The Thee Alex Guide to Poster Design for Dundee Gigs

[Thee Alex]

Being able to spot one of my posters a 'mile off' doesn't mean they all follow a 'blueprint' - seriously, show me the ones that follow that 'blueprint', I'd love to know what it was, cos then I'd be able to bash out posters without having to spend ages coming up with something new each time (which is the longest part of the design process for me).

I'll help you out -

GigPosters.com - Jo Foster - Hector Collectors, The - Bears, The - Ceylan Delikanli and GigPosters.com - Q Without U - Lipsick both have the 'spaghetti writing', but are very different otherwise.

GigPosters.com - A Forest, The - Mistys Big Adventure - Thee Moths and GigPosters.com - Esquilax - Germlin - Thee Moths - Romvelope do the same kind of thing with the text, but as they were for gigs in different cities, I figured there'd be no harm in it.

GigPosters.com - Thee Moths (tour poster) and GigPosters.com - Thee Moths (gig poster) were a thematically linked pair.

As are these two GigPosters.com - Microphones, The and GigPosters.com - Microphones, The (both being halves of a larger picture of the remains of an extinct volcano, and advertising gigs by the same band in two different cities)

Finally, these two were for linked gigs and were drawn at the same time - GigPosters.com - Thee Moths - Drug Store Cowboys - My Legendary Girlfriend GigPosters.com - Thee Moths

Out of 135 posters I've put up on Gigposters, I'd hardly say that was a vast percentage of 'blueprint' posters....and the fact that they all have little in common with designs outside their 'pair' seems to torpedo your point completely.

[Hecate]

Originally Posted by Thee Alex

Cos this is a board primarily concerned with Dundee? And the posters do seem to be like that more in Dundee than anywhere else I've been....

I absoloutely disagree. I have seen many a gig poster banded about on teh internet from far and wide that follow the same basic format and oppose your suggestion that it's mainly a 'Dundee thing'.
You are basing this premise on what? Statistics or wild hunches that give you carte blanche to lay into the folk in Dundee who are actually trying to do something good?

[graham enzk]

jeezy peeps folks, calm down, it was a funny post not an attack on anyone.
what made it funny is that it was true, and alex's mock gig posters i could actually almost believe the band names. parody, satire, comedy.

[Thee Alex]

Originally Posted by freakonaleash

You are basing this premise on what? Statistics or wild hunches that give you carte blanche to lay into the folk in Dundee who are actually trying to do something good?

I'm basing it on having been in dozens and dozens of cities and towns, the length and breadth of the UK, playing shows and seeing posters in countless venues. I'm also basing it on having been to many European cities, as well as cities in the US and Canada.

When I first moved to Dundee in '97 I was amused and surprised to see posters with lengthy descriptions of bands on them, something I'd never seen before in all my years in the Birmingham music scene. When I would go through to Glasgow, a venue like the 13th Note would be utterly lacking in posters matching the 'Dundee style', it's walls being crammed with creative and exciting work. Wandering around Montréal I would see a city completely immersed in the style of artists like Seripop.

Portland, Oregon, a city filled with people in bands or running labels/club nights, a city utterly plastered with gig posters, not one that I saw described the bands playing, or likened them to anyone else.

Years of looking at poster on GigPosters.com - gig posters, flyers and handbills from around the world!, 80,000 posters on there now - the most 'Dundee' like ones are often from....er....shows in Dundee.


People in Dundee might be trying to do something good by putting on gigs, but often their posters of utterly horrible.

[Keerin]

I think I would follow his parodious template as I'm total crap at design and the parodys he made were easy to read and understand and had all the info on it although it isn't very creative.

Also, I've seen shit posters everywhere, not just Dundee. haha

[hooligan]

fine, i was wrong to use the word blueprint. you use the same style almost every time - abstract scribble drawings with sketchy ink lines and handwritten Wordart.
im really not trying to slag you off, they ARE original and some do catch your eye, at the same time im not gonna pick sand out your arse and say they are amazing, cause they aint.

[Thee Alex]

Originally Posted by hooligan

fine, i was wrong to use the word blueprint. you use the same style almost every time - abstract scribble drawings with sketchy ink lines and handwritten Wordart.
im really not trying to slag you off, they ARE original and some do catch your eye, at the same time im not gonna pick sand out your arse and say they are amazing, cause they aint.

Never said they were, but I'm willing to bet they're a damned sight better than anything you could manage.

Oh dear, you've got me! I hand draw my posters!! My 'secret' is out!!

[hooligan]

i dont call myself an artist tho do i? you know if i had the time i'd take you up on that bet in a non-parody way using your 'style', maybe i will.


:forgottoquote: Oh dear, you've got me! I hand draw my posters!! My 'secret' is out!! :forgottoquote:

and stop trying to get one over me, you know fine i was only explaining what you asked.

[hooligan]

jesus what a pain in the arse, photobucket was playing up on me for ages. think it has something to do with my un-updated version of 10.5 running on a g4.

anyway, this took 1min to draw and 20min to upload. was just gonna leave it but i think its so crap its funny.

[Scruffy]

Fight To The Death!!!!!

[stuartmaxwell]

Originally Posted by Thee Alex

I'm basing it on having been in dozens and dozens of cities and towns, the length and breadth of the UK, playing shows and seeing posters in countless venues. I'm also basing it on having been to many European cities, as well as cities in the US and Canada.

When I first moved to Dundee in '97 I was amused and surprised to see posters with lengthy descriptions of bands on them, something I'd never seen before in all my years in the Birmingham music scene. When I would go through to Glasgow, a venue like the 13th Note would be utterly lacking in posters matching the 'Dundee style', it's walls being crammed with creative and exciting work. Wandering around Montréal I would see a city completely immersed in the style of artists like Seripop.

Portland, Oregon, a city filled with people in bands or running labels/club nights, a city utterly plastered with gig posters, not one that I saw described the bands playing, or likened them to anyone else.

Years of looking at poster on GigPosters.com - gig posters, flyers and handbills from around the world!, 80,000 posters on there now - the most 'Dundee' like ones are often from....er....shows in Dundee.


People in Dundee might be trying to do something good by putting on gigs, but often their posters of utterly horrible.

some of this I agree with but...

I have put on gigs in Scotland for a number of years, with some big bands and smaller diy gigs. I have also toured around the UK a number of times and been to gigs and festivals on the euro mainland. These same issues you have are applicable to everywhere. There are more artistic people and generally more music with artistic credibility happening in/visiting the likes of leeds, manc, brighton et al they also have a stakey mosher scene. The amount of interesting things happening somewhat reduces the visibility of stakey gigs.

And whilst I do agree that a nice poster is good to have, I feel it isnt essential. Nothing talks more to somebody than music they like or might like.

Painfully for you (and sometimes me), Dundee is a mosher town these days. The days of exciting acts like Microphones, Oxes et al are long gone as these gigs are not sustainable in the city anymore. If i was to put on any of the majority of the gigs I get offered, I would be faced with the same issues of

a) nobody attending as there is fuck all interest in that type of music
b) lose a bucketload of money as they generally come with guarantees that I wouldnt hit in dundee (I put in less effort, people dont like paying for gigs)
c) I wouldnt be able to give them the attention and care they deserve due to the fact that, these days, I have a job that comes first

This is why I (and other probably) dont try and do anything about it. These days Im pretty cynical and mainly do gigs for friends and for those who help us out, I dont do guarantees and put a lot less effort into gigs. I think we all went through a period in our lives when music was the priority, some deciding to stick with that route and others (like me) turning older and preferring to concentrate on other things and responsibilities.

[owenboskoala]

I have been trying to do some hand-drawn posters for a while...
Really just run out of time to find someone with a scanner etc.

I do not really do posters on photoshop to create interesting works of art, just try to put somthing together that let's folk know who's playing and if that affords me to slap a description on then so be it.

Valid point made by the mock ups and a fairly good laugh was had, end of the day the issue seems to be where the focus lies. I will at sompoint do some nice art but I'd rather have a poster than not so what ever time is available will demmand what medium these are done in.

Let us all gain some perspective....posters are bits of paper/jpegs which inform that there's a gig on. I've done fairly average ones and had really good turnouts thus I'm not terrifically fussed.

I like good hand drawn posters. Alex, some of yours are smart as fuck others I have to say I struggle to read.

Does anyone really give a fuck or are we all just bathing in a big bucket of let's all argue on the internet?