What the hell is going on?

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.

How is yous alls?

I get a lot of questions about where I order certain products and services from, especially from other vendors at events. With so much going on, it can be hard to search around for the best deals, service, and you can’t even be sure you’ll get a quality product. You might even realize the business you contacted was actually a front for the mob and they don’t actually make anything.

I’ll start with my banner, telling you why it’s a good idea to have one, what to look for in a banner, and what company I roll with for mine. I got a lot of compliments on my banner while I was in New York and my previous banner in LA fetched some compliments. Sadly, no one noticed I had a new haircut though. Sadly.

When you are at a convention or sales event, it’s really important to be noticed in a room of other vendors hocking their wares. People need to know who you are and be able to remember you. I’ve heard visitors at those events complain that they often can’t tell what the business name is. They may even have a sign, but it’s small and there’s a lot going on visually, so you can’t expect a person to have Rainman memory skills.

For a banner, here are some effective guidelines I have noticed:

- You want it to represent what you do, because it’s an ad for your small business. If you make insane hats, but have a bland comic sans banner, you are defeating the purpose of a banner.

- It needs to be fairly big, so it’s noticeable against your products and against all the other signs.

- Some events take place outdoors, so make sure it’s a tough banner that can deal with sun, rain, winds, and children.

- It needs to be able to fold up without creasing. Get a pliable material like tarp. Most banners are on vinyl, but there are different kinds and some (cough, kinkos) don’t work that well. You need to be able to fold it up to fit in your luggage.

- Grommets. Make sure you have grommets in all four corners so you can attach your banner to your booth. On that note, plan your real estate. You don’t want your banner to take up space for your product, but you want it to be noticeable. Something I noticed is that people don’t look down. In LA, I had it up and in New York, it was taped to the front of the table (lower), but it got less attention. I suggest a sort of setup that makes your banner rise above your booth.

My banner does all those above things and I got mine made from BuildASign.com. BuildASign is a great company is Texas. Their service is great, the product is great, they have many options, the turnaround is fast, and best of all, the price is cheap. My banner cost around $35 (compare that to a Kinko’s quote for an inferior banner for $130) and they can ship to you. My banner is about two feet by five feet in size.

Feel free to email BuildASign and ask about how they can help you or just go to their Custom Banners Page and get started on your banner right away.

Remember to create a high resolution digital file of your banner image, in order to get a crisp and vivid image. The image is only as good as your file.

My first trip to New York was awesome. Not only did I get to visit the city I had heard so much about, but I got to mix it up firsthand with the locals at Renegade Craft Fair. I did some of my own adventuring as well.

My first impression about New York was that almost all my preconceptions about New York seemed wrong. For instance, I thought New York cabbies would be seasoned locals that would know the city in and out and argue on how to get there best and tell me the restaurant I was going to wasn’t as good as this other one in the East Village. Not true, I had to give those guys directions everywhere. Lame.

The people in New York are very friendly, except when they work somewhere. I kept getting weird looks for being ultra polite and often times, my entire transaction would occur without them looking at me or saying a word. I was mad at first, then I realized I was the outcast.

The best part of New York for me was Central Park. Keep in mind I hate being outside. I loved walking around the whole park and I was even more blown away after two hours of walking when I was informed that I hardly even saw half the park. The upkeep is great and it’s such a get away from the hurly burly of Metropolitan life.

New York’s subway was the next best part. You can get anywhere in that thing. Also, it’s not a cylindrical public restroom/gangbanger hangout like the Los Angeles Metro. I would love to go back soon, but spend more time in Manhattan because there was too much I didn’t see.

While I was there, I also participated in a panel discussion about Flatstock and API (American Poster Institute) with Tara McPherson, Michael Motorcycle, Hero Design Studio, Strawberry Luna, and the publisher and designer of the Rock Paper Show, a book chronicling the wacky adventures of API. This took place at the Strand, perhaps the awesomest bookstore ever.

Renegade Craft Fair went really well. I shared a part of my tent with Dan from DKNG Studios in exchange for help with my booth. I got to meet great people as USUAL and sold a lot of posters, as USUAL, and hung out with friendos, as USUAL. All this great people meeting, poster selling, and friendo hanging is getting old.

I felt pretty bad for some of my vendor brothers and sisters who lost their merchandise or had a hard time due to the rough winds and rain. I was fine because I was protected by a large tree and I had one of the heavy duty tents. I hope it didn’t ruin your good times or sales. If you ever need tape, plastic bags or zip ties, hit me up as I keep that stuff on me at all times like Dexter.

What in the world is up!? This post is coming to you straight out of Brooklyn, where I am having the time of my life, getting ready for Renegade Craft Fair. Please check out the previous blog post for more information on that. This week, I have two posters that I have added to my online store.

The first poster is for Mumford & Sons performing at the Sasquatch Music Festival at the Gorge in Seattle, Washington. They are a truly spectacular band with extremely powerful instrumentation and vocals. They have a very “antique” folk kind of sound, so I chose to draw aging instruments. Putting them in a field gives them more of a timeless quality, like they’ve been there for a long time, untouched.

The Mumford & Sons poster is an 18 x 24 inch poster on 100 lb archival French cover paper and screen printed with two colors. The price is $20 and the poster is available at my online store. The posters are signed and numbered, the edition size is 60. This poster is gorgeous, the texture of the pencil drawing captured very well. This poster can be purchased online and I will have some at Renegade Craft Fair Brooklyn.

The second poster is for one of my favorite bands, WHY? performing at the Glasshouse in Pomona, California. WHY? has a very unique sound that I can’t even explain. All I can do is suggest that you give them a listen if you’re unfamiliar. Many of their songs seem to deal with internal conflicts, but they all have a very whimsical feeling to them. It was challenging to come up with an image that conveys a serious conflict in a playful way, but I am up for a good challenge.

The WHY? poster is an 18 x 24 inch poster on 100 lb archival French cover paper and screen printed with three colors. The price is $25 and the poster is available at my online store. The posters are signed and numbered, the edition size is 80. I am really happy with the way that the image combines organic and graphic elements and I am pleased with how that transferred into reality via screen printing.

With two great posters for two bands that I love, combined with my first trip to New York, participating in Renegade Craft Fair, seeing old friends, and meeting new people, I’d say this is shaping up to be a great week!

Heyooo, I just wanted to drop this quickie post about a new skate deck that I have out right now.

The Slow Skateboard Company in Austria really liked my image for the sold out print called “Wave of Mutilation” that I did for the Phone Booth Gallery’s “ARTWORK AND NO PLAY”, a group art show dedicated to the Shining.

They were nice enough to send me some decks and the first thing I noticed was how strong and lightweight the deck is. It’s been a long time since I have skated, but I can tell this is a quality product. The image printed very nicely on the surface of the deck.

If you’d like to grab this gorgeous deck, please visit the SLOW Skateboards website. This is their first series of decks and I am honored that they wanted me to be a part of it.

This will be my first trip to New York and I couldn’t be more excited. I’ll have a booth at Renegade Craft Fair Brooklyn on June 5 and 6 (Saturday and Sunday) at McCarren Park. Craft fairs hours are from 11 AM to 7 PM and this event, like all Renegade Craft Fairs, is totally free to attend.

I’ll be selling and displaying posters, so please come by if you are in the area. My booth number is 94.

For more information, please visit the Renegade Craft Fair website.

I can’t wait to visit the mythical land of New York. If anyone has suggestions for stuff to do, tourist wise (museums, shops, restaurants, etc) please let me know!