WILL THE BIRD MACHINE MAKE WEDDING INVITATIONS FOR YOU?
thanks for asking!
no!
congratulations on your impending marriage! unfortunately, i find wedding invitations and wedding announcements and wedding posters to be considerably more stressful than other types of work, so i will not take on these jobs.
i recommend contacting one of these great folks:
- www.cricket-press.com
- www.sonnenzimmer.com
- www.annebenjamin.com WILL THE BIRD MACHINE MAKE BIRTH ANNOUNCEMENTS FOR YOU?
thanks for asking!
no!
congratulations on your tiny new room-mate! unfortunately, i find baby announcements and baby posters to be considerably more stressful than other types of work, so i will not take on these jobs.
i recommend contacting one of these great folks:
- www.cricket-press.com
- www.sonnenzimmer.com
- www.annebenjamin.com NEW POSTERS?
if you have seen a new poster for an upcoming event, please know that we make a firm habit of not selling that poster until the day AFTER the event which the poster advertises.
no, thanks for asking, you cannot pre-order a copy.
AH! AN INTERVIEW PRIMER!
"hello jay i am studying graphic design at this reputable college and i am very interested in designing posters and i was just wondering if i could ask you some questions":
1. Which designers have influenced you ?
"oh, there are many, and few of them are actually "designers". (german printmaker) horst janssen was probably a main influence, as was (austrian painter) egon schiele (also an influence on janssen). joseph cornell's boxes, chris ware's compositions, the whole vienna secessionist movement (in a general sense). russian architectural printmakers brodsky & utkin. the lovely diana sudyka and i work in a way that can be best described as a two-way street, profoundly influencing each other's work due to proximity."
2. How did you get into poster designing ?
"i got out of school (university of illinois at urbana) in 1994 with a bachelor's degree in painting, moved to chicago, and took various jobs as an apprentice carpenter, an antiques restorer, house painter, record-label warehouse worker (shipper of the month, july and august 1995), and various other jobs. during this time, i was doing what little freelance illustration i could for friends in 'proper' graphic design jobs. one friend, andy mueller of the ohiogirl design co, asked me to collaborate on a poster he had been hired to do. i drew a picture, andy added text, and we went to meet with a screenprinter: steve w, at screwball press. steve and i hit it off and i started working at screwball, printing his work, other people's work, and eventually, my own."
3. -What was the first poster you did and which band did you do it for?
"during university, i designed 5 or 6 black and white flyers fro my bands, and my friends' bands. after i finished school, my first screenprinted poster was for rocket from the crypt, the supersuckers, and wesley willis fiasco. the text was designed by andy mueller, and steve walters of screwball press printed it. i think about 30 of them were made. i have one copy. it has a figure sort of gesturing, and his head has just popped off, at the same time that he has farted."
4. What is your favourite [sic] band to work with?
"my favorite bands are the ones who simply trust me in what i will do for them. shellac is a great customer (since we share a sense of what is funny). andrew bird is one of the few who's suggestions i readily welcome, since i think we see eye to eye on some of his music. the decemberists are easy to work for, since their music plainly lays out stories; their songs are like picture books already, which just need to be drawn. it's also fun to work for my own band, dianogah, since i have absolutely no one to satisfy but myself."
5. What techniques do you use to design your posters ?
"the vast majority of my posters are made without the use of computers. the originals are drawn in pencil on paper. the layers of color are cut from a film called rubylith, using an exacto knife. the screen printing is done at the bird machine print shop."
7. Do you have any advice for me to improve my skills and become a
master of poster design ?
"whatever you are doing, do a lot of it. no, that's not enough, there: keep going. don't show me three posters or paintings. show me three hundred. now do fifty more. now we're talking."
8. When making a poster for a band do you listen to the music and try and creat something that matches the sound?
"i try to react to the music in some way - either depicting what i think a song is about (either literally or figuratively), or i take some element of a record cover and make something else with it. sometimes the link between the poster and the band is not obvious. there are times when making a poster is basically the act of being a big fan of the band - it's a way to take part in the show on a personal level, as a fan."
9. Do you get to meet the bands and/or go to the shows for free?
"rarely, and yes (which would be useful if i was in town at the time of the show, or if i ever left my home / work)."
--------------------------------------------------------- THE CREDITS
this nice brown website was 100% designed by jason harvey.
www.jhbookdesign.com
the coding was built, with extreme maneuverability, by justin and aaron of the rocket society.
www.rocketsociety.com INTERNSHIPS!
thanks for asking! we don't take on interns! we have a small shop, and all our bases are covered. you're a champ, though - i know you'll find something good.
we are also not hiring, so please don't send jay an email that begins "to whom it may concern..." SOLD OUT?
if a poster is shown in the STORE page, then it is for sale.
conversely, if a poster is NOT in the STORE page, then it is not for sale.
if we make 300 (for example) prints, the edition is numbered 1/300, 2/300, etc.
we don't do "A/P editions".
we don't reprint old posters.
thanks for understanding. SUBSCRIPTIONS
yes, we do offer a limited number of annual subscriptions. we announce a waiting list in early december. PLEASE DO NOT EMAIL NOW ASKING TO BE PUT ON THE WAITING LIST. very few spots open each year. thanks!
CONTACT: for ordering and all business, contact Jack orders@thebirdmachine.com
thanks for asking!
no!
congratulations on your impending marriage! unfortunately, i find wedding invitations and wedding announcements and wedding posters to be considerably more stressful than other types of work, so i will not take on these jobs.
i recommend contacting one of these great folks:
- www.cricket-press.com
- www.sonnenzimmer.com
- www.annebenjamin.com WILL THE BIRD MACHINE MAKE BIRTH ANNOUNCEMENTS FOR YOU?
thanks for asking!
no!
congratulations on your tiny new room-mate! unfortunately, i find baby announcements and baby posters to be considerably more stressful than other types of work, so i will not take on these jobs.
i recommend contacting one of these great folks:
- www.cricket-press.com
- www.sonnenzimmer.com
- www.annebenjamin.com NEW POSTERS?
if you have seen a new poster for an upcoming event, please know that we make a firm habit of not selling that poster until the day AFTER the event which the poster advertises.
no, thanks for asking, you cannot pre-order a copy.
AH! AN INTERVIEW PRIMER!
"hello jay i am studying graphic design at this reputable college and i am very interested in designing posters and i was just wondering if i could ask you some questions":
1. Which designers have influenced you ?
"oh, there are many, and few of them are actually "designers". (german printmaker) horst janssen was probably a main influence, as was (austrian painter) egon schiele (also an influence on janssen). joseph cornell's boxes, chris ware's compositions, the whole vienna secessionist movement (in a general sense). russian architectural printmakers brodsky & utkin. the lovely diana sudyka and i work in a way that can be best described as a two-way street, profoundly influencing each other's work due to proximity."
2. How did you get into poster designing ?
"i got out of school (university of illinois at urbana) in 1994 with a bachelor's degree in painting, moved to chicago, and took various jobs as an apprentice carpenter, an antiques restorer, house painter, record-label warehouse worker (shipper of the month, july and august 1995), and various other jobs. during this time, i was doing what little freelance illustration i could for friends in 'proper' graphic design jobs. one friend, andy mueller of the ohiogirl design co, asked me to collaborate on a poster he had been hired to do. i drew a picture, andy added text, and we went to meet with a screenprinter: steve w, at screwball press. steve and i hit it off and i started working at screwball, printing his work, other people's work, and eventually, my own."
3. -What was the first poster you did and which band did you do it for?
"during university, i designed 5 or 6 black and white flyers fro my bands, and my friends' bands. after i finished school, my first screenprinted poster was for rocket from the crypt, the supersuckers, and wesley willis fiasco. the text was designed by andy mueller, and steve walters of screwball press printed it. i think about 30 of them were made. i have one copy. it has a figure sort of gesturing, and his head has just popped off, at the same time that he has farted."
4. What is your favourite [sic] band to work with?
"my favorite bands are the ones who simply trust me in what i will do for them. shellac is a great customer (since we share a sense of what is funny). andrew bird is one of the few who's suggestions i readily welcome, since i think we see eye to eye on some of his music. the decemberists are easy to work for, since their music plainly lays out stories; their songs are like picture books already, which just need to be drawn. it's also fun to work for my own band, dianogah, since i have absolutely no one to satisfy but myself."
5. What techniques do you use to design your posters ?
"the vast majority of my posters are made without the use of computers. the originals are drawn in pencil on paper. the layers of color are cut from a film called rubylith, using an exacto knife. the screen printing is done at the bird machine print shop."
7. Do you have any advice for me to improve my skills and become a
master of poster design ?
"whatever you are doing, do a lot of it. no, that's not enough, there: keep going. don't show me three posters or paintings. show me three hundred. now do fifty more. now we're talking."
8. When making a poster for a band do you listen to the music and try and creat something that matches the sound?
"i try to react to the music in some way - either depicting what i think a song is about (either literally or figuratively), or i take some element of a record cover and make something else with it. sometimes the link between the poster and the band is not obvious. there are times when making a poster is basically the act of being a big fan of the band - it's a way to take part in the show on a personal level, as a fan."
9. Do you get to meet the bands and/or go to the shows for free?
"rarely, and yes (which would be useful if i was in town at the time of the show, or if i ever left my home / work)."
--------------------------------------------------------- THE CREDITS
this nice brown website was 100% designed by jason harvey.
www.jhbookdesign.com
the coding was built, with extreme maneuverability, by justin and aaron of the rocket society.
www.rocketsociety.com INTERNSHIPS!
thanks for asking! we don't take on interns! we have a small shop, and all our bases are covered. you're a champ, though - i know you'll find something good.
we are also not hiring, so please don't send jay an email that begins "to whom it may concern..." SOLD OUT?
if a poster is shown in the STORE page, then it is for sale.
conversely, if a poster is NOT in the STORE page, then it is not for sale.
if we make 300 (for example) prints, the edition is numbered 1/300, 2/300, etc.
we don't do "A/P editions".
we don't reprint old posters.
thanks for understanding. SUBSCRIPTIONS
yes, we do offer a limited number of annual subscriptions. we announce a waiting list in early december. PLEASE DO NOT EMAIL NOW ASKING TO BE PUT ON THE WAITING LIST. very few spots open each year. thanks!