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 named DWITT. We got talking about gig posters and Kozik, who was just on Gigposters.com talking to people like it was nothing. We built a press in the basement and started making things, trading notes with Kozik, Art Chantry, 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. What's left goes through DeathWish Studio.

We pulled local shops into S.P.A.M. (Sexy Poster Artists of Minnesota) and ran Plaster the Town: posters, bands, beer. Then the charity shows. This Side Up: every artist got a two-by-two square of cardboard, then a show and a book, proceeds to local homeless services. FUEL ran two years for the food shelf.

Toys in the Attic ran 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 in that shop.

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'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. These days the obsession is books.

The ink is dry on the Squad19 chapter. The maker part isn't. Store’s still open.

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
Hand-Pulled Screenprinting
Curated Gallery Exhibitions
Community Shows

(Return to Projects)

2000 - 2020