Poster Of The Week: Billingham's Defense System & Bangs Tonight at Fallout Lounge

Well, it's great to see people answering the DC9 Admiral's call to arms last week; we got the most submissions I've seen in weeks!

We see a lot of cool artwork out there, but if you don't actually submit it to our little weekly pageant, then it wouldn't be fair to those who actually take the time to send their work in for us to choose from what's floating around out there in cyberspace. You've got to play to win folks.

So with that said, thanks for sending in posters this week. Now for the show...

This week's selection comes from the guys of Billingham's Defense System promoting tonight's self-described "Hiphopathon" show tonight at Fallout Lounge, featuring Bangs in their usual weekly turnout at said venue.

Designed by Robbie Call, the BDS guys say, "[Robbie Call], just wanted to capture a rather literal urban feel and stepped back from his (usually) outlandish designs. Its quite minimalistic in comparison to earlier designs but that's kind of what he was going for."

Fair enough. I've seen some of Call's poster/flyers before, and I can concur on the statement regarding how this poster is quite minimal and structured compared to his usual style, which tends to be very abstract, loose, and more like fine-art impressionist pieces than graphically designed posters.

I just love the grid system here that's being used to actually frame up other grid systems, those being aerial views of city streets. Works well with the "Billingham Goes Urban" tag that runs across the bottom. The color palette is electric, leaning towards garish, but provides the proper exciting tone to what might otherwise be tame and quiet.

Staunch graphic design purists might scoff at this selection, beginning by pointing out how the typography defies the grid, or how the over-arching grid itself defies the space itself, with it not being even. I will admit, the text isn't exactly positioned ideally in regards to the grid, but sometimes these "errors" create for interesting detail that somehow actually draw your eye to them, even if subconsciously. As far as the overall grid: Notice how it repeats in the space, therefore naturally giving balance to the piece in yet another subconscious tactic. Whether it's intentional or not, the takeaway is a very visually stimulating and memorable poster. Makes me wonder if the maps used are arbitrary or actually mean something. Just one more thing to ponder and fancy over.

If you didn't like that one, then here's a different flavor for an honorable mention this week (the more great posters that are submitted, the more we'll have to honor!).

Brought to us by Brent Frishman (who's no stranger to having his work around these parts) of Gutterth Productions, this poster couldn't be ignored.

Promoting Episode XLI (41 to you non-Romans) of Gutterth's showcase series, Brent himself says, "The poster was made to have an old traditional Victorian feel, to juxtapose the lineup; since the bands playing the showcase are of a more noise/ambient/improv/experimental nature."

This is exactly why we ask you to tell us a little about the poster--some story behind why you chose a given particular style, etc.--so we can all hear it from straight from the designer's mouth. Feeling very "steam-punk" to me, the Victorian influence is very evident with the colors and the flourish/decorative motif. I am a sucker for this emerging style (although cringing for the moment when it becomes yet another trite trend, if it hasn't already), especially when combined with another archetypal style to create something "new" and different. Although, here, I'm not really seeing that, aside from the weathering that's been added for some textural detail. Nevertheless, it's a pretty poster.