One of my favorite artists from an earlier article — Clinton Reno joins us to pontificate on the world of Flatstock. Flatstock is the industry name for limited edition hand screened gig posters for bands. Find out more about how this nice industry works, what it’s like to break in and tidbits on how to be successful now.
Get it? Top 40?… Anyway, strolling around a record store, there’s usually a couple of record covers that always catch your eye. Whether it’s bold coloring, illustration, photography or typography — it’s one of the most popular outlets for creative design. Here is a showcase featuring 40 recent covers in the world of indie artists for your inspiration in alphabetical order.
Alphabetical after this… love love love the typography on the logo badge.
For those of us who ~heart~ music and art — gig posters are sometimes more beautiful than any Mona Lisa or Picasso painting. It’s the combination of your favorite band with unbridled creative originality that usually does us in. “Flatstock” (as it’s called in the industry) is most often small run/limited edition silk screen art work to promote a musical gig. The designers/studios these days gather up at an event and sell prints (such as at the SXSW or Pitchfork Music Festival for instance). Here is a sampling of 50 from some of the best studios around:
The Yeah Yeah Yeahs have a new record out and I thought to myself as I picked up the new album (it’s Blitz!) what a great cover art they have. As I listened to the album, I thought what great matches they turned out to be for the actual music of their respective albums…
The Arts & Crafts Record Label in Canada is my favorite record label. I support many artists including Broken Social Scene, Feist, Stars, The Dears, The Stills, Brandan Canning and Kevin Drew — so I know this label and what they are about. They are truly interested in making creatively expressive music just as we are interested in making creatively expressive design. So let’s see what happens when one crosses paths with the other.
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