March 2011

  •      Vadim has exhibited work at Artcrank, St. Louis in 2009 and 2010. He has since moved, wisely chosing another Artcrank city, and is once again a part of the Artcrank scene. While in St. Louis, he established Glitch; a journal of literature, art and all things glitch. The last issue, Glitch3 was published on Post Literate. Glitch4 is underway.

     "Collaboration is an essential part of my practice and I consider myself lucky when a chance to creatively engage with other humans comes my way. While I continue to make print work, I am venturing into new territory, particularly the realm of moving images and installation. Currently I am pursuing an MFA in Graphic Design at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design. In my down time I imbibe sound and occasionally experiment with gravity. "

  •      A transplant from Northern California, Todd Zerger Is a graphic designer and creative director in both traditional and interactive media who works,  lives, and rides in Saint Paul, MN.  In January 2009 he left the agency world and started BrainstormOverload with his wife and creative partner Cindy. Through BrainstormOverload they've been able to work with a number of agencies large and small, take on direct-to-client work and officially pursue things that once would have been relegated to side projects. Recently these have included PosterOffensive 5, the upcoming Artisan Activist poster show and volunteering to help the American Society of Landscape Architects and Saint Paul Bicycle Coalition.

    "I would say I'm a bit of a modernist and tend to practice a subtractive rather than additive approach to design in search of clean and intuitive work.

        I still haven't gotten the hang of winter cycling so Artcrank is a great way to keep my mind and my craft connected to my bicycle. I've also really enjoyed screen printing my own posters. It increases the challenge and makes me feel more connected to the results - thought it means they are by necessity less elaborate. I'm also a member of the redblackbrown collective collaborating with five other designers on a yearly calendar and projects like the Toys in the Attic poster show.

    I started connecting art and bicycles in high school with a series of drawings published in BMX PLUS! magazine back in the late '80's or early '90's (gets a bit foggy that far back).

    I currently ride a 1984 Colnago single speed geared at 52/18 and believe that if you aren't riding fast you aren't really riding ;)"

  • Tim Kramer is an avid road cyclist here in the metro.

         "A couple years ago, I started looking for a poster showing a cycling scene that might include one of my favorite rides.  Unable to find anything, I then decided to ask my daughter Kjersten (a graphic designer)  if she could help create a poster for me.   Also an avid cyclist, Kjersten agreed and the father-daughter project was off the ground!  I made a list of some of the more recognizable and beautiful areas where I enjoy riding,  then started taking multiple photos of each scene. 

    I sent these photos to  Kjersten so we could look for the best view.  Of course, the view had to include the downtown Minneapolis skyline in the background!  Kjersten picked the font for the Twin Cities Cycling title, and chose the colors as well.  I wanted cyclists in the scene as well, and despite Kjersten spending several hours detailing each cyclist in the scene, I finally decided to go with black silhouetted cyclists to not distract from the scene itself.

    Once we were both satisfied with the Hiawatha Bridge poster, we both agreed to do it all over again for a few of my other favorite areas.  Working with my daughter was very enjoyable, and very rewarding!   We didn't have any idea how many posters we would end up with, so we just continued until we had 8 separate posters, with beautiful scenes from both Minneapolis and St. Paul. 

    Kjersten is currently living in Santa Monica, California, and is getting married to her boyfriend Alex in August!  Once the wedding is over,  I have a few more scenes I would like her to work on, so hopefully we will have some new scenes available soon!"

  • Terrence has worked as a visual artist in Minneapolis since the mid 90’s, exhibiting at museums, galleries and universities throughout the united states. In 2002 he founded an artist collective called Rosalux Gallery to give local artists an opportunity to exhibit their work in an environment that would bring them high visibility while nurturing their artistic callings without the limitations imposed by many commercial galleries. Serving as gallery director since its inception, he has helped over 60 area artists further their art careers through their involvement with Rosalux.

    "I'm interested in how people view themselves in relation to the world around them and the contrast to what it is that is actually perceived of their words and actions by their communities at large.  My oil pastel portraits typically reflect the dark humor and unrelenting scrutiny that  I choose to focus on the catastrophes of the everyday that consume my subjects energies and good intentions."

  •    Studio On Fire is a 7 person shop specializing in letterpress printing and Design.  Ben Levitz is it's founder. A graduate of the College of Visual Arts, Ben began a career in Design working at shops like Kilter, Larsen and Carmichael Lynch Thorburn. In 1999 Ben decided that 60 hour work weeks were for slackers, and found a way to eliminate all that excessive free time by opening up Studio On Fire, and having a baby. Mission accomplished. If I had the time to do a proper bio for Ben, Studio on Fire, and their impact on the local design scene, it would be thicker than the Guttenberg Bible. (Filled with gorgeous illuminations and letterpress of course.)

    Ben

  •     Steven Jockisch is a Minnesota native and a graphic designer. After graduating from the University of Minnesota he has worked at some great shops including Spunk Design Machine, Catalyst Studios, Carmichael Lynch Thorburn, and most recently, a four year run at Mucca Design in New York.

      "In November we returned to our beloved Minneapolis (just in time for the worst winter ever) after 4 years in New York. I'm currently a creative at Mono. Did I mention that I love bikes? If not, I do."

       Steven currently lives in the Victory neighborhood of North Minneapolis with his lovely wife Anchalee and their dog Maybee.

    Po4

  • Friday, March 25, 2011

    Kat and Liz soaking up the sun.

  •     Spencer Haugh, is the owner of the Riot Minneapolis, a collaborative effort of many artists, from musicians to muralists on a mission of "Urban Reclamation and Beautification" in Minneapolis though street art, graffiti, stencil art, and poster art. He is a former President of the Minneapolis Bicycle Messenger Association. an advocacy group for bicycles and bicycle messengers in and around downtown Minneapolis. He is also a contributing editor for Cog Magazine.

    "I'm a full-time bicycle addict with a part-time art problem. I spent 5 years as a bike messenger in Minneapolis, Milwaukee, Philadelphia, and San Francisco. I have no formal art experience or schooling, but I did a lot of.. um, street art. After one too many run in's with Jonnny Law, I was forced/stumbled into these new creative outlets. Over the last few years I have combined the dual passions of cycling and street art into murals, logos, cycling team kits, t-shirts, and was honored to be part artcrank 2010. I have no idea how I got here, and I have no idea what's next. It's been an exciting ride. (no pun intended)."

  •      Sara Lintner is a designer/illustrator/maker of all things pleasing to the eye/brain/heart. Her illustration style is quirky, sweet, and slightly scandinavian. She is a designer by trade, but loves the chance is illustrate and screen-print. She is based out of Minneapolis, MN and is currently freelancing—although not opposed to full-time!

    MN

  •      Ryan Carlson was memorizing Pantone color systems and keylining his own birthday invitations in grade school. He sold his collection of Star Wars action figures and a Rickey Henderson rookie card to finance a small beige glowing box that would consume the next 28 years of his life. After a brief stint as a biology pre-med major, he came home and dedicated over six years of his life and an undisclosed amount of money to get a degree in graphic design. He worked in advertising and design until 2007 before escaping a career with 57 hour work weeks (minimally). He joined forces with Brent Gale, hatched a plan to change the face of cycling apparel, and Twin Six was born. Reportedly doing well, he has been seen wandering the streets of south Minneapolis humming the tune to Ricky Martin's Livin La Vida Loca.

    boneshaker

       Ryan and I shot New Holland tractors before he left the world of advertising. Perhaps he left the ad world because we shot New Holland tractors. In fact, I'm going to personally take credit for Ryan's success at Twin Six. 

    Tractors

  •   Robert Pflaum grew up in austin, MN, the birthplace of SPAM, moved to minneapolis to attend the Minneapolis College of Art and Design,  and graduated with a degree in illustration and graphic design.

         "I've been working as a freelance designer and working at Target as a graphic designer. I just started biking last summer and recently had my bike made over by my lovely girlfriend. I like design, typography, design and cats."

    Rollergirls

  • Monday, March 21, 2011

    Early start today.

        Up early today for this week's project with Knock. With a crew of ten people and renters it's going to be a busy week! 

  •         Paper Bicycle is a design studio in Uptown consisting of three designers, (Lindsay Nohl, Francesca Buchko and Chris Hajny), a bird and a couple dogs. Lindsay teaches at Minneapolis College of Art and Design, and Francesca teaches at the College of Visual Arts in St. Paul, and Chris has been working as a product design freelancer and illustrator for the past 6 years.

          "We take an illustrative approach to product, surface and packing design, as well as making art for anything and everything, all the time."

    lindsay

    francesca

  •        Milton is a graphic designer at Mono.  He also does illustration, art direction.  One thing to know about Milton,  he keeps a sketchbook with him at all times. Another thing you need to know about Milton, he became a dad a week ago!

    "Life is nuts. Fatherhood is beautiful and exhausting. I'm running on about an hour or two of sleep a day since last sunday... !"

    Sketch

  •       Mettle Velo was born from Scott Shore's passion, creativity and excitement for all things bike. 

          "I ride a lot, race a little and think about bikes and bike culture far too often, so I decided the two shall not live apart any longer."

    A perennial Artcrank artist, Scott also runs Lure Design.

  •     Megan Rademacher, who operates under the name Maker of Rad, was raised in Minneapolis but had lived in California, and Arizona until her return a little over a year ago.

           "Ever since I was little I have always loved drawing and painting, just ask my mom. I've done design for a skate shop in Southern California, and freelanced while I was a snowbum in Lake Tahoe. I got the chance to be involved with ARTCRANK SFO's inaugural year in 2009.  I was also involved in Poster Offensive 5 this past fall. I feel extremely honored to be in ARTCRANK MSP this year being back in my home town with some of Minneapolis' heaviest hitters. Besides bikes, I like snowboarding, skateboarding and surfing.  However, the surf around here isn't very good so I mainly stick to that behind boats."

    Peace

  •      Maranatha Wilson is a graphic designer and adjunct faculty at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design. She had an amazing poster in Artcrank 2010 (One of the nine that I bought). You can see a much more representative image of the detail of this piece here.

         "I absolutely love graphic design, type, motion graphics, web design, illustration, creating, thinking, etc... In fact, if I could, I would make the days longer and caffeine more potent, and yes, I really have 2 Emmys. I know, it's weird."

  • Lovely is the graphic design and print studio of Kevin Hayes based in NE Minneapolis, Minnesota USA. Kevin's 2010 Artcrank piece is one of only two that I actually got around to framing since last year. (That's out of nine that I purchased!)

    "I like to get my hands dirty with an ol' letterpress and screenprinting making prints and doodads."

    Zombie

    Lovely Mpls Design & Print Studio: www.lovelympls.com
    blog: www.lovelympls.blogspot.com

  • Here's Laura's bio lifted from her website: Laurabrownart.com

        "i grew up in the mountains, the land of ghost towns and butch cassidy’s first robbery. somewhere along the line, i ended up in the midwest, the land where the mississippi starts and people eat lutefisk because they like it. while i am a native to neither, i love both. in my studio, i press paper onto blocks and plates to make images come alive in an effort to make the world a little more interesting."

    Laura 2

  •    Karl's a busy man. He's an art director in Minneapolis working for agencies such as Mono, Preston Kelly, Olson and Colle McVoy. He's so busy in fact that he hasn't had a chance to send me a bio or any samples of his work (yet). But stay tuned. He has promised both. In the meantime, here's a shot of Taco John's Whiplash I took with Karl for Preston Kelly.

  •     Today's Artcrank blog features co-artists Jordan A. Smith & Jared May who have recently begun teaming up on projects like Toys in the attic.  Jordan is an Art Director at Proximity Minneapolis who has had work in the One Show, the Type Directors Club, HOW magazine,  AIGA Design Show and The Show.  When she's not art directing or making posters, you'll find Jordan playing with her miniature dachshunds, knitting bike sweaters and refereeing for the North Star Roller Girls.

         Jared May, an MCAD graduate, is a web designer & developer with a storied history of internships from Fast Horse and Space 150, to Aesthetic Apparatus. Jared is in the band Northeast & the Beat. To promote shows he wanted a poster he could write dates and locations on. The poster also needed to visually communicate the emotion of the band's music.

    beat

  •    No one can be certain, but word on the street is that Joe Hasbro may, or may not be Ben McCoy of Bicycle Theory. Mr. Hasbro may, or may not be enrolled in a WPP. Perhaps we will be able to find out at the show on April 2nd, pehaps not. In either case, our minions have tracked down some work that has been attributed to Mr. Hasbro, and we're not afraid to share. (Well, maybe a little). We've also gathered some quotes attributed to Mr. Hasbro.

    “I consider myself a hobby artist. I prefer to draw characters (people and creatures) rather than objects or environments. I draw significant influence from American and Japanese cartoons. I am also quite fond of Alphonse Mucha – arguably the greatest poster artist of all time. For me, illustration is very personal and self-involved. It helps me quite my mind and explore my feelings. When drawing, I very rarely ‘try’ to draw something. Instead, I prefer to allow whatever I’m drawing to emerge on it’s own using me as its conduit – even though I have an obvious hand in its outcome. I have done some commercial work, but don’t actively pursue it for various reasons. But ArtCrank is different. In this case, I did have a vision to try and execute. And the show allows me to share part of myself that few people generally get to see (or even know about). Thank you for this opportunity, Charles!”

    Cherry

  • As an artcrank artist for the first 3 years, Joanne took a break last year to have a baby, and is happy to be returning to Artcrank 2011. Joanne is the creative visionary behind velvetpeel—a creative consortium founded in 1998. "A casual biker, I like to hop on my bike to immerse myself in nature, or to grab an ice cream cone at Sebastian Joe's ;)"

    Here's a sample of Joanne's work for MartinPatrick3.

    MP3

  •     Evan might be the only Artcrank 2011 artist who's been in a metal band! An interactive designer at Sevnthsin in Northeast Minneapolis, Evan also blogs at trnds.com.

    Poster

  •       Emory is a recent Wisconsin transplant.  "Coming from a military family, I've lived in a few places in my life; Wisconsin, Utah, and Guam. The one constant throughout my childhood was my love for drawing. I believe the ever-changing landscape of cities and faces bred a curiosity and imagination in me that I carry into my work. I weave characters(typographical) and characters(monstrous) together to create emotionally driven stories."
    Emory