Special Edition: Kyle Baker "Silkscreen Gig Posters
On Wednesday, January 18, I attended the Kyle Baker "Silkscreen Gig Posters" presentation and reception at the main campus SXU Gallery.
Kyle is a Chicago artist, who runs a shop that operates a silkscreen press, making gig posters for bands like the Avett Brothers, Counting Crows and Umphrey's McGee. Kyle got his start working in a shop as an apprentice, then ended up buying the company and now employs three full time employees making band posters.
Kyle focused on the way he chooses color and theme, and the creative freedom that comes from building trust with your client. My favorite note from his color discussion was the modified magenta and yellow he uses instead of standard process colors. It lends a real vibrancy to his work.
I spoke to him after the show about his process, how he decides what to create and if he has peers that he gets feedback from during the process. He was very open and said that he does show the work from time to time to a close circle of friends, but that he trusts his own vision and follows that most of the time.
He invited us to come visit his studio, and I plan to do so soon.
Kyle is a Chicago artist, who runs a shop that operates a silkscreen press, making gig posters for bands like the Avett Brothers, Counting Crows and Umphrey's McGee. Kyle got his start working in a shop as an apprentice, then ended up buying the company and now employs three full time employees making band posters.
Kyle focused on the way he chooses color and theme, and the creative freedom that comes from building trust with your client. My favorite note from his color discussion was the modified magenta and yellow he uses instead of standard process colors. It lends a real vibrancy to his work.
I spoke to him after the show about his process, how he decides what to create and if he has peers that he gets feedback from during the process. He was very open and said that he does show the work from time to time to a close circle of friends, but that he trusts his own vision and follows that most of the time.
He invited us to come visit his studio, and I plan to do so soon.
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| Mr. Baker answers questions following his presentation. |
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| Iconic Chicago imagery and dramatic lighting really make this poster, with a tip of the hat to Chicago's flag for color use. |
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| This one's pretty cheesy, but I like the font usage. |
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| New Year's poster for the Aragon Ballroom. Very roaring 20's. |
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| The layering and metallic inks made this poster a crowd favorite. |
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| Kyle led us through the creation of this poster from its development in Adobe Illustrator, to the finishing touches in the print process. It was very interesting to see it progress, and also gave us insight into his color choices. |
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| Umphrey's McGee Winter Tour Poster. Interesting geometric lines here. |
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| I really like the wave textures used in the blanket on this one. The combination of tertiary colors is very appealing. |
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| Very Art Nouveau poster with a decidedly monochromatic ship in the center. Interesting. |
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| Best for last. I loooooooove this poster. The cities making up the tour, while almost impossible to read, make up the feathers of the headdress and the band Counting Crows makes up the crown of the image. Very clever design. |
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