Cozy Lummox

Twenty Questions

2009-11-19T18:07:00.000-05:00

MUCH too busy to put a proper post together, but here's something I can get up without too much trouble. A little while back I got an email from one Adam Rux, student of graphic design at the University of Missouri, who wanted to ask me twenty questions about working at Criterion. Considering some of the questions I get asked in the comments here, I thought the answers might also be of interest to readers of this blog, so here's a transcript of our email Q&A. Hopefully this'll tide you all over until I can find the time for another proper design post.

1. How long have you worked at Criterion Collection?
Since early '02, so... almost 8 years? (Huh... hard to believe.)

2. What was your first position at the company, and what did your job entail?
I was "Art Department Manager," meaning I did most of the production work to make sure all of our files were print-ready, plus a few minor design projects, like promotional "sell sheets" for all new titles. Our sell-sheets are templated now, but back then each one was individually designed to reflect the look of that particular disc. On occasions when we didn't have an approved cover by the time sell sheets had to ship, I would have to create a fake cover for the sell sheet, and basically I tried to make them as good real covers... with varying degrees of success, of course. But I guess they were alright, since after a few months of those, I was given the opportunity to design a real title (Akira Kurosawa's Red Beard was my first), and from then on I've been doing primarily that.

3. Briefly describe your educational background.
I have a BA from NYU's Gallatin School of Individualized Study. The school didn't have majors, exactly, but I basically studied comparative literature.

4. How important has your formal education been to your development as a designer?
I didn't really study design, I learned that more from tangential sources—designing the school literary magazine, interning for magazines, artists, and designers—more like a series of apprenticeships than a formal design education. That said, I actually do think the analytical "literary" skills I learned in school helped to focus the specific kind of design I do, what I like to think of as "interpretive" design (as opposed to [equally valid] "decorative" design).

5. Do you think you could have landed at Criterion today without a university degree?
Huh... That's tough to say. I guess not, but I don't know that I'd draw the link particularly directly. (i.e. it's not that the degree was so important, it's more that through college I had some experiences which lead to some internships which lead to this which lead to that which lead to Criterion... does that make sense?)

6. What was your first portfolio like?
A PDF of rejected book cover designs and some copies of the NYU literary magazine. Nothing that I'd want to show anyone now, I'm sure!

7. What was your first design job after university?
Well... Criterion, really, although I'd been working for designer Stewart Cauley for a couple years during college, which continued for a few months after I finished classes in December of '01, though I was working at Criterion by the time I technically graduated in the spring of '02.

8. What, if anything, about that position helped you land at Criterion?
Stewart gave me my first glimpse of design as a full time job, and helped me to understand exactly what that job would entail, not to mention taught me quite a lot.

9. Before Criterion, where else have you worked?
With Stewart, and simultaneously as a production intern at BOMB magazine, and also I've done some freelance work since coming to work here. (And of course I spent plenty of time paying bills at various coffee shops, delis, grocery stores, etc.)

10. Specifically, what experiences made you a desirable candidate for Criterion?
Like I say, the job I was originally hired to do wasn't intended to involve much design, so really the relevant experience was a proficiency with getting files set up to print properly (something I did at BOMB and somewhat for Stewart as well). Then once I got to Criterion I kind of carved out a niche for myself as a designer, too.

11. Describe the art department at Criterion. Your blog is very insightful, but could you describe in more depth the critiquing process?
For my own designs, I usually email them around to all the relevant parties (the disc's producer(s), the art director, and our president, Peter Becker), then there's usually at least one meeting in which we all stand in front of the magnetic wall-of-comps in the art department and discuss all the designs (since I work in-house, I have the advantage of participating directly in those conversations; our out-of-house designers have the results of those meetings communicated to them). Then there may be further rounds of comps sent through email or discussed in person, as needed. It's relatively casual, and varies depending on the project.

12. From conception to design finalization, how long is spent on each package?
Generally around two to three months, though there have certainly been projects that have taken longer.

13. How much autonomy do you have at Criterion?
I have plenty of autonomy in submitting designs, and in advocating for them... of course, whether or not those designs ultimately get chosen is another matter.

14. Is the art department self-contained, or is there a lot of interaction with the rest of the company? What is corporate life like at Criterion?
Lots of interaction; obviously we work more directly with editorial and the producers than with audio or video restoration, but everyone here is pretty sociable.

15. The films obviously dictate the style of the packaging. To what extent do you exert your own personality? How evident is the hand of Eric Skillman in the final release?
I suppose it varies from project to project—Berlin Alexanderplatz has a LOT of me in it, for example, as does most anything with a handmade component (what I call the "arts and crafts" projects), where something like Stranger Than Paradise (which I do think is a fine cover) is more of a direct channelling of the aesthetic of the film, without me adding much to it.

16. What percentage of Criterion packages are designed in-house?
Well, they're all at least art-directed in-house, but as far as actually designed, between me and Sarah Habibi, I'd say approx. 1/4, or maybe a little less?

17. How does Criterion decide which releases are designed in-house and which warrant an outside sensibility?
Generally it's just about the sensibility of the particular designer (in-house or out-) meshing well with the project. Occasionally there's some logistical reason to keep it in-house—it needs to be finished in super-quick time, or if we foresee an above-average amount of involvement from a director or licensor. And sometimes I just get a look at the upcoming schedule and call dibs. (Though admittedly that doesn't always work.)

18. Do you have any input into what films are released by Criterion? How far in advance is the release schedule planned?
None whatsoever.

19. Which Criterion package are you least satisfied with, and why?
Hmmm, I should be careful how I answer this... I guess Night on Earth, maybe? I was working against some constraints on that one, but even so I wasn't really able to step up and make it hold together. Definitely a little disappointed in myself on that one, since I do quite like that movie.

20. Which package makes you envious of the designer?
Good question! There's plenty that I love and wish I had come up with, like Michael Boland's La Commare Secca, Lucian Yang's Floating Weeds, Aesthetic Apparatus's Eyes Without a Face, Ron Miller's Golden Age of Television, or Jason Hardy's Brand Upon the Brain, to rattle off the first few that come to mind. But if I had to pick one design that I never would have come up with in a million years but wish I could, I'd probably point to Neil Kellerhouse's great design for Mishima.

21. If Criterion asked you to choose three films to design, what would you choose?
Another interesting question! Honestly, I tend to like designing for films I'd never seen before getting the assignment, because the films I know and love are already kind of set in my mind, it's harder to find a new angle to approach them from. That said, I'd love to get my hands on Duck Soup, or any Marx Brothers title, really, because I don't know that I've ever seen any really great design associated with the Marx Brothers, and they definitely deserve it... I'd also love to try one of those big, outlandish multi-season TV sets, for something like The Wire or Deadwood. Then, I dunno... Point Blank? In Bruges? The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence? Superman: the Movie? Groundhog Day? His Girl Friday? Kiss Kiss Bang Bang? Now I'm just naming my favorite movies...

King Con postgame

2009-11-09T09:35:00.003-05:00

Had a great time at King Con Brooklyn! It was great to meet so many interesting and talented people on both sides of the tables! It turns out to be a bit of a slog manning a table by yourself, as I discovered on Sunday (thankfully I was able to rope the lovely Mariel P. Isaacson into hanging out with me all day Saturday), but all in all it was a fun show... I heard a few people describing the vibe as kind of like the first few years of MoCCA, which I can absolutely see. The space was especially cool, and convenient to my apartment! Hopefully the show will continue--and continue to grow--in the next few years!

There were also a few people who asked about web sales of prints. I've been a little hesitant to set up any real e-commerce on this site because I don't really want to get bogged down in inventory, but I do have at least one or two left of each of the prints (Glicees of "Steel Helmet," "SOAO (Man with Guitar)," "A Troubling of Goldfish," and the Berlin Alexanderplatz bird silkscreens). I've been selling them for $20 each, except now that I'm down to the last two bird silkscreens I've upped the price to $40, because I'm kind of sentimentally attached to them. If you're interested, send me an email (design [at] ericskillman [dot] com), and we can work out a paypal situation or something. I'll even toss in a free POTUS with any order.

(And comics are still available HERE, of course.)

King Con this weekend!

2009-11-05T16:30:00.001-05:00

Quick reminder for any NYC-based folks: come visit me this weekend at Brooklyn's new comic convention, the first-annual King Con. I'll be hawking my prints and comics, including, I'm happy to say, a brand new mini-comic featuring art by the amazing MING DOYLE! It's called "LOST AND FOUND" and here's a sample panel to whet your appetite:

I'll also have copies of EGG #1, (with art by Connor Willumsen, Jorge Coelho, Jhomar Soriano, Dan Duncan, and Joe Dellagata), the as-yet-unvailable-anywhere-else COLD FEET (drawn by Evan Bryce), and prints of various art of mine, including Steel Helmet, SOAO, POTUS, and newly-printed A Troubling of Goldfish mini-prints. If you get there early enough I might even have a couple Berlin Alexanderplatz bird silkscreens left.

This Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 7-8, 11 AM to 7 PM, Brooklyn Lyceum, 227 4th ave (R train to Union Street). Hope to see you there!

And one for the Angelinos...

2009-10-30T13:05:00.003-05:00

Before I forget, the closing night reception for A Murder of Crows at Gallery Meltdown in L.A. is TONIGHT, 6-10 PM. I'm told there will be "a costume contest and light refreshments," and that all artwork, including my "Troubling of Goldfish" and Jason Polan's "Journey of Giraffes" (above), among many others, will be cash and carry.

King Con Brooklyn: Nov 7-8

2009-10-30T10:36:00.004-05:00

Hey, New Yorkers!!

I'll be set up with a table at next weekend's KING CON BROOKLYN, selling newly-printed copies of EGG #1, hopefully a few NEW mini-comics if they're ready in time, and a selection of artwork (these prints and a few new things).

So if you're anywhere near the NYC area, come on by the Brooklyn Lyceum, located at 227 4th Avenue, next weekend, November 7-8. Tickets are very reasonable: $7/day or $10/weekend, and well beyond my own minor contributions, it sounds like it should be a pretty well-stocked show, with lots of interesting people, from Jonathan Ames to Cliff Chiang to Al Jaffee to Harvey Pekar to Jamie Tanner to Brian Wood... there's a full list here.

Hope to see you then!

El Descumbrimiento

2009-10-15T08:02:00.000-05:00

Here's another I had meant to post about a while back, but it kept slipping my mind...

At the end of last year, out of the blue, I got an incredibly flattering email from the fine actor Julio César Cedillo, (who you may recall from The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada, if you've ever seen that film), asking me to design a poster for this short film by a young Mexican director, Alonso Alvarez Barreda: El Descumbrimiento (The Finding). Julio was so genuine in his excitement for the project, and so complimentary of my work, that I just couldn't say no.

The film is about a father and son coping with the loss of their wife/mother, and they had plenty of great on-set photography to work with. My first concept was to try to suggest an absence or hole in the center of the relationship between father and son, represented very simply and graphically:

A second option was a little bit generic, but I thought the two images involved were compelling and was trying to find a way to combine them. (I'm not sure how successful I was.)

Julio and Alonso liked the concept of the first one but worried it wasn't quite coming through, so I tried a rougher version, more obviously a "hole" rather than just a circle.

And finally there was this more oblique version, which just captured the visual style of the film nicely. (By the way, they ultimately wanted to have versions in both English and Spanish, which is why I keep switching the title back and forth.) They also asked for a few minor variations to that--desaturating and resaturating the color, new title treatments:

I was pretty happy with the "hole" version, personally, but ultimately they liked that last version best, that's what they went with for the screening at the San Diego Film Festival. Looking at their Facebook page, I guess they've changed it a bit since then... Not sure who did the new version, I'm only just noticing it now, to be honest.

"A Murder of Crows," addendum

2009-10-06T22:30:00.004-05:00

Oops, forgot to link to Gallery Meltdown again before the opening. Anyway, all of the pieces are now conveniently available to view on the gallery's blog. I think Steven Weissman's might be my favorite:

I imagine the Eddie Izzard fans out there might want to note that this gentlemen likes his women like he likes his coffee... covered in bees!

Downhill Racer

2009-10-01T17:50:00.001-05:00

Uh oh... this brings us to the end of my cache of pre-written posts. I'll try to get a few more under my belt ASAP to prevent future delays, but, y'know, good intentions are the devil's asphalt (or whatever that saying is.) Anyway...

The concept for Downhill Racer came pretty easily: the film, about an arrogant but talented athlete, has some really dynamic skiing visuals, and a freeze-frame sequence during the opening credits that just begs to be made into a cover. There was also this pretty great-looking original poster:

...but frankly, the film is anything but a love story, and we all felt it was pretty misleading. Better, I thought, to focus on the great skiing cinematography--shot on skis in large part--that's such a big part of the film. So here's a bunch of comps based on framegrabs from the film, which I think give a nice flavor for the movie:

I did try a few variations on the original poster, trying to focus on the arrogance of Redford's character rather than the less-important "love" story, but that wound up looking too "Hollywood," like we were just trying to put a big celebrity head on the disc to sell some copies. (Not that there's anything wrong with selling some copies!) And the other version is just a bit flat.

So that first one up top was the favorite, but no one was quite sold on the type. I tried a few more options, with the boldest below emerging as the favorite:

We went back and forth on whether we should include stars names or not, and finally decided we'd be shooting ourselves in the foot to NOT mention Robert Redford and Gene Hackman when we have the chance, so on they went, and here's the final cover:

"A Murder of Crows: A Children's Primer"

2009-09-22T18:25:00.000-05:00

I just finished up my contribution to a group art show at Gallery Meltdown in L.A.: "A Murder of Crows: A Children's Primer," curated by Linda Pine. She's assembled a really amazing collection of artists (people like Richard Sala, Renee French, Tim Biskup, Dave Cooper, Jason "Wacky Animals" Polan... seriously, I must have been contacted by mistake!) to illustrate an alphabet's worth of "terms of venery;" those wacky 19th-century terms for groups of animals (i.e. "school of fish," "pride of lions," etc).

I chose "a troubling of goldfish," and did it in watercolor & Sharpie (because I apparently can't draw anything without my Sharpies anymore), and I have to say I'm quite happy with it--though I'm sure it will still pale in comparison to everything around it!

The show goes up on October 3rd, and I believe there's an associated shindig from 6-9 PM that evening. If you're in the L.A. area, stop by and check it out! Details here.

White Dog

2009-09-20T15:46:00.000-05:00

I wrote this one a while back, actually... not sure why I didn't post it at the time, but here it is now:

As I recall, the initial meeting to discuss the brief for White Dog lasted for hours, as we worked our way through all the various interpretations of this controversial film: is it an unjustly censored masterpiece? A well-meaning but ham-fisted allegory? A bold political statement against racism? A formulaic horror film with delusions of significance? A visionary film that transcends its genre? A nominally anti-racist film that exposes the underlying institutional racism of the filmmakers involved? Opinions were voiced, arguments offered, the whole thing was a rigorous intellectual endeavor. At the end of it all, just as everyone was getting ready to head back to their respective desks, I wanted to get one last point of clarification:

"So... as far as the design goes: big scary dog, right?"

"Oh, yeah. Totally."

So "big scary dog" it was. I was excited about trying to incorporate something like the flat color style I'd used on those Randy Bandits records, so I set to work drawing big scary dogs. Here's the first batch I sent around:

(Re: colors: the white/black/red combo seemed immediate obvious, but I threw those brownish ones in there because sometimes people around here can get burnt out on black/white/red designs. Luckily, we didn't have to go that direction: if there was ever a film that demanded the black/white/red color scheme, this is it.)

Those last two (and okay, a little bit the first one, too) were quickly derided as looking too much like labels for microbrew beer bottles. (And who wouldn't want to crack open an ice cold White Dog after a hard day at the office? Microbrewers of America, call me!) I liked the drawing in #1 the best, (though admittedly the type is weak), but the producer liked the composition in #2, but wanted to see it with some of the snarling energy from the (otherwise lousy) drawing in the last two. So I set about drawing in some snarl to #2, and tried a few new title treatments while I was at it (a couple of which are really bad in retrospect):

I also tried a few variations on that first drawing, but to no avail. (I'm still quite fond of that last one with the red title in the lower right corner, actually.) I did ultimately sneak it onto the menus, though--score one for stubborn designers!

Anyway, we were all set to go with this one:

But then it turned out that there were some legal issues that limited the size of the title treatment (specifically, the size of the credit block on the back cover had to be a certain percentage of the title treatment, which would have taken up literally the entire back cover if we'd sized it according to the title on our cover of choice, which meant, in effect, that the title treatment had to be shrunk down to accommodate the credit block.) I tried resizing the title on the existing cover, but it just didn't work:

So we needed a new solution. Luckily, I had another drawing handy, one we had been planning to use as the booklet cover, to play up the good dog/bad dog dichotomy in the film. Plus, the dog coming out of the blank field of white has a nice, creepy effect that fits the film well. We decided the transition from good dog cover to bad dog booklet made just as much, if not more sense than the other way around, so we preserved the original cover on the insert booklet (free from legal requirements) and used this as the DVD cover (a fine solution, I think!):

(By the way, if you're a Fuller fan but a White Dog skeptic, try watching the film with the chroma turned all the way down (i.e. as a black & white film)--you'll be shocked at how much it starts feeling like classic Fuller once you're not distracted by all the '80s pastel jumpers and whatever.)

The Years Don't Have Dustjackets

2009-09-16T09:16:00.000-05:00

I got a sample of the hardcovers for the ALEC omnibus last week, and boy do they look pretty, if I do say so myself!! The image is silkscreened directly onto the raw board, giving the whole thing a simultaneous high-class / lo-fi effect... (Not to be confused with the high-class / lo-fi effect of this crappy photo taken with my expensive iPhone.*)

And don't forget, there's still time to pre-order!!

*For the record, I'm not an iPhone hater, I do love mine, but fair is fair: the camera sucks.

Pigs, Pimps and Prostitutes

2009-09-13T15:27:00.001-05:00

So... Pigs, Pimps and Prostitutes! This is a recent favorite of mine--three great films, and I was very happy with how the design came together. A different animal than my previous Imammura cover, Vengeance is Mine, but both are personal favorites, actually.

Here's the first idea I had, which is pretty close to the final covers:

I immediately liked the idea of this hand-drawnlettering for it's tightly contained energy, very strictly structured but dirty and human at the same time... it just seemed like a good fit for Imammura. There's obviously a Dr. Strangelove influence there, and Stop Making Sense and a dozen other things, (most of which, as an anonymous commenter points out, are designs by the great Pablo Ferro), but to be honest the most immediate influence was this. (That's not a value judgment by any means, it's just what I happened to notice on a bookshelf while working on this project)

That type isn't a font, it's hand-drawn. (Or, well, I did build a font set out of these letterforms for the packaging and menus, but the covers were drawn before that.) I set the titles in various weights of a font called Agenda, then traced over them. Here's what it looked like in font-only form--not very pretty! (For the record, that's a recreation--I don't seem to have saved the original, but it looked pretty much like that.)

The other element worth commenting on in those covers (apart from the film images, which hopefully speak for themselves), is the silhouetted "critters." Each of these films features a prominent insect or animal as a central metaphor, (the pigs in Pigs and Battleships, the bug from the opening credits of Insect Woman, the silkworms and/or that centipede-looking thing that crawls up her thigh in Intentions of Murder), so it seemed like a good way to link them all together.

Anyway, next came a variation on that theme, but replacing the silhouetted "critters" with photos of same, and bringing in some color for variety:

Here instead of the framegrab used for the previous slipcase cover, I found a similar, but graphically stronger, image on Corbis. The idea of mimicking that scene from Pigs & Battleships for the cover was immediately appealing to me--writhing dirty masses of pigflesh just seem like the perfect encapsulation of Imammura's views on humanity in these movies, and I especially love the way the pigs are converging downward in this image, almost like they're being sucked down a drain... I was initially a little concerned that there might be some objection to using an image that isn't really from the film, (which is why I tried the framegrab version above, but it doesn't have the same punch), but luckily everyone was up for it. (I also think it sits nicely next to my cover for the Bergman Film Trilogy slipcase from back in the day, but that's neither here nor there.)

And finally, just in case everyone hated the hand-drawn type, I tried this idea, which I have literally no justification for.. it seemed like a good idea at the time, but thankfully everyone DID like the hand-drawn type.

After a little back and forth, I took the best bits from options 1 and 2, swapped in a new image for Insect Woman and a new and better "critter" for Pigs and Battleships, thickened up the lettering on the slipcase to make sure it was readable, and as a last minute decision (literally I was about to press "print" on the first proof loop), added that hot pink color to the interior of the slipcase, which I think really holds the whole set together, somehow. And that's that! Here's the final covers:

Sorry!! Also: Stumblebum Brass Band!

2009-09-13T13:14:00.006-05:00

So, wow, long time between posts, huh? Sorry about that, been CRAZY busy, with lots of fun stuff which I'll post about as soon as I can. But I've finally got some time, sitting here by the lake at scenic Kutsher's resort before today's line-up of ATP bands gets started, so I'll try to knock out a couple of these, then spread them out over the next few weeks, so as to give the illusion of consistency. We'll see how that goes...

And in addition to just generally being a bad blogger, I really should apologize for not posting this with any punctuality:

The Stumblebums are a great NYC-based band, one of the more fun shows you'll see (especially if you catch one of their subway sets, which have a tendency to turn into impromptu platform dance parties.) So I was psyched to do a poster for the kickoff to their Alaskan tour, but not only did I forget to post it in time for the kickoff show (which I also stupidly forgot to go to--I'm not lying when I say I've been busy!), I missed the whole damn Alaska tour! Sorry, guys! But if you're in NYC, or if they make their way to your town, do yourselves a favor and check them out, you won't be disappointed!

More EGG reviews

2009-06-24T17:10:00.001-05:00

I know no one but me cares, but I like having an archive of this stuff...

Matthew J. Brady at Warren Peace Sings the Blues (or, alternately, Indiepulp.com) has a big overview of lots of the great stuff he picked up at MoCCA '09. He calls "These Kids Today," "a three-page crime story about a guy who has a one night stand with a girl and gets too attached, with the art probably being the most interesting aspect." I can't disagree! He then goes on to talk about the "Cold Feet" and "Below the Fold" minis, saying:

"Skillman doesn't do a bad job here, but he's especially good at picking collaborators, with Jorge Coelho being especially noteworthy, putting plenty of detail, good facial expressions, and moody color into the tale for maximum effect. ... Skillman looks to be pretty good at what he does, although it would be interesting to see him stretch a bit and tell something longer. Crime is a growing genre in comics, so there's definitely room for him to tell his stories. Hopefully he'll be able to continue plying his trade."

Over at a blog called "Lerbd," Pedro Moura picked up a copy of EGG #1 from Jorge Coehlo at the Beja comics festival, and included a review in his festival rundown. It's in Portugese, so I'm only getting the Google translate version, but he seems to comparing the stories (unfavorably, if I'm understanding correctly) to David Lapham--but hell, even an unflattering comparison to Lapham is flattering, as far as I'm concerned! He rightly praises Jorge's work, though chides me for hamstringing him with cramped, 9-panel pages--again, guilty as charged, though personally, I thought Jorge rose to the challenge brilliantly.

Pedro Moura also made this YouTube video that I, for reasons I can't quite explain, find extrememly entertaining. He flips through EGG #1 at the end of the video.

MoCCA postgame, part II

2009-06-09T18:24:00.000-05:00

I forgot to mention the best part of MoCCA: new comics! I've really appreciated it when other blogs have given shout-outs to EGG, so now that I've had a chance to actually read a decent chunk of my purchases, I thought I'd throw a few highlights out there to the interwebs. In no particular order:

For the most part, I tried to avoid the bigger books, which I can always get in a bookstore later, in favor of smaller stuff you can only find at MoCCA, but I couldn't resist Scott C.'s Double Fine Action Comics. Very cool to see the webcomic collected into an actual book... I'll admit I tend to get a little burned out on webcomics after about 100 installments or so (call me a luddite if you must), but I'm psyched to get to pick up this bizarre and hilarious strip where I left off.

I was also excited to pick up a new mini from Matt Weigle, Monsters & Condiments, which is totally fun, even if it's a bit slight in comparison to his previous The Four Husbands, Ayaje's Wives, or Seven More Days of Not Getting Eaten, which are three of my favorite comics, mini- or otherwise. Discovering cartoonists like him is why I've loved all the previous MoCCA shows--I can't recommend his stuff highly enough.

Another MoCCA favorite, Jamie Tanner, didn't have anything new to me this year, but his excellent collection The Aviary is well worth checking out nonetheless!

And rounding out my list of perennial MoCCA favorites is Tom Gauld's new book, The Gigantic Robot. I'll admit I was a little disappointed by the somewhat conventional format--Gauld does such great stuff with formats in his Three Very Small Comics series, that I would almost rather have seen this book at full on Many Splendid Sundays size, or something along those lines, but never mind that, because, as always, his drawing is exquisite, and the story is as good as ever.

Thien Pham is a new name to me, but his Sumo is really good, with an Andi Watson kind of feel... I wish I'd gotten around to reading this on Saturday night, because I should have gone back to their table on Sunday to pick up more of the many great-looking books there!

One especially pleasant surprise was Undertow by Ellen Lindner. It's a nicely drawn look at life in Coney Island in the 1950s, without relying on hackneyed cliches of that time period. (No one goes to any "sock hops" or anything.) If I hadn't bought it directly from young Ms. Lindner, I would have assumed she must be in her mid-70s, she does such a good job of evoking a real sense of place. (Now that I type that, it seems like a really strange thing to say, but I honestly mean it as a compliment.)

Tomaz Kaczynski's TransAlaska and TransAtlantis are beautifully illustrated and nicely designed, but I could have used some numbering or some clue that they're not just related books but actually a serialized story--now I'm kicking myself for missing the middle piece, TransSiberia.

Another cool discovery was Victor Kerlow's Gutter--just beautifully, beautifully drawn. Victor spent some time hanging out at our table, and it was great to meet him--hi, Victor!

Speaking of our table, it goes without saying that Connor Willumsen's Real Bad and The Middle are as fantastic as you'd expect.

*Phew* That's about all I have energy for at the moment. And that's without even mentioning the minis by Zander and Kevin Cannon, the latest installment of Spike's Templar Arizona, Ulf K's Ex Libris, JP Coovert's Adrift, Thomas Hall & Daniel Bradford's R13, Rick Spears & Chuck BB's Black Metal (which I'm obviously behind the curve on!), or the GREAT new Top Shelf book, Second Thoughts by Niklas Asker... I wasn't able to get a copy of David Mazzucchelli's new book before it sold out, but I'm DEFINITELY looking forward to that, too.

Anyway, long story short: MoCCA, as usual, restores my faith in comics.

MoCCA postgame

2009-06-08T11:12:00.003-05:00

Had a GREAT time at MoCCA. (Well, apart from the heat.) It was great fun to hang with Connor behind the table, and with Brett, Chris, Leigh, Andy, etc, etc, after the show, and awesome to meet everyone who stopped by the table... a lot of folks came by and mentioned that they read this blog, which was very cool to hear--thanks to everyone who stopped by!

I even sold out of EGG #1, so on Sunday I wound up printing out some minicomic versions of two of the stories in there ("These Kids Today" and "Below the Fold") on Sunday morning, which worked out pretty well. I also sold quite a few Steel Helmet prints and bird silkscreens, but I do have a few left over. (And plenty of SOAO and POTUS prints, too--I think I shot myself in the foot with the "POTUS" label... apparently that bit of trivia hasn't seeped as deeply into pop culture as I'd thought--West Wing fans and political blog junkies seemed to be the only people who knew that POTUS means "President Of The United States.") I'm thinking of trying to find some easy way to sell them online... would people be interested in that? Drop a comment and let me know if I should bother...

(Photo via Geekanerd flickr stream.)

Don't forget: MoCCA this weekend!

2009-06-05T17:15:00.001-05:00

Just thought I'd bump this back up to the top of the blog, in case anyone stops by over the weekend--come visit me at the MoCCA festival, at the 69th Regiment Armory at Lexington Ave and 25th St, 11 AM to 6 PM this Saturday & Sunday. More details on my stuff here, or if you're curious about what ELSE you can find at MoCCA, there's a couple good posts at The Beat on self-published/minicomics stuff and books from honest-to-god publishers.

Yojimbo print by Paul Pope

2009-06-04T16:15:00.004-05:00

Oh my, that's nice! (And gratifyingly similar to a never-realized idea I had for a Yojimbo DVD cover back in the day, sans circle inset.) Since I already ordered mine, I can tell you without fear that the edition of 250 is available here.

(To clarify, this is NOT a Criterion product and I had nothing to do with it.)

Via The Beat.

MoCCA 2009: Where to find me...

2009-06-01T16:22:00.004-05:00

We just got our table assignment for MoCCA... you'll be able to find Connor Willumsen and myself at table 621, which is apparently in the southwest corner of the building, or back and to the left if you come in through the main Lexington ave entrance.

See you there!

Rashomon poster onsale at criterion.com

2009-05-30T11:38:00.002-05:00

Hey, quicker than I expected, even: Kent Williams' Rashomon poster is now on sale at criterion.com, only $25!

MoCCA 2009

2009-05-28T15:05:00.001-05:00

As previously hinted, I will be attending this year's MoCCA (Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art) Festival in NYC, splitting a table with talented artist and all-around swell guy Connor Willumsen. If you're going to be anywhere in the vicinity, please stop by and say hi. I'll have copies of EGG #1 for sale, of course, along with a lo-fi edition of "Cold Feet," some newly-produced giclee prints, a few silkscreens, and maybe a few assorted other goodies.

And even if you're not buying what I'm selling (though: you should!), MoCCA is always a great show--I've been going as a spectator for years and it always re-ignites my love for all things comics.

The festival is Saturday and Sunday, June 6-7, and will this year be held at the 69th Regiment Armory at Lexington Ave and 25th St, 11 AM to 6 PM both days. Admission is a mere $10/day or $15 for both days. Well worth your time!

"Cold Feet" page 1

2009-05-25T22:31:00.004-05:00

Hey, new comics!

Just finished up a new story with the amazing Evan Bryce! Evan's a fearless artist and I've admired his stuff for a while, so I'm thrilled to get the chance to work with him--check out his blog (or his "President Awesome" webcomic) for plenty more great art!

For a change, I'm NOT going to post the full 8 pages right away--I'll probably have some form of this available for sale at the MoCCA Festival in a couple weeks (along with some other fun stuff--more on that soon!), so I'll wait until the kind folk willing to purchase a copy get theirs before posting it online. But anyway, here's the first page... gorgeous, right? (And, y'know, the story's alright, too, I like to think!)

Kent Williams' Rashomon!

2009-05-18T11:46:00.000-05:00

I may work up a longer post on this when I get the time, but I wanted to get this up in time for the upcoming theatrical run: here's a sneak preview of the gorgeous new poster for the upcoming theatrical re-release of Akira Kurosawa's classic Rashomon, painted by the amazing Kent Williams (type design and art direction by me, as you probably guessed):

The newly-restored print (I'm told it's a revelation; I haven't see it on the big screen yet, myself) starts at the Film Forum in NYC on May 29, before touring the rest of the country.

...and do the other things.

2009-05-15T14:15:00.004-05:00

How about a look inside the packaging for a change? Here's a sneak peak at my favorite Criterion booklet I've designed in a while, For All Mankind, which hits stores in about a month, I think. There are covers I'm more proud of (not that I'm ashamed of this cover!), but I think the follow-through on this package came out really well, if I do say so myself. This is the opening spread (inside front cover and page 1):

Revanche

2009-04-30T17:04:00.005-05:00

Here's a timely one: 2008 Oscar-nominee Revanche.

If you're in New York, Seattle, or Boston, you can catch this really excellent film in it's premiere American theatrical run starting tomorrow, and from there it moves on to more cities across the country; check here for more details.

Janus Films hasn't released a first-run film in 30 years (well, depending on how you classify the never-screened-in-the-U.S.-but-nonetheless-40-year-old Army of Shadows), so we wanted to be sure to do right by Revanche. There was an existing poster from the original European release:

It's definitely graphically compelling but, to our eyes, didn't present a complete enough picture of the film to an American audience that wouldn't immediately get the resonance of the title ("revanche" being a word that means simultaneously "revenge" and "second chance"). Plus, we wanted the opportunity to put our own stamp on it, to differentiate our release from the European run. But, not too much, which mean we wanted to keep the (excellent) title treatment intact. So, it was basically a question of finding the right image to match with the type.

I was immediately drawn to this image, which asks all the right questions (Who is that guy? Why does he want to kill that other guy? Will he or won't he?), and gives a great sense of the kind of serene landscape that defines the second half of the film. But in these first attempts I was having trouble fitting it into the correct size for the poster in an interesting way. (The white bars on the side of the second version are a misguided attempt to create a smaller artificial "canvas" for the image, but really they just end up looking like big white bars for no reason.)

This next one I actually quite like--it's got a lot of resonance for those who've already seen the film. But, since this is, after all, a first-run release, no one has seen the film yet! Someone described this at some point as "the Criterion edition of this film, if it was a well-known classic that had been released 20 years ago," which I think is dead on. It's not doing enough to introduce the film to a brand new audience.

This one gets at more wood-chopping action ("axplay"?), but puts much too much focus on her rather than him--it really is his film.

And this one doesn't have a whole lot going for it, honestly. Again, too much emphasis on her.

Popular opinion leaned pretty strongly toward the first image, I just had to find a new crop for it. So, a little photoshop work to extend the trees and lake over to the right a bit, and I came up with this crop, which I think works pretty well! This became the final poster, which you can hopefully see hanging at an art house movie theater near you very soon!