punk rock

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!

The Dirty Delusions

Nashville, TN

Garage rockers The Dirty Delusions brought their stunning live show to Lexington on tour in October 2018. Their management tapped my band Sempervivi to open, and also employed me as the concert flyer designer. The event was close to both Halloween and Day of the the Dead. Therefore, I decided on a spooky theme for the 11×17″ poster.

Concert flyer designer for Nashville band

Let’s face it. Skulls are awesome. We all have one. They just look cool! Since Mexico’s Day of the Dead was just days away, I employed a stock photo of a woman in costume with a skull face paint design. Then, I added more roses around her to add more weight to the image. I simplified the photo to high contrast black and white and overlaid a scan of some crinkled paper. This gave it the appearance of a rough photocopy. Next, it was time to add information about the event. I rounded up each of the bands’ logos. Most of the time, I do not incorporate band logos, but thought doing so would help this design stand out. I “cut out” rough black rectangles as backgrounds to imitate patches with said logos.

To complete the DIY punk rock feel, I set the rest of the text in a “label maker” style font on additional simulated cut outs. I then added sugar skull ornaments to help emphasize the date and location at the top. The QR code let anyone with a smartphone access the Facebook event to learn more and RSVP.

Finally, the concert flyer design background incorporates a green to orange gradient to imitate vintage concert posters. I blended in a seamless black and white sugar skull pattern to complete the theme.

Hire me for your band’s concert flyer design

An eye catching poster makes a huge difference in audience perception. Do you want look more professional, as well as draw more fans to your shows? Of course you do! Contact me today.

The Rough Customers

Lexington, KY

My friends in Lexington’s favorite (only) ska band The Rough Customers approached me for a new band shirt graphic design. They requested a parody of the famous Ale-8-One soft drink logo. Ale-8-One (“A Late One”) bottles their ginger based soda near here in Winchester, KY. Since it is a symbol of Kentucky culture, the band chose it to represent them at both local shows and tour dates. Also, the band had just added a new singer, so new merchandise would be a great way to celebrate the new era of the band.

Band shirt graphic design story

Many of my projects involve brainstorming ideas with clients. However, we did not need much back and forth discussion for this shirt design. The band simply requested a parody logo replacing the product name with their own. The design would go on a kelly green shirt, reminiscent of the brand’s bottles. I suggested replacing the stars in the original design with trumpets, in order to give it a subtle nod to the band’s genre.

The new shirt debuting on the band’s merch table.

I began the design by tracing the outline of the soft drink’s signature red and white badge. The brand name actually uses a hand drawn mark, instead of a conventional font. As such, I studied the original. I wondered what other characters would look like if they were written in this style. Then, I began working in Adobe Illustrator. I started with the conventional sans serif font Myriad Pro, spelling out each letter. After that, I outlined them, and warped them using envelope filters, as well as the pen tool. I spent the bulk of my time getting the sizes and weights of each new character just right in order to mimic the original logo’s feel. Finally, I substituted the aforementioned trumpets in place of the original’s stars. The end result? The Rough Customers‘ fans loved donning the bright green, red, and white shirts while skanking at the band’s shows.

Contact me for your band shirt graphic design

Do you play ska, punk, metal, rock, or even easy listening? I’ve got you covered. I love designing shirts for bands and music artists. Contact me today to get started.