Categories
Chicago Design Pop culture

‘Baseball’s Dad’ & Infrequent Somethings

Hey Friends,

After the success of the calendar and the poster, I’ve started a mailing list for you to get updates about my creative projects. I sent out the first email a little earlier to everyone who signed up for the previous two items, and I announced a third, which is now on sale. You can read about it below.

If you’re interested in signing up to receive the email, I’ve embedded a form to the bottom of this post. I promise only to message you when I’ve got something to say, and I promise never to share your info with anyone without your explicit consent. Cheers!


So, yesterday was, of course, ‘Opening Day’ of the baseball season, and it was also the launch day of an exciting project I worked on with my friends Erin Watson and NickD. Erin describes it here to her poetry mailing list:

It’s not exactly a poem, but I’m delighted to present a new zine I created with the design help of my loving partner, my friend John Morrison, and my very dumbassed private Twitter account. It is an extended meditation on the dad zeitgeist and baseball as storytelling through the persona of Baseball’s Dad, an ur-father-figure loosely based on Chicago Cubs Manager Joe Maddon.
The one poetic aspect of Baseball’s Dad as a project, aside from the repetition of the structure, was choosing exactly what detail would be the most dadlike for each scenario. What song would Baseball’s Dad play to accompany his snifter of good scotch when his handsome baseball sons clinched their spot in the World Series? “Let’s Go Crazy” by Prince, of course. What cereal would Baseball’s Dad eat straight out of the box in his underwear one late night? Certainly Golden Grahams. It could be no other.
And because I care more about people than baseball franchises, I’m donating half the proceeds from the zine to two Chicago-based organizations that are making the world a little safer for some of the people whose lives are most threatened in our current political hellhole. Check out the great work that 
Brave Space Alliance and CAIR Chicago are doing.
You can buy your copy of the Baseball’s Dad zine right here, or save on shipping and pick it up at Uncharted Books or Quimby’s if you’re local. Or you can wait six weeks and get it at the Left The Prairie table at one of our most wonderful annual events for people who care about independent literature and art, Chicago Zine Fest. (Say hi to me at the Chicago Books to Women in Prison table if you go.)
Happy opening day of baseball to Baseball’s Dad and to you. Enjoy the springtime; reply with any and everything that’s on your mind.

I designed the cover and hand screen printed each of them myself, so each one is unique. If you’re interested, you should pick one up through Erin’s store. I’m very proud of it, and it supports some great causes.

That’s all for now, friend. Go forth and be awesome.
– John

Categories
Chicago Design Pop culture

‘Be Alert For Fascist Regimes!’ limited edition poster

This morning I printed up a small number of proofing posters parodying the iconic Wrigley Field ‘Be Alert for Foul Balls!’ signs and will be giving some out for free to on a first come, first serve basis.

If you like the Cubs but you’re not a fan of divisive rhetoric and authoritarian politics I’d be happy to send you one.

Interested? Fill out the form at the link below and I’ll be in touch.

https://subism.activehosted.com/f/2

Cheers!

Categories
Chicago Design

I was bored on my flight to Vancouver…

…so I painted the beautiful weirdo who awkwardly cosplays as Pikachu outside of Wrigley Field.

You can see he is holding the blue cooler where he keeps the cash he charges people to pose with him.

Illustration created in Procreate using the Apple Pencil on my 2016 iPad Pro.

Categories
Chicago General Pop culture

‘The FeverTones’ – ‘Phantom Dreams’ Music Video

A few months ago, I did some background extra work in a music video for my friend Sarah Snow’s band ‘The FeverTones.’ Today they released that video. It’s for their track ‘Phantom Dreams,’ and not only does the video look amazing, but the song is a heck of a jam.

Check out the video below.

The video was shot at ‘Uptown Arcade‘ here in Chicago which is a pretty cool venue with tons of free-play arcade games and a healthy selection of whiskey. Definitely worth a visit some time.

Categories
Chicago Design General

Johalla Projects Presents: ‘POCKET CHANGE’

I’m usually not one to blog about other people’s events, but I truly believe that my friend Anna and Johalla Projects are up to good things here.

‘POCKET CHANGE’ is a collaboration art/music series with The Empty Bottle. The event is being held to raise money to fund public arts projects throughout Chicago.

This Thursday, Feb 20, 2014, at 9 P.M. ‘POCKET CHANGE’ will feature the work of Ryan Duggan entitled ‘LAST CALL O-MATIC.’ Ryan will install a modified vending machine that will dispense “last call” pick up lines and fake phone numbers.

Additionally, the event will feature a DJ set by Heather Gabel. Heather is a fantastic artist in her own right, probably best known for her work with the band Alkaline Trio.

Admission is $5 and includes a complimentary Pabst Blue Ribbon.

The last of these events was in October and featured the work of Heather Gabel and Matt Skiba at which I shot this image as part of my Impossible Year project:

Heather Gabel, Anna Cerniglia, and Matt Skiba at the Empty Bottle

So come on down and enjoy great art, listen to great music, and help make Chicago more interesting. All while enjoying everyone’s favorite low-brow brew. What’s not to like?

I’ll be there for sure. Hope to see you there!

Check out the event on Facebook