bear

Concert Poster Designer Derek Price

Rebel Rebel Lounge | Berea, KY

Here’s one of my favorites. As a punk poster designer, I incorporated a few of my favorite elements into the layout. Between a classic rock reference, digital character illustration, mixing textures with light effects, and varying font weights, this art hits all the high notes.

Punk Poster Designer Strikes Again

My band Sempervivi was set to make our debut in Berea, Kentucky’s popular Rebel Rebel venue. Since the venue shared the name of a David Bowie song, I based this poster on the iconic “lightning bolt” photo on the cover of his album “Aladdin Sane”.

The main subject is my childhood teddy bear Flash, also the band’s mascot. I drew him using Procreate on my iPad, then imported him into Photoshop. I set him in front of an actual bear fur texture background. Flash gives off a mysterious, supernatural vibe, courtesy shadow and light effects.

The lightning bolt color scheme repeats throughout the design, both in the typography and the background. I set the main title “Rebel Rebel”, as well as the information at the bottom, in the tall serif font Moonshiner. For the main title, I skewed it upwards and added a double shadow in the red and blue lightning bolt scheme.

Poster Typography Story

Each band name displays prominently in a lightweight variant of Futura. I justified them all and spaced each one out, in order to help them stand out despite the lighter weight font.

To top it all off, I then framed the design in with a thick, black outline. This adds weight and additional darkness to the background, thus helping the white text pop off the composition.

DIY Till You Die? Hire Me Today.

Punk Poster Designer is one of my favorite titles. I love helping DIY artists and musicians get the word out about their events. Full color 11×17″ posters are my favorites. Contact me today.

Bryan Danielson shirt design with teddy bear theme

Bryan Danielson | Aberdeen, WA

This (Daniel Bryan) Bryan Danielson shirt design was one of my favorite projects to work on. I cheered on the legendary AEW and  WWE Superstar since his days wrestling for independent promotions like Ring of Honor and Dragon Gate USA. WWE briefly let him go in 2010 after a controversial incident on television. He was scripted to choke out an announcer with a tie during an on-screen attack with his Nexus cohorts. Sponsors objected to the violent image, and WWE officials decided he went too far.

While he was banished, he resumed wrestling on the independent wrestling scene. Bryan decided to capitalize on the publicity the angle earned him and had a contest for his fans.

Bryan Danielson shirt design story

The premise was to design a shirt, four colors or less, depicting Bryan as an angry teddy bear. Preferably, he would clutch the infamous pink tie from the firing incident.

After reading this news, I sprung to action. First, I hand drew the anthropomorphic, scowling fur ball, posing in Bryan’s signature satin ring robe. Next, I scanned in the sketch and cleaned it up using Adobe Photoshop. Then, I transitioned the art to Illustrator, where I redrew it to create a vector file.

I colored in the bear’s ring gear with his signature deep red hues. He is holding up a finger signaling #1, a signature taunt that eventually evolved into his double fingers up YES! gesture.

Before he could declare a winner of the contest, WWE hired Bryan back. He then returned as a surprise partner at that year’s SummerSlam facing his former partners in the Nexus. I believe I would have won, since several fans emailed me wanting to buy their own copy of the shirt.

Shirt design for wrestlers, athletes, and other sports brands

Are you an independent pro wrestler looking for new merch designs? Do you manage a sports team or another entertainment brand? Contact me today for a shirt design that will have your fans shouting “YES! YES! YES!”