FullBleed

John Foster’s involved in a lot that absorbs his time and creativity – including sadcrocodile and brightestyoungthings – yet he still manages to create posters among his other musical and writing gigs. After attending a poster show he created that was humorously titled, “Hair in Unfortunate Places,” we asked him to give us a little insight into his crafts.

Lucky for FullBleed, he obliged.

You’ve got many other things going on, but the poster seems to be a big love of yours.  Why?

What’s not to love? It is, in most cases, the largest canvas a designer has to work with, and the areas that benefit the most from its application are generally more creative endeavors … from the arts to retail. I think the poster has a romantic attachment for me as well; virtually all of my favorite design solutions have occurred as posters. Working big is a challenge and it brings out the best in people – and me. I go out of my way to make sure that I have posters to work several times a year just to keep me sane!

Talk a bit about your technique. I imagine a room at the Foster estate filled with a screen printer and ink all over the floor and one-off poster all over the walls.

Not the case at all! My wife owns all the real estate in my house! I have never committed to having all of those chemicals around. My strength is in the design, and I like turning over the project to someone whose strength is the printing aspect. I use a couple shops to print those pieces. However, I am a big believer in having your creative tools available, so I may seem a little messy.

What kind of poster project is your favorite and why?

I am a black cloud about whatever I am working on. I only see the missed opportunities and every detail I wish I could noodle or tweak. It’s a terrible way of working. So my favorite poster project is always something that I have done in the past and have now idealized with a romantic memory eraser.

Is the poster, other than the movie poster, a dying art form?  For example, I used to have a huge U2 Joshua Tree concert poster from the Dublin show, I think.  Where are these now?  Are they still made?

The poster has changed and adapted. In a lot of ways, it is just as vital an application as ever. That was a big reason why I wrote New Masters of Poster Design. It wasn’t just an underground design movement reaching the masses — although that was important — but it was about major global retailers’ adoption of the poster as their main source of messaging. You don’t realize it because you encounter them in different ways than in the past, but Target and Starbucks and many others have posters everywhere in their stores. In a lot ways, point-of-purchase has morphed into more subtle forms, and the poster has taken up that real estate with brand reinforcement and specific messaging.

Concert posters are more or less gone. Record companies are still trying to figure out ways to monetize music in this digital age, and old school promo materials were axed years ago. Those were generally made to hang or sell in record stores. Even if the labels were inclined to produce them — which they aren’t — they wouldn’t have anywhere to distribute them. However, the limited edition gig poster has emerged. Pearl Jam, Wilco, Interpol, Dave Matthews Band, and many others use the gig poster as a major source of revenue now. Why buy a tour t-shirt when you can own a poster specific to the show you attended and know that only 50-100 others have the same item?

Speaking of limited editions, I was drawn to a Hurricane Katrina poster you did recently — particularly because I’m from Baton Rouge.  Wasn’t your Katrina poster at the most recent show done as part of a larger project?

Yes. It was for the Hurricane Poster Project, which was organized by Leif Steiner, and I was honored to be one of the first wave of designers asked to participate. We all donated limited editions of our prints, which were sold with all of the proceeds going to the American Red Cross and their efforts post-Hurricane Katrina.

If you ever do another run of the Katrina poster, I have first dibs.

My final print went for $1,000, and one of the prints hangs in the Louisiana Statehouse. Unfortunately, that means none for sale in the future – at least not from me.

Are there any other charity/cause projects for whom you have done work?

I participated in the So-Cal Fire Project, which was directly inspired the Hurricane Poster Project, and done with their blessing. And I had my poster presented to San Diego reporter Larry Himmel, whose reporting on the burning of his own home inspired my piece. Both projects have been incredibly rewarding to work on.

You also create music and write. Where do you find the time to give every artistic outlet the attention it deserves?  I mean, I love photographing, but sometimes I just have to walk away — even if I’m being dragged away by a two year old.

It’s not always easy. I have a little girl who comes first now no matter what, but I have to remind myself of that at times. “Real” work always takes precedence. But having a poster or something kicking around that has a looser timeline or client restrictions that allows me to still keep my chops up.

The music and the writing come very quickly and naturally to me, so I don’t spend nearly as much time on them as it might seem. However, I have found that I truly need them as they serve a different kind of outlet and, most importantly, in that they make me nervous. My comfort zone is so tiny in both areas, compared to anything else in my life. I can talk about design to 1,500 people I have never met and not blink an eye, but playing a song to a room with 7 people in it puts such a ball in my stomach that it isn’t even funny. I highly recommend that people have something in their life that makes them uncomfortable!

What music inspires you – or, maybe better, what’s on your ipod?

I play this interview game with musicians at brightestyoungthings on occasion — I lifted the game called ipod shuffle from The Vinyl District. You randomly select the first five tracks on your ipod, thereby revealing yourself as an unbearable hipster with totally obscure music or someone harboring a cache of New Kids on the Block. It’s such an open-ended question. Ok here we go:

1. De La Soul, “Potholes in My Lawn” – Can’t go wrong with some breezy daisy age hip-hop.
2. Morrissey, “Tomorrow” – Huge Smiths fan and this is one of my favorite solo Morrissey tracks. No one can sing lyrics like he can and make me sing along at the top of my lungs. “You don’t think I’ll make it – I never said I wanted to – now did I?”
3. The Colourfield, “Pushing Up Daisies” – Terry Hall from The Specials in his beat combo mode. Great, great song. Would go nicely in any mix with “Tomorrow” that just played.
4. Air Miami, “I Hate Milk” – Nervy post punk from Teenbeat label head Mark Robinson in his band following the demise of the mighty Unrest. I lived a few blocks away from the Teenbeat house in Arlington when I got out of college, and Mark and I have since become good friends. It is worth noting that he is an incredible self-taught designer.
5. The Notwist, “Good Lies” – Moody glitch pop with driving guitars and deceiving simplicity. I especially love these Germans when they get quiet. This is on the new one, “The Devil, You + Me,” but the record to get from them is the amazing “Neon Golden.” A must have.

John shared several other groups he encourages everyone to have – including Kings of Convenience and James Brown, among others. But when he mentioned that he has 45 tracks under MC Hammer, we decided it was time to close the interview.

Thanks to John for opening up. Check out his work at sadcrocodile and brightestyoungthings.

Illustration courtesy of Mal Jones

If this is the first time you’re thinking about how self-promotion and social media can help you get recognized and paid as a talented creative, let’s just say you’ve got some catching up to do. The reality is that self-promotion is the only kind of promotion you’re going to get until you become a superstar household name with agent in tow. Don’t be ashamed to promote yourself, and don’t let anyone tell you that it’s unprofessional or reprehensible. It’s how you’ll grow your business and get recognized for the talented person you are.

We all hope our clients, colleagues, friends, and family will talk well about us and help us get new gigs; however, you can’t put hope in the bank like you can cold hard cash. The following social media insights are things you can use to get your name out there and attract clients, employers, collaborators, and admirers, while converting self-promotion into profit and praise.

You Are What You Publish

Social media is about creating content that people can share and talk about. This is as simple as writing a blog post about typography or web design that people comment on, forward, and link to. Thankfully, as a creative, you’ve got more content than you know what to do with. The key is to match your specific kind of content with the right publishing platform and then post, post, post! Over time, the world will form an opinion about who you are and what you do based on the content created by and about you. You’ll start getting emails and phone calls from people wanting to hire you based on what they’ve seen of your work across the social web.

Publish Once and Distribute Infinitely

The beauty of using something like a blog to showcase your work is that you can post it once, but reference it infinitely. When I write emails to prospects, I’m constantly including links to posts on iStrategyLabs.com that showcase exactly the kind of work they’re looking for. This saves time and provides an opportunity for the prospect to explore my site a bit more. This is also handy when I’m commenting on other people’s blogs, in forums, on Twitter, and in social networks. If there’s a conversation taking place in one of these sites that I’ve already posted some insight about on my own blog, I include that link in a comment. It’s always okay to add to a conversation somewhere by driving people to your work as long as it’s relevant to that conversation. If it’s not, then you’re spamming, and that’s not cool.

Social Networks Mean Business

I got a call recently from a “big four” broadcaster that wants to hire iStrategyLabs to do digital word-of-mouth marketing for their TV shows. They found us on Facebook!  Facebook ain’t for kids anymore (demographically speaking); it’s a place where your potential clients are hunting for insight into their challenges. This particular prospect was poking around a marketing group on Facebook and came across a video I had posted where I talk about how to do influencer identification and outreach. If you’re not already actively using social networks, start today. Post all your best work to your profile, then find the places in your social networks where your customers will be looking and determine a “non-spammy” way of getting your content in front of them.

Find the Virtuous Distribution Arc

The last insight I want to share is that there are some really easy ways to get your content distributed far and wide with little effort. My favorite way is through a “virtuous content distribution arc” (see graphic), which basically cross posts my content across a number of social media sites with one click. What I do is setup my blog platform (7,500 monthly readers) to update my Twitter account (1,250 subscribers), and then have Twitter update my Facebook status (2,050 friends). That’s the easiest way I can think of to keep 10,000+ people up-to-date, maximize my self-promotion, and encourage new business opportunities.

Photo courtesy of Sean McCormick

Las Vegas native Shawn Huddleston admits he wasn’t influenced artistically by his Western U.S. roots until later in life.  No surprise – he was only seven when he moved to Reston.  But, he already knew he was going to be an artist.

Since then, this 34-year-old father of two has been creating across varied media, from painting with acrylics in a basement to conducting midnight graffiti runs in New York City to designing brochures and web sites at a desk.

Shawn made time to chat with me about his journey so far.

What do you want to be when you grow up?

Baseball player.

Baseball?  I thought you played lacrosse?

I coach South Lakes JV lacrosse in the spring, and then I play during the other three seasons at The Box in Chantilly.

Are you good?

Yeah, I’m all right.  I’m the oldest guy on the team.

What’s that got to do with anything?

Right, if anything I should be the best!  I’ve been around the longest.

So assuming baseball is out, what do you dream of being?

I’d like to be a freelance designer who gets to pick what kinds of jobs he wants to do.

What kind of jobs do you want to do?

I like corporate branding and logo work. I really like doing perspective drawings and concept art. I absolutely love to do graphic and web design stuff.  I consider them equal with my painting. And I love painting.

Have you ever shown your paintings?

A while ago, I started showing at Art Wino when it was in Old Town Alexandria. Being able to put up five new pieces every month made me create like crazy.   Aside from a couple small open shows here and there, it was the first time a gallery was interested in me and asked me to create stuff for their walls.  I felt like a rock star.  I met people and handed out business cards.  I was addicted to that.  It was a rush.

Has anyone ever bought your ideas?

For a long time, I didn’t sell anything.  Any artist’s journey is just a natural evolution. You might only do one thing and do it well and be profitable.  And maybe I’m still trying to find that.  I make art for myself first and foremost.  That’s not to say I haven’t made more of the artistic style people have bought from me, but I’m not trying to become a one-trick pony.

Are you attached to the work you sell?

I don’t feel remorse or sadness when I sell a piece.  When I spray the varnish and nail the strip frame on it, I’m done with it.  I loved it when I was working with it, getting attached to the way it feels when I was creating it.  But I get tired of my own stuff pretty quickly, so to see something sitting around my basement is tragic.

Do you like what you’ve created?

There are some pieces I finish and fall in love with, and that goes back to how I used to draw – I would just keep going with it until it was perfect.  There are a few paintings that are exactly like that.  It feels cool.  But I can’t fixate.  I’m always trying to explore new stuff for me.

So, what other “stuff” do you explore?

I draw a lot – love it — but don’t show those because I don’t see them through enough to where I think they’re presentable.

But you’ve never presented them to anybody to know that.

Yeah, I guess that’s true.   I usually sketch out the idea for a painting just to get the basics first.  So I have thought about showing that idea sketch alongside the final painting to demonstrate where in my process I edited and expanded upon the initial vision.

Do you draw using pen or pencil?

I’m a sucker for a 2H pencil, a regular Bic, and a flair.  Big flairs are silly.  They have good coverage, don’t bleed, and are nice and smooth.  It’s pretty much heaven on Earth.  You can try to find a better pen, but you’re not going to.  I love them.  If I was stuck on an island, I’d want a flair and paper.  And maybe a boat.

Do you have a flair and paper wherever you work?

I work in the darkest deepest corner of the house.  It’s the laundry room. Laundry and painting can’t coexist, so I paint late at night in the closet when my wife and kids are asleep. But it’s my closet. I am lucky enough to have a table.

What do you create on that table?

Graffiti-inspired work, mostly. I did graffiti for a long time.

Whoa, did you ever get busted?

No, but I have come close and had to change my tag name.

Where – and how – did you do graffiti?

Around here, up to Philly, Baltimore, and New York a couple times. I was never, by any means, a big name in the game. My single mother instilled good morals in me, so I felt guilty half the time — the other half was rebelliousness. I never really established myself in the community, but a couple big names took me out once and showed me the ropes. Just like any art community, there were politics involved with the graffiti artists, who are actually called “writers.”  And there were a lot of juvenile antics – like some rival writer paints over your stuff, and then it’s on.

So, I imagine love and life pulled you away?

You slow down when you settle down, as they say.  I just don’t have the same amount of time as I used to, and I’m a lot more strategic and planned now with my thumbnails and sketches.  I plan a lot now, and I used to shoot from the hip a lot more.  But I think my art has benefited from that planning.

How does that planning differ between painting and graphic or web design?

Graphic design is not tangible, but the process is like painting. It starts with an idea in my mind’s eye.  The biggest difference with computers is that “control z” is a quicker and easier fix.  I even got into digital painting for a long time – and matte painting, like Photoshop movie making — because it’s cheaper and, of course, computers are A LOT cleaner.

Did you find it frustrating to learn new tools beyond the tangible?

It’s not frustrating if you love what you’re doing, but it’s all trial and error.  It’s time consuming, but when it’s new to you, you have a love affair with it.  You think, ‘Damn, I have to learn this because I can create with this.’  To learn how to use a paint brush and the quirks of the materials isn’t unlike that of a computer. Same principle of trial and error, different application.

Was it trial and error when you designed your tattoos?

Yeah, but I got these so long ago.  I was 16 and 17. I had no idea what I was doing.  I had the worst fake ID ever.  I also went to a strip club with it.  I have no idea how that ever worked.

So being a tattoo artist or fake ID designer never crossed your mind?

No way!  I’ve thought about lots of different artistic paths.  I wanted to be a video game art designer for the longest time, but then my daughter Laela was born and I realized how unstable the industry was.  Because I’ve got a young family, it wouldn’t be fair.

Are you inspired by your kids?

Sure.  I also draw inspiration off myself.  I paint misery.  I paint elation.  I draw those feelings.  Do my wife and kids add to those feelings?  Absolutely.  But my son saying “poopy” to some lady doesn’t inspire me.  Although…

How has your own artistic outlook changed over the years?

I always consider myself a rookie in anything I do.  I try not to get too opinionated on anything. I always wanted to be an artist.  I always wanted to draw.  They say that everybody draws when they’re young, it’s just that certain kids quit.  I never stopped.  I drew for everybody … all through high school and into college as a fine arts major, then self educating myself after that. I’m influenced by everything.  Maybe it’s a cliché answer, but anything can spark an idea.

This 5″ x 7″ book is one of the cleverest ideas to come down the pike in years. Logo R.I.P by the Stone Twins, carries the subhead, “A Commemoration of Dead Logotypes.”

This book has obituaries and headstone photos of more than 48 dead logotypes — from the NASA worm, to NeXT’s black cube to the Time Warner eye/ear hieroglyph. All are well-written and beg the question, why didn’t these logos last?

I believe the majority of the CEO’s of these companies should have been fired on the spot for changing the designs in the first place! Shame on the business world and its leaders!

It’s interesting to look at these logos from the past vs. logos in general of today’s marketing madness. Today’s logos are basically produced and designed on the computer. Some end up looking cold compared to the pencil doodles and final hand art of yesterday.