The Best of 2011

This year flew by, and with it, a ton of great new music releases. Below is this year’s installment of my annual “best of” music list. These are the albums I most enjoyed in 2011 and it was tough to narrow it down; many worthy albums were left off the list in the interest of keeping it manageable. This year, I’ve also included a 2011 Rdio playlist. (Sidenote: Rdio is free to join and is better than Spotify, in my opinion – much better UX and no ads. If you like Spotify, give it a try.) Feel free to leave comment and tell me your favorite artists/albums of 2011.

Honorable Mention
Future Islands – On the Water
Handsome Furs - Sound Kapital
Feist – Metals
Dustin O’Hallaran – Lumiere
Kids On A Crime Spree – We Love You So Bad
Minks – By the Hedge
Rural Alberta Advantage -The Departing
Vetiver – Errant Charm
Diamond Rings - Special Affections 
Girls Names – Dead To Me

Best of 2011
40. Dum Dum Girls - Only in Dreams
39. The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart – Belong 

Etsy Shop + Free Shipping for the Holidays

Gig posters make great gifts and now you can now purchase my gig posters on Etsy. Limited edition screen print 18 x 24 posters for The Rural Alberta Advantage, The Antlers, Vampire Weekend, and Jeremy Messersmith are available. Use the code XMAS11 for free shipping on all domestic orders. This offer is only valid on posters purchased through the Etsy shop until December 20.

Rabbit Children featured in Communication Arts

The Rabbit Children EP is featured in the Exhibit section of the latest issue of Communication Arts (the Advertising Annual). Quite an honor to say the least. Special thanks to the CA editorial staff for choosing to publish my work!

Creativity 41

I am fortunate to have five pieces published in the new Creativity 41 Design Annual. The Rural Alberta Advantage gig poster won Gold, the Rabbit Children EP, Jeremiah Program Annual Report and What I Ate at the MN State Fair won Silver and the Jeremy Messersmith gig poster won Honorable Mention. Thanks to Creativity and the judges for selecting my work!

American Graphic Design Awards

I was recently notified that the Rabbit Children CD package, The Rural Alberta Advantage gig poster and Jeremiah Program Annual Report were selected for inclusion in the American Graphic Design Awards annual. The annual is published by Graphic Design USA and will be available in Decemeber. If you are a graphic designer, head over to the site and sign up for a free subscription.

New Work: The Rural Alberta Advantage

I was fortunate enough to work with the band The Rural Alberta Advantage on another gig poster for their September 24th show at First Ave. The band always put on a great show and Nils, Paul and Amy are three of the nicest people you’d ever want to meet. It’s always fun to work with them. This print is a three color screen print (black, light gray and yellow) on heavyweight dark blue stock (French Construction Steel Blue) and was inspired by their song “Tornado ’87″. You can purchase a print at the link above. Be sure to check out both of their LPs: Hometowns and The Departing.

Rabbit Children in Graphic Exchange!

I received an email out the blue recently from Fabien Barral that both Rabbit Children packages had been featured on the Graphic Exchange. GE is my all-time favorite design blog and the work they feature is incredibly good. To have my work featured on the site is a huge honor, to say the least. If you aren’t familiar with Graphic Exchange make sure to check it out. You won’t be disappointed.

Cemetery Friends EP featured in Communication Arts!

The Rabbit Children Cemetery Friends EP was recently featured in Communication Arts EXHIBIT section on the commarts web site and will also be featured in the print version of the magazine in the Nov/Dec issue.. It is such an honor to be recognized by CA and I am truly grateful to their editorial staff, with an extra special thanks to Tech Editor Sue Garibaldi, for deciding to feature my work. Thanks again to Rabbit Children, Cranky Pressman and Copycapts Media. You can buy a copy of the EP here.

New Work: Rabbit Children EP Featured on FPO and Lovely Package

Recently I had the opportunity to work with the band Rabbit Children again, this time on their new EP, Cemetery Friends. The 5 song EP is the follow-up from their debut album, Thou Shalt Have a Time Machine, has a darker, more rockin’ sound than its predecessor. The result is a limited edition letterpress printed sleeve with a custom illustrated four page insert and screen printed CD. I was very fortunate to have this project featured both on FPO:For Print Only and Lovely Package a couple weeks ago. Needless to say, it was quite an honor to be featured on both blogs. You can check out the full project on those sites as well as here. If you are interested in purchasing a copy of the EP, you can find a link on the band’s Facebook page or you can order it via paypal here. Their debut album CD is also now (finally) available online and is available through Facebook or can be purchased here via paypal.

The Antlers gig poster in Creative Quarterly 23

The Antlers gig poster I designed is featured in the newest issue of Creative Quarterly (23). CQ is a quarterly print magazine that features inspiring work in photography, graphic design, illustration, fashion and fine art. Each issue is always filled with excellent work and I feel very honored to have been included. The new issue is available on newsstands now or you can take a look online.  Prints of the poster are for sale here.