Squad19 Creative Union

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Two decades of graphic noise.

Squad19 wasn't a plan. After the first internet bubble, three interactive designers were suddenly out of work. The other two left. I kept the name.

Fortune 500 freelance paid rent. Posters were the other job.

I was in a coffee shop and saw a flyer by a local illustrator running under the name DWITT. We got talking about gig posters and Frank Kozik, who was on Gigposters.com talking to people like it was nothing. We built a press in my basement and started making things, trading notes with the likes of Kozik, Art Chantry, Emek, Jermaine Rogers, and whoever else was on the board that week.

After sufficiently harassing First Avenue, they sent the monthly calendars and let us work. Black-and-white punk flyers first, then screenprinted posters, comps, and a merch-table stack that covered ink and paper.

There was no real money in it. That wasn't the point.

Those posters are part of why Carmichael Lynch hired me for Harley, and why Harley called again later.

The work showed up in Graphic Noise at MCAD, the Minnesota History Museum, MPOP and a handful of books.

Then it became a community.

Artists came through, made work and traded ideas. Some moved on to build pretty remarkable careers of their own. We pulled local shops into S.P.A.M. (Sexy Poster Artists of Minnesota) and ran Plaster the Town: posters, bands, beer.

Then came benefit shows. This Side Up gave every artist a two-by-two square of cardboard, then turned the resulting work into a show and book supporting local homeless services. FUEL ran for two years supporting the food shelf.

Toys in the Attic ran for three years: curated group show, toy drive, full gallery. Entry fees and sales went to Toys for Tots.

Artists, collectors and the neighborhood actually showed up. One of the things I'm proudest of from that shop.

The internet changed. The making didn't.

Facebook killed Gigposters.com and the forum culture went with it. I kept Squad19 as a freelance banner for contract work, including assets for Harley-Davidson's 110th.

I had always wanted to print decks, so I learned. Used boards, sanded, through the press.

That work, and a crew of groms my sons' age, led to Be A Boarder.

The collective is done.
The landscape changed.
The press in the basement didn’t.

I still print. I just keep learning other ways to make things, too.

Lately I taught myself to bind books: folded signatures, stitched folios, hard covers, the whole thing. I got pretty good at it.

It has absolutely nothing to do with advertising.

I like that.

Client
Squad19 (personal brand) // 2000 - 2020

Role
Founder / Creative Director

Selected Publications
Art of Modern Rock | Chronicle Books

Art of Modern Rock Mini #1: A–Z | Chronicle Books

Art of Modern Rock Mini #2: Poster Girls | Chronicle Books

Gigposters Vol. 1: Rock Show Art of the 21st Century | MBI Publishing

Rock Paper Show: Flatstock Vol. 1 | Soundscreen Design

Panda Meat: Source Book Vol. 1 | Soft Skull Press

A Fist Full of Rock & Roll | Digital Webbing

Selected Exhibitions
Graphic Noise | Minneapolis College of Art and Design (MCAD)

Flatstock (Exhibitor) | American Poster Institute

Permanent Archive & Group Exhibitions | Minnesota History Museum

Group Exhibition | Museum of Pop Culture (MPOP)

Work
Poster Design
Hand-Pulled Screenprinting
Curated Gallery Exhibitions
Community Shows

(Return to Projects)

2000 - 2020

April-May 2010