Print Design Advertising

Sempervivi

Lexington, KY

I’m a big time band merch nerd. Especially stickers. If I don’t have the money budgeted to buy a shirt or hoodie from a band at their show, I will at least purchase some stickers. They end up either on my truck, toolbox, or the filing cabinet in my office. I always make sure my band Sempervivi’s merchandise table is fully stocked with items ranging from inexpensive to higher priced items. In 2022, we were running low on previous sticker design concepts, so I took advantage of a Sticker Mule sale and stocked up. I worked up four different designs and had all of them printed in order to offer some variety to our fans.

Sticker Design Story

First, I thumbed through some old line art books and picked out a nice roaring tiger. I colored in the tiger’s fur with a golden yellow hue. Then, I combined this expertly detailed illustration with our name uppercase in a vintage font. Our hometown “LEX KY” nestles between two simple lightning bolt icons in yellow, completing the first sticker design.

Since many would call our band’s genre “skate punk”, I incorporated a rad broken skateboard image into an old school signage layout. The bold image of the broken deck jumps out in front of the marquee font spelling our band name. I added our hometown and Roman numerals for the year 2015, the year when our band began. I played with a few different different color schemes. The band members couldn’t choose between the two palettes I pared it down to, so we had both printed. I love the alternative “Joker” combination of mostly purple and lime green. The melon red and Carolina blue scheme is lighter, cleaner, and more fun.

Finally, I had been toying around with a rugged “stamp” style logo for the band. I jumbled the sizes of the letters and tilted them, creating a chaotic style to match our fast, loud punk sound. The final touches came together as I filled in the characters in neon pink and turquoise. Then, I outlined the letters in black and added a solid black shadow to the art to make it pop.

Contact Me For Your Band’s Sticker Design

Every musician needs merch. If you are a live performer, your fans want to buy merch to support you. An inexpensive way to get started?  Contact me today to bring your sticker design to life.

Muhlenberg County Public Libraries

Greenville, KY

The library director Janet contacted me regarding this project. She needed me to turn this yoga poster design around shortly after New Years. Of course, I made time after the holidays for my long time clients. 

Yoga poster design story

Janet only provided the text to include on the flyer, and the format sizes I would need to design. I had worked with the library for many years, so she trusted my instincts to create the perfect promotional material. Of course, I instantly had a concept and color scheme in mind.

Initially, I envisioned a group of silhouettes performing yoga poses. Combining these with an ornate mandala pattern hearkened back to yoga’s origins in the country of India. I didn’t want to make the yoga poster design layout too busy. Therefore, I faded the mandala into the background.

I contrasted the dark, dull blue elements against the bright orange burst background. The images stayed simple. The background however included a three dimensional pattern. I fenced all of the elements in with a dotted white frame, which also helped emphasize the sponsor logos and tagline in white. These were located at the bottom and top, respectively.

For the yoga poster design’s main title, I chose a font containing characters similar to Hindi for the word “Yoga”. The capital “Y” moved up to make it more symmetrical. I set the words “IN THE LIBRARY” in another exotic font. I warped them in a waving flag shape. This added just the right amount of motion to the title.

Janet and the rest of the library staff loved the vibrant, inspirational design. It perfectly promoted that patrons could stick to their New Years resolutions, and get fit with a new exercise program.

Contact me for your own yoga poster design

Are you promoting an event centered around yoga, or another exercise? I believe that promoting fitness in your community is very important, and I would love to help! Contact me today!

Muhlenberg County Public Libraries

Greenville, KY

In previous years, I employed line art from Victorian age ads for MCPL’s annual Mother’s Day Tea. However, I decided to switch things up for the 2019 event. The library wanted to incorporate a theme to coincide with the Kentucky Derby. Therefore, I set out to create an authentically vintage library event poster.

Library event poster design story

I spent several hours studying minstrel show advertisements from years gone by, circuses, and other attractions. Their font treatments and type styles specifically caught my eye. These are crucial elements in capturing the look and feel of these posters. After much internal debate, I settled on a muted yellow, blue, and red color scheme. I then chose my fonts.

Library event poster typography

First of all, I employed a tall sans serif font called Kankin, reminiscent of those used in the vintage posters, for my my titles and large text. I outlined all of the large text in a thin black stroke in order to complete the period style. Next, I used the Wide Latin serif font, along with Trajan Pro, to spell out the rest of the content.

The director also suggested I incorporate some roses in the poster as part of the Derby theme, so I worked them into the main title. I situated one on either side of the words “Spring 2019” at the top to give it a little extra flair.

Horse outline used in library event poster

For a while, I had wanted to incorporate an image inside a silhouette, much like in many classic movie posters. Once the idea came to me, I jumped at the chance. The classic Victorian lady depicted could very well be on her way to a horse racing event of the day. I chose the silhouette of a jockey and horse that was the most obvious, since it was an action shot. The jockey is high up on the horse’s back, ready to cross the finish line, as the horse’s tail swishes in the wind.

Need a library event poster design? Contact me today!

Does your public library have a special event coming up? Then you need to hire a professional graphic designer to help with your advertising!  Contact me today.

Local Violence

Lexington, KY

I created this band sticker design for a new group based here in Lexington. Local Violence is a pop punk band that includes some friends from my local music scene. I have been designing band merch since 1999, so they reached out to me in order to help promote their band.

The finished product is ready for the masses! Here is a printed and die cut band sticker design.

Band sticker design story

The band already used a fist icon in their initial branding. They wanted to somehow incorporate it in a parody of the Los Angeles Dodgers‘ iconic logo. I both cleaned up and recolored their existing fist art in red using Adobe Illustrator. Then, I added motion lines in red, so that it would mimic the Dodgers’ “flying baseball” image.

After that, I found a similar script font to replace the word Dodgers with “Violence” in blue. A few adjustments to the text made the font more authentic. Finally, the word “Local” tops off the design in a blue sans serif Varsity font. I spaced out the letters and also warped them with an arch effect.

At last, the baseball parody sticker art was complete.

Local Violence loved the finished band sticker design. They took advantage of a special promotion with Stickermule to both print and die cut their stickers. This created a white stroke effect around the design. The precise outline of the shape really stands out amongst other standard square and circle shaped stickers.

Hire me to create your band sticker design

Is your new band just getting your feet wet with merch? Perhaps you have been in the game for awhile and you all just need a fresh new design. Contact me today to hire me for your new band sticker design!

Muhlenberg County Public Libraries

Greenville, KY

At the end of each year, I create the Christmas event poster design for my hometown library system in Kentucky. This is always one of my favorite seasonal projects to plan and execute. I love being a Christmas poster artist!

Muhlenberg County’s annual holiday events take place at their Thistle Cottage location. Thistle Cottage is a converted historic home which is located in the county seat of Greenville, KY. Many local businesses sponsor the Christmas trees that go on display throughout December at the Jubilee of Trees.

Also, kids of all ages get to take pictures with Santa Claus himself one day during the proceedings. I love coming up with a new, distinct solution for this seasonal project each and every year.

Focal image in Christmas event poster design

Since I had previously made liberal use of stock photos for their campaigns, I did not want to repeat myself. A holiday theme can be limiting if you don’t put much thought into it. Therefore, I wanted to try something both different and distinct from past projects this year. Something special was in order!

I conceptualized a simple, flat illustration which would make use of a minimal number of colors. Not unlike TV’s South Park, the cut out style gave the promotional material a lighthearted feel.

First, I used the Adobe Illustrator application to create the focal image of the poster. I drew up a pint sized elf playing a medieval style trumpet to announce the events. I actually based the illustration on a picture of my three year old son from his birthday photo shoot. He is wearing an outfit which is modeled after Will Ferrell’s character Buddy from the film Elf. The green and gold uniform is complete with a red feather in his cap. A royal red flag draped over the trumpet, heralding the December event dates. I used a mix of antique style fonts that looked like they could easily adorn a Middle Ages castle.

A tiny, smiling fairy is sitting cross legged atop his trumpet. She holds a sparkling wand in her hand, and plotting holiday mischief. I actually based the pixie’s image on a photo I had taken years ago of my wife. I added wings and recolored her dress green like Disney’s Tinkerbell.

Additional elements in the Christmas event poster design

The snowy background scene in the posters consists of rolling hills and pine trees. I desaturated the trees’ colors to dull hues in order to make it obvious that they were far off in the background. The hill in the distance is also slightly darker to achieve that purpose. In addition to the elf and fairy, the foreground elements announce the ongoing Jubilee of Trees. I continued using the simple logo I created for the event years ago.

Also, a “want ad” style poster provides all of the details for the Pictures with Santa event. I chose a simple, one color “hipster” interpretation of Old Saint Nick. The silhouette image comes complete with ironic horn rimmed glasses. The client asked if the Santa Claus image was me, since my wife and son depicted the fairy and elf, respectively. A bright red waving banner with gold trim displays across the top. I set the poster’s main title in an Old English style font called “PlainBlack”.

Many fonts I considered from my font book were perfect, stylistically. Unfortunately, they were also too hard to read. That is a big no-no for a poster design, especially for the main title text. I made sure to select the perfect font, which was both legible and regal. The white space at the bottom displays a list of event sponsors. The Thistle Cottage logo I designed years ago also displays in a pale shade of blue. Last of all, I sprinkled faint snowflakes throughout the scene.

Christmas poster artist – adjusting image formats for different situations

The simplified Facebook ad featured my Thistle Cottage logo on the elf’s flag instead of the dates.

After I finalized the design, the library distributed the final product in a variety of print sizes. First, they needed it in the largest print format, which was an 11×17″ poster. I then resized the elements and rearranged them to fit in a half page handout. Next, I created two different sizes for two local papers’ print newspaper ads. Both of the publications have their own sizes and specs, so I had to follow them closely.

They also promoted the event extensively on their social media channels. I modified the design so that it would properly fit on the public library system’s Facebook Event page. Facebook’s graphics specs limit the amount of text that advertisers can use. The graphics themselves also need to be formatted so that the feature images are positioned in specific locations. This way, every part of the image will display as it should, regardless of which device users view it on. Thus, I had to get creative, so that I could fit it into that mold. This was no problem for me, of course. I always make sure to stay informed on current social media advertising trends.

Contact me for your Christmas event poster design

The staff at Muhlenberg County Public Libraries always tell me that they love my work. Why not try me, a dedicated Christmas poster artist, for your own event ad campaign? You might just become one of my repeat customers as well! Contact me today to get started!

AVOL

Lexington, KY

I created this ad campaign design for AVOL in Lexington, KY. It is a nonprofit which organizes AIDS volunteers. They loved the trade publication ads I made for them previously. Therefore, they contracted me for their biggest annual event campaign. For one day every September, local restaurants donate 25% of their proceeds to fighting AIDS. The organization needed a few different print sizes. These included an 11×17″ poster size and varying newspaper ad sizes, as well as bookmarks.

Ad campaign design story for AIDS benefit

Ad campaign design in marquee format at CRAVE Festival, Lexington, KY

My local chapter of the AIDS charity gave me creative freedom on this project. They only suggested a retro 1950s diner theme. They also sent a few public domain images to inspire me. These included the vintage waitress illustration I finally chose. I also redesigned their existing event logo with a new one which continued the theme. After my instructions, I poured through old 1950s ads for inspiration. Their futuristic floating shapes and pastel color palettes, as well as the kitschy mixed fonts made the cut.

I arranged these elements to suggest motion and give them a fun feeling overall. I did this by tilting text blocks and highlighting objects with different shades. A pink gradient gives shine to the restaurant and sponsor lists. The ad pieces had many moving parts, from the list of participating restaurants to information about a related art exhibit. I got creative to ensure synergy and legibility from the biggest to smallest versions.

I met the challenge of making the ad art both attractive and easy to read. Also, I crushed the deadline in plenty of time for last minute revisions. My clients raved about the finished product.

Contact me for your ad campaign design

I’ve improved the print images of many charity nonprofits and small businesses. Contact me today to join the growing list. Let’s get started with your advertising campaign!

Hiram Grooming Co.

Lexington, KY

I created this can label design for my friend Jeremiah’s “3rd Degree” beard balm. He needed both a logo design and packaging design for his new business venture Hiram Grooming Co. Each of his products is all natural, vegan, organic, fair trade, and handmade “to make good men look better”. His can labels required a clean, simple black and white layout with a short turnaround, so naturally he gave me a call.

Can label design story

The finished product!

Jeremiah had initially sketched up a layout for me in Microsoft Publisher. I redesigned it in Adobe Illustrator with cleaner imagery and upgraded fonts as he had requested. Just as he did with his logo, Jeremiah provided some vintage masonic art to recreate.  The coffin imagery was from an old drawing featured in The Freemason’s Manual. It of course represents mortality, as well as craftsmanship, with the hammer and shovel tools. I cleaned up the image and then redrew it as a vector graphic in Illustrator.

I also redrew another low resolution banner graphic that is often found in traditional masonic imagery. The three tenets of “Strength, Wisdom, Beauty” are a perfect fit for a men’s hair care product. The milgrain border ties all of the elements together with a touch of class. Usually for packaging design work, I tend to stick with just one or two fonts. However, in this case, I used a variety of vintage fonts throughout the label design. I then laid them out in the same style as many Victorian era products and ads. The result is a classic design indicative of a salve that a true renaissance man can appreciate.

Contact me for your can label design

Do you manufacture your own grooming or healthcare products? Do they come in cans or tubes? You need the perfect packaging design to appeal to your customer base. Contact me to get the ball rolling!

Muhlenberg County Public Libraries / Thistle Cottage

Greenville, KY

For the second year running, MCPL once again hired me to make their annual Victorian Tea poster design. I started by laying this design out in kiosk size. Then, I resized the art into several smaller formats. Half page newspaper ads were the smallest size.

Thistle Cottage holds their annual Victorian Tea in downtown Greenville, Kentucky. The party is a Victorian themed event where both mothers and daughters dress up and enjoy a traditional tea party. It is a popular event where families can go back to experience a simpler time in history that their ancestors once knew. The air of nostalgia brings little girls’ tea parties to life. Servers and staff also dress in period attire. An elegant event such as this called for an equally classy poster design.

Victorian Tea Poster Design in Kentucky

I really enjoy sifting through vintage Victorian ads. Obviously, I patterned this poster design after them. I started with the featured black and white illustration of the mother and daughter characters. The poster’s background is dressed in a “shabby chic wallpaper” pattern with the drab colors that were fashionable in that era.

My favorite feature of any good Victorian ad is the variety of fonts and dingbats in use. Artists seem to always use a dozen fonts in any given piece. It looks like the advertiser aimed to use as many fonts as possible in one space. These warped font styles often remind me of the circus. It’s as if the carnival barker pulled double duty and was also hired to design the poster layout. Both the teapot and pointing finger ornaments give the composition an old time “over the top” feel. Step right up!

Contact Me For Your Victorian Tea Poster Design

Are you hosting a retro event? Contact me today for your own poster design!

Misty Mountain String Band

Louisville, KY

Misty Mountain String Band’s banner design on display at a show.

After designing MMSB’s CD layout for “Went to the Well”, the band returned, asking me to create a large banner design. This three foot by five foot vinyl banner travels with the band and helps the boys look professional when on stage.

Banner design for Kentucky bluegrass and folk band

The affable string band sound describes their sound as “What it sounds like when a banjo smiles.” Similarly, this banner is both warm and inviting. The large banner layout features text and ornaments arranged in a vintage two color “show poster” style. First, I set the stage with a neutral color background with a rough burlap texture. I then mixed the two big, bold fonts for the main title in bright orange.

Afterward, I reversed the words “Misty Mountain” out of a long orange block using a Western style font. This is a divider in the middle of the main title to break the banner design up visually, and it function as ground for the squirrels to stand on. I set the rest of the band’s name in a heavy sans serif style font. I randomly nudged the position of some of the letters in order to give the title the appearance of being manually screen printed by a letterpress such as Nashville’s Hatch Show Print.

After that, I added the band’s requested twin squirrel and banjo line drawings in a bold, dark green. This gives the overall design a natural feel with more weight. Finally, I added some distress to the entire banner design composition using a grunge pattern eraser. How much more bluegrass can you get? The answer is none – none more bluegrass!

Graphics for your concert promotional banner design

Are there big summer music festival bookings in your future? Do you need a large banner design to make your group look more professional on stage? Contact me today to get started!