Stronger Together

Poster Show Friday the 28th at the New BLK. See you there!

From the Nebraska Appleseed blog: Build A Stronger Nebraska Together

LINCOLN: FRIDAY, OCTOBER 7TH

October 7 · 6:00pm – 10:00pm

The Ink Spot at Parrish Studios
1410 O Street
Lincoln, NE

OMAHA: FRIDAY, OCTOBER 28TH

October 28 · 7:00pm – 10:00pm

The New BLK
1213 Jones Street
Omaha, NE

A poster show benefiting Nebraska Appleseed featuring art from:

Paul Berkbigler
Doe Eyed
Ella Durham + Sam Rapien
Justin Kemerling
Peter Morris
Oxide Design Co.
Cathy Solarana
Jake Welchert

Historically, the poster has been a powerful means of communicating ideals and advocating for change.

Nebraska Appleseed called upon leaders in the graphic design community to envision how we can build a stronger Nebraska through greater equality, opportunity and justice for all.

We partnered with Justin Kemerling of The Match Factory and Lincoln screen printer Jason Davis of Screen Ink to produce an art exhibition with a collection of posters to inspire all people of our great state to work together to create a more inclusive, more vibrant community.

These powerful posters – eleven designs, hand-signed and numbered, twenty-five prints each on 18″x24″ silkscreen prints – give voice to Appleseed’s core values of Community, Democracy, Equality, Justice and Opportunity.

Just East of West is a book of poetry and haiku by Bil Johnson, both a marvelous poet and a close friend of the Match Factory. From a collection of random scribblings, notebooks here and there, some napkins and stapled together associations, we pulled together a strong body of words from this Midwestern poet in the most honest way we could think of; a self-published book with additional hand-done, screenprinted flare.

At its conclusion, it appeared to us to be about the Earth and its future. As much a concerning stare at manmade “progress” as hopeful nod to the beauty of what’s already out there, and what is next for all of us; love, discovery, rebirth, etc. When all was said and done, what fit in our hands was a catalog of life. We grew up on these great midwestern plains, now they lay open proudly awaiting the next troupe of angelic youth, troubadours in their own right, setting out for burning sky and bright new tomorrows.

If there’s a revelation to be made from reading the work, it’s that there is good and bad, decay and beauty in all of it. We suffer and celebrate in the gray. The idea of black and white, even right and wrong, is given far too much credence these days. The fact is both are constantly surrounding us, the gray area is where everything worthwhile lives, and you must hold the ups and the downs in your line of site as you move, steady as she goes, along your meandering path toward whatever greater truth you seek.

• This book project was conceived in the winter of 2008 on a painfully cold day on the great plains over coffee and cabinet picks. It was meant to take some of the most honest poetry I had ever read and put it together in a form that was equally as honest. Honestly concerned about our future on Earth while celebrating the love and life that people around us are a part of every day. Wherever we are on this planet, here we are indeed. Under the energy of the sun, looking up at that black canvas sky, we the little peapods are just living, trying to do the best we can. What this is, what we are, is just a song, just a touch, just a kiss of our humanity in the immense vastness. With that, we wish you happy travels.

screenprint postcards

book package

poems

jack the anarchist

just east of west
design notes: july 2009

what i see as the simplicity and the clarity of this poetry book reinforces the aspects of living within a system that isn’t all that complicated. from cover to pages to back cover, the turbulent spinning of life is there in image and tone. the constrained aspects of life in a bowl, on a tiny blue dot turning black before our eyes, offer hope for continued living. tales of the earth, love, life, planet, religion, friendship, nature, animals, all intertwine themselves, mingle, mix, dance, as the words suggest. we’re offered directions on “how to live” but upon contradiction, are left with baffled stares. the future, our sons and daughters, our culture and ideas, carry us into great unknowns, what pioneers saw as the frontier. in this case the son, and all his promise. the tiny tree in what used to be a forest, HERE. it is waiting for the son. interwoven with the part of life that interconnects, the sweet sound of poetry, the haiku, set to rhythmic syllables. what are we afraid of? not sure. nothing i guess, with such a gift of language to light our way, tell our story, advise our kids, direct ourselves, for life on this planet. is it all turning black? the sky soon to be left crisp once the fossils are emitted up into the sky blocking the heavens, blotting out the sun? the stars, trees, mountains, and waves, is all that is left, the markings of a child? sent to the future by the tomorrow? so many questions. so many thoughts. are we directionless? is there light guiding us? are we the shark in the fish bowl? too big, a relic of a bygone era, with no place else to go, hovering in the dark? or there may be a single tree, just east of west.

"i want to walk into the woods and inhale"

Just East of West

– Justin Kemerling, Designer. justinkemerling.com

Tugboat Gallery exhibition posters CA Exhibit

Communication Arts added four of the Tugboat Gallery posters to their very impressive collection of Exhibit work. It’s great to get these posted by a creative organization I’ve always highly respected for their vision and inspiration.

Basement Studio | 20th & C, Lincoln, NE

When the Tugboat Gallery reopened in April of 2008, I enthusiastically said yes to the invitation of doing the monthly exhibition posters. One 12×18 screenprinted poster a month, editions of 60ish, for three years. Designed and hand-pulled in three different DIY studio locations over the years and put up on the streets of downtown Lincoln by the Tugboat crew.

Tugboat Gallery is an alternative gallery located in downtown Lincoln, Nebraska. It’s run by Peggy Gomez and Tugboat’s new co-captain Nolan Tredway. Joey Lynch and Jake Gillespie, along with Peggy, made up the initial force behind its creation. Located above Gomez Art Supply in the Parrish Studios, it’s part of a flourishing downtown art scene and a place to see some of the finest artwork in the Midwest.

And the spaces where the posters were printed were equally as fine. (more…)

Poster by Max Erdenberger

From the W+K Studio online store:

• Upon learning of the devastating earthquake and subsequent tsunami that struck Japan on March 11 we felt a helplessness that compelled us to do something. We quickly designed this poster and offered it as a thanks for anyone donating at least $25 to the relief effort through our site. We’ll be donating the net proceeds to the Red Cross.

For more efforts like this, visit GOOD.

A Design Shop for Prints & Projects

After a very long hiatus, the online store of the Match Factory has been relaunched. It’s now a design shop where you’ll find our projects ranging from the personal to the political. And the optimistic. All screenprints are hand-pulled by yours truly and all projects are self-initiated in keeping with our original statement of intent: because making is part of things.

We’ll be adding more projects in the future and will of course keep things lively. Prints about love? Yes of course. And political activism? Why most definitely. Ah, sweet-sweet variety.

As it’s a design shop for our prints and projects, all sales will go to the making of more prints and projects. And the cycle will go on as long as it makes sense for us.

Thank you for your interest, and for your support.

Let’s Swap is a place where artists and designers can swap art for free. It’s brought to you by stellar NYC design firm Hyperakt: meaningful design for the common good.

The first featured swap: Food for Thought / Jason Lynch

• If you had to make a sandwich of all the stuff that inspires you to create, what would it look like? That’s precisely what Hyperaktivist Jason Lynch has illustrated. Airplanes, good coffee, crafty booze, robots, and loud guitars are all prominently featured in this limited edition 22″ x 30″ poster, printed in gray and fluorescent orange by Jason on a gorgeous Folio bright white stock.

Food for Thought by Jason Lynch

Katie and I are part of the “Accepted Swaps” for our print You’ll Find Me Frolicking. We’re thrilled to be a part of such a great project.

You'll Find Me Frolicking by Katie + Justin Kemerling

The finer details:

Share and share alike. And spread the word.

19x25" Screenprint on 140lb CVR French Paper; Smart White

Hello and Welcome!

It’s the final weeks of 2010. Holiday time is upon us. Good tidings. Great cheer. Et cetera and so on. And I for one am looking forward to a little down time. A nice bit of “slow down” if you will. Perhaps some reflection, a little visioning for the coming year and for certain some booze. Maybe even lots of booze. This is America after all. Amidst all the food, family and shopping, being driven to drink is certainly a national pastime. (more…)

Tugboat Poster Packs. On Sale. 12 Posters for $100

This April at the Tugboat Gallery begins the third year of their space in the Parrish Studios in downtown Lincoln. Part of the First Friday Gallery Walk every month, these exhibitions are quite an expression of a flourishing downtown art scene while bringing people together for a night of community and celebration.

To go along with each exhibition, I work with owner Peggy Gomez to design a poster and do a print run of around 75. All totaled we’ve done 25 different poster designs that have become the voice of this non-commissioned art gallery visible on the streets of Lincoln throughout the year. For the two year anniversary we’re offering the hand-screened posters from this year. 12 posters, 100 bucks. You can reserve your set now by emailing Peggy. You’ll also be able to purchase a set at the gallery walk this Friday from 7 to 10 at Tugboat. (more…)