Die / Cry / Hate

 This is not a call for people to embrace the dark side so much as it is a response to the saccharine (and almost always esthetically offensive) "Live Laugh Love" trope that so many Americans who purchase yard flags seem to enjoy. Because, gross. I'm also posting the original line art, pre-Procreate cleanup. 
This is available at the Tough Guy TeePublic store as a shirt, sticker, mug, tote, all that stuff. Show the world that you're not Buscaglian! 

Lo-Fi Takes The Streets 2025 poster / tee-shirt

My second year doing the artwork for Jersey City's Low Fidelity Bar's terrific music / food festival, Lo-Fi Takes the Streets. The edict this year was to create a retro spy esthetic, which was not hard for me to get excited about. Here are the final poster and tee-shirt along with alternate logos and some prep work. 

 

Trumpcronyms

 Because "TACO" can't be the only food-related acronym to describe Dear Orange Leader... 

Barcade Family Day

 New graphics (and some process and rejected designs) for Barcade's Family Days (which occur at most locations once a month). 

First design for family was less cartoony. 

Jersey City Flippers tee

The Jersey City Flippers are a pinball league that's been based out of the Jersey City Barcade location since 2017. When the news broke last month that (due to a lease expiration and extreme gentrification) Barcade JC would be closing in June, the Flippers had to acknowledge that (given there's no other venue in town with enough pins to have a tournament) it was time to call it a day. 

To commemorate the end of an era, the Flippers asked me to design a commemorative T-shirt, which is available (along with other merch) on my TeePublic page here. 

The shirt references seven pinball games that have been a part of the legacy of Barcade's game selection: 

Taxi, Addams Family, Future Spa, Medieval Madness, Champion Pub, Pulp Fiction, and Star Trek: The Next Generation. 

 

Tommy Conwell / Dynagroove flyer

Man, was this one a fun throwback!! In the 1980s - mid-90s, I did the schedule artwork (with a brief hiatus) for the Chameleon Club in Lancaster, PA, and two stalwart bands of those days were Tommy Conwell (initially with the Young Rumblers, later in other iterations) and Dynagroove, two Philadelphia bands that caused tons of excitement. I also did regular work for Dynagroove, writing and drawing a comic strip called DYNADUDE and laying out their monthly DynaNews mailer (ah, the pre-Internet age!). 

This year, my old boss at Chameleon (where I also was a cocktail waiter), Rich Ruoff took over the shuttered Village Nightclub also in downtown Lancaster. Last month, Rich contacted me to ask if I'd like to do a flyer (digital) for a show he'd booked... Tommy Conwell and Dynagroove!!! It was a no-brainer for me, and I hope that it strikes a big nostalgic note with olde-timers who treated the dance floor like a trampoline!!! (It also gave me the chance to retroactively give Dynagroove the proper representative footwear).

I'm also posting some of the work from the '80s I did for both of these bands. Hand-lettering and rubber cement! 

I also mocked up a CD cover for a burned disc of Dynagroove's cassette-only releases from the '80s. This was just for my own use, but what the heck here it is in all its clunky design glory. 

Secret Country, Word to the Wise album cover

 

Sand Cat Entertainment logo

 Logo design for Sand Cat Entertainment (variations with rough sketches). 

Fat Bangs logo

 Final logo and sketches for the band, Fat Bangs (links to come). This was an interesting situation in that the band decided they wanted to use one of the rough sketches as the final work. So I did some Procreate cleanup and bam, there ya go. 

Barcade Los Angeles posters

A few new posters for Barcade LA, one for a Holiday Gift Drive and one for a Women's Pinball League (two versions, the second one was rejected for being too illegible... you be the judge!)