August 1, 2010
11 am-7pm
Fort Mason Center Festival Pavillion,
Marina Blvd at Buchanan Street, San Francisco, CA
-Don’t miss this craft, art, design, and DIY event which features over 225 of today’s finest indie craft talents from all over the nation. Admission is free

Flatstock 27- Bumbershoot- Seattle
www.americanposterinstitue.com
September 4-6, 2010
11am-8pm
Seattle Center, Fisher Pavillion
305 Harrison St, Seattle, WA
-Flatstock teams up with Bumbershoot in Seattle to bring you your favorite rock poster artists! Admission is free to Bumbershoot Music festival Attendees

Renegade Craft Fair Chicago
www.renegadecraft.com
September 11-12, 2010
11am-7pm
Wicker Park Area,
Division St. between Damen + Paulina, Chicago, IL
-Over 300 of today’s finest indie-craft talents will be setting up shop in the Wicker Park neighborhood in Chicago. Don’t miss the incredible handmade goods from arrests all over the nation. Admission is free

Renegade Craft Fair San Francisco
www.renegadecraft.com
December 18-19, 2010
11am-7pm
Concourse Exhibition Center - East Hall
620 7th St, San Francisco, CA
-Check out over 200 of the nation’s finest indie-craft talents for your last minute holiday shopping needs. Don’t miss this incredible craft, art, design and DIY event! Admission is free.

I talk to lots of people online, but it would be so nice to meet you all in person. Please come on by and I will make the experience unforgettable. Interpret that how you want to.

UPDATE: The art prints are now up for sale at my online store.

Wow, what a Fourth of July weekend. I hope you all had fun at lake houses, watching colorful explosions. The Baths show the night before Independence Day was excellent and my poster for that show was really popular with the band and with all the fans.

The posters from the show sold amazingly, but I’ve saved some show posters to put up for sale on my website. BUT GUESS WHAT? The fun don’t end there! I also made some nifty process videos AND some awesome art prints.

Let’s start with the show posters.

The BATHS show posters are three colors and hand screen printed on 18 x 24 inch 100 lb Cougar paper in an edition of 100. They are all hand signed and numbered. They are available for $25 at my online store right now.

Here’s a little video I put together of me making the BATHS poster, from start to finish. I’m really proud of this image, so I felt compelled to really share it with you all.

Along with the BATHS posters, I made a VERY SMALL edition of custom art prints. There are only 22 art prints total.

There are three different color versions of the art prints. Each one was watercolor painted and sketched on by me for about twenty minutes each. I know this because I went through eight episodes of DEXTER, season four. You can see what went into each one is this video I shot.

Here’s the deal:

The art prints, called “The Window” are three colors and hand screen printed on 18 x 24 inch 100 lb Cougar paper. They will be available for sale in my online store on Tuesday, July 6 sometime after 12 pm (PST). It’s too much to show each one individually, but I can assure you they all look similar to the preview images shown below. Each one is signed and numbered by me.

The Window, Orange Version, has an edition of 9 unique art prints. They are $80 each at my online store, limit one per customer.

The Window, Green Version, has an edition of 6 unique art prints. They are $100 each at my online store, limit one per customer.

The Window, Dark Version, has an edition of 7 unique art prints. They are $100 each at my online store, limit one per customer.

When it says limit one per customer, it just means limit one of that particular color version. I am so excited to be putting this all out into the public. This has been the culmination of a lot of work I was more than happy to put in.

I got to see BATHS at the Troubadour in Hollywood on July 3 with El Ten Eleven, Daedelus, and MatthewDavid. Sodapop DJed between sets.

The show was great. It started with MatthewDavid doing his thing.

El Ten Eleven came on and rocked the house. It was quite a show. I was really into their sound.

Daedelus came on next and showed us all some signature dance moves.

At the end, Baths came on and closed the night with his awesome sounds. The entire event was a record release party for his first album.

I have to admit, I had reservations about seeing MatthewDavid, Daedelus, and Baths live because I have seen other electronic musicians with monos perform live and it can get boring, but I was happy to be wrong.

I created the poster for the show and everyone was really excited. They sold well at the show and Will (of Baths) gave me a public shout out, the first time any band has done that for me.

More information about the remaining posters will be on this blog shortly when they go on sale. I have some nice surprises for everyone on that day.

To see all the videos I shot, please visit my YOUTUBE CHANNEL.

Hey alls. Thanks to those who bought Flight of the Conchords posters. If you ordered a CUT version (lines pre perforated), I feel there are some tips that I have learned from handling these posters day in and out that I can share with you. for your convenience, I have made two easy to follow videos.

I also suggest keeping the backing that the pieces are cut out from. You can tape that backing to your fridge or cubicle wall and once you have sticky mount pieces for all the characters, props, and costumes, you can keep returning them to the backing when you are done, to maintain the look of the poster.

Also, some costumes are duplicates, like the robots and femident costumes, and there are a LOT of accessories. Before popping all the pieces out, I’d suggest using a white color pencil or gel pen to write a J for Jemaine and B for Bret on the back of all of the pieces. Jemaine’s props are on his (left) side and Bret’s are on his side (right), divided down the middle.

Best of luck to you. I hope that you and your family/friends can enjoy this poster as much as I enjoyed making it!

This is a big moment folks. You know you’ve made it when you brand your logo on something trivial like packing tape! Well, ladies and gents, I have done it.

I had packing tape made with my logo on it and it works and looks and feels great. Now you know where that tube came from!

Like many poster folks you know and love, I do freelance work on the side that doesn’t really get credited to me like my posters and prints do. I do work for different clients and I thought I’d share some of the work I have done for those clients with you right now!

The first is a t-shirt design that I did for North Hollywood High’s sports team. What sport that team plays still alludes me, but it’s a t-shirt, so it can be multi-use I guess.

Next, I designed a logo for BF Goodrich’s participation and success at the Baja 1000 races every year in California.

While I was at it, I also designed a poster for the same event for BF Goodrich.

That’s some of the stuff I do on the side. It keeps me busy and I like it. I work as a freelancer full time, so I work from my studio and on a contract basis. Like anything else, there are ups and downs, but I feel like this suits my personality and situation better.

UPDATE: The cut versions are sold out.
UPDATE: This poster is now for sale!

Yes, affirmative. My much anticipated Flight of the Conchords will go for sale Tuesday at noon (PST) at my online store.

The printing looks great and I am really digging the colored paper. All the little details came out great and super tight, with hairline registration locked in.

The posters are official and in a limited edition of 80. They are five color, hand screen printed, on 100 lb Steel Gray French Cover Paper. All posters are hand signed and numbered. They cost $25 each and can be found in my online store starting Tuesday at noon (PST).

These Flight of the Conchords posters are special from other posters I have done. ALL the costumes and props can be cut out and fitted onto their respective figures like a paper doll. this is great for the FOTC fan who is hands on. In order to hold everything together, I suggest using adhesive glue dots, the acid free variety that allows for re-use and repositioning, which can be purchased at most hobby/stationary stores.

It’s really hard to cut all these shapes out, so for an additional $12, I can ship you a poster that has the shapes perforated (cut in dotted lines, so it’s not fully cut out and stays in the poster), so you can just punch them out or keep it as a poster. There will be an option at my online store for the cut version. The cut version will only be available for a week and will be limited to 20 orders. Cut and uncut versions can be combined into one order. For cut versions, please allow 2 weeks for shipping.

Below is a video that shows how the laser precision cutting process works and how you can mix and match the figures and props.