Two Thousand and Thirteen's Style

So here I am, finally ready to post about the art I've worked on in 2013!  And it's June...Meaning the year is almost half-over already!  Insanity!  I guess I had better get a move on with posting, no?

Now, one of the biggest changes to the artwork I've been creating for the league this season is a singular, consistent style to carry through all of our marketing.  You see, our bout committee decided to do away with bout themes, meaning I no longer had to spend extra time conceptualizing/designing different styles for each bout poster (like the ode to the 80s and Patrick Nagel for "Smack to the Future" or the beer stein and German architectural elements from "Knocktoberfest").  Don't get me wrong, themes are fun and all, but they're so much extra work...and kind of stylistically frenetic.  This season I could actually develop a set style--our branding.

To get the ball (or skate) rolling (har har har), I started putting together designs for season schedules.  In the end I created 3: A poster, a postcard and a business card size as well.  That way we had a solid assortment of materials that we could put on display and distribute with ease.

The DuPage Derby Dames 2013 Season Schedule Poster (11"x17")
Featured: Crissy Crossbones, Masochistic Molly, Roary Feldman, Katzen Jammer
Coincidentally, all of these ladies (and lion) are tall and leggy.  Rawr :3

The fronts and backs of the season schedule postcard and business card
Featuring: Emtropy, Katty WhompAss, Give 'Em L, Kid Vicious and Code Green

The response from my league-mates on the new style has been very positive.  Everyone seems to dig the torn paper look. To get those jagged edges, I actually did rip up strips of paper and then scanned them.  While the use of the torn paper was a literal attempt at creating visual layers without too much clutter (which I admittedly struggle with since I'm an illustrator and not a graphic designer), it was largely inspired by this sort of scene I had running through my head.

I kept picturing this wall outside a club that was just plastered with tons of flyers for exciting events like concerts and all sorts of live performances.  Except all the flyers were ours.  And each time you tore down a flyer, there was still another one of ours underneath. Layer after layer of Dames, shouting, screaming, compelling the viewer to come watch us bout.  No matter how hard a person tried, these posters weren't going to come down--not until everyone's arses were in our seats!  That intensity was what I was hoping to capture in the design.

Question is, did I succeed or fail?     

Now, if you've been following the previous artwork that I've posted on here, you'll notice another big change...

...PHOTOGRAPHS!

At this point we had amassed a decent amount of images from wonderful photographers like Steve Jurkovic, and it seemed a shame not to utilize them!  I edited the photos by adding in motion blurs to draw focus to the featured skaters.  Otherwise the images were largely untouched.

If you're wondering where the skater illustrations went to, no need to worry.  I still draw them.  However, I only do so for bout posters!  And that's what I'll be posting next--the bout poster from our 2013 season opener!  But you'll have to wait until my next update for that one.  It's getting late, and I have a day job to haul my arse to in the morning :P 

Knuckles, Out!