MoonTower Poster

Hewgrill, Jody. Jim Gaffigan. 2013. MoonTower Poster. Advertising. N.p.: Communication Arts, 2014. 103. Print.

I found this in a Communication Arts magazine issue Illustration annual for 2014. There really wasn't much information on the pieces in this issue, but ranged from advertisements, book illustrations, self promoted, etc.

This an advertisement for the comedian Jim Gaffigan, who is one of my favorites, for his show at the MoonTower 2013 Comedy and Oddity Fest.  The quality of work is pretty good. The level of saturation is what I would guess, is appropriate for the style. The layout is pretty standard for the Victorian style. I absolutely love the tag lines and the font is perfect for this design. I really and fond of the way the twos and sevens look like. 

I believe the reason this is so successful is its use of one of his one going jokes and basing the design off of that. By doing this it is also showing casing a taste of his personality and how the poster is for a comedy show. 

Hewgrill, Jody. Dana Carvey. 2013. MoonTower Poster. Advertising. N.p.: Communication Arts, 2014. 102. Print.

The typography is a little different than I'm use to seeing. The type has very subtle serif use, but also has some lines flowing off in unusual ways. For example I don't know why the "G" in Gaffigan would have that long extra line on the left side of it; but doesn't repeat on the second "G". I can see why it wasn't in the second one, because it would be awkward, but what makes me curious is what is from the original font style (I'm guessing the second one) and why they chose to add that extra line.

Again, I'm a fan of Jim Gaffigan and I find him to be a strange and funny guy. Plus I think we have some similar situations going on. We both have been told repeatedly how pale we are and we both love food. From a design point of view I've always liked Victorian designs and the posters in the style are pretty obvious what they are and that makes identifying them easier.

I decided to add the poster for Dana Carvey and its a similar situation. Its designed to seem like a freak show and also shows a taste of what he is about, which is impressions and his different character voices. I do like Dana Carvey's type overall. It flows much better and the "A" works way better than the "G" in Gaffigan. Plus the diamond/bullet in between the first and last name balances out the extra line coming off the "A" in Dana. 

Both posters were done by the same artist and in the same style, and I think they are really clever.