Updates and inspiration from the 8/7 studio.
In keeping with our occasional blog series of experimenting with putting things in the microwave (PEEP), we decided to try our hand at frying a CD this morning. Definitely do this at home.
Difficulty: 3 (Make sure to get it propped up.)
Danger: 4
Deniability: 1 (Go ahead. Try to say that didn’t happen.)
After Odor: Slightly Crispy
Exploding CD from 8/7 Central on Vimeo.
In truth, it takes a lot more work than can be shown in five photographs, but here is a brief pictorial summary of Jon doing what he does better than anyone.
Watch for the posters to be popping up around town soon. The CD release show will be Saturday night at the Vaudeville Mews. We all know you’re just going to be sitting around in your underwear eating pizza that night anyway; now you have no excuse not to go.
Now that there’s a girl writing on this blog, get ready for a few more posts about pretty things. While I wouldn’t necessarily characterize myself as fashion forward, I am all about wearing scarves. Although this week has been nice and warm, we all know what’s around the corner. In Iowa, you know what I’m talking about, so I’m not even going to bother saying the word for fear of ending the sunshine too soon. Anyway, the point is – between my love of Pinterest and a new-found, seemingly endless supply of t-shirts, I’ve been all about t-shirt inspired crafts, especially scarves.
Yesterday, I came in with this lil’ number – a scarf made out of some of the shirts the guys didn’t need anymore. There’s a lot of ink on it, but that just might be part of the beauty of it all. It’s quite simple to make, just find one of many tutorials online, grab some scissors and tie it all together.
And guess what? You can make one, too! Drop by the shop, say hello, tell me about yourself and grab a few test shirts.
Some might say it’s narcissistic to announce yourself to the world, but no one else has yet, and I need to meet my blogging quota. Before I start writing about being the only girl surrounded by 9 guys all day, I figured you needed an introduction. Furthermore, you can start warming up to the idea of a chick working at 8|7 Central. Crazy, I know, but it’s the truth. I’m here to stay. Below you will find a list of FAQs I’ve heard in the past month since I started working here. (Yes, all questions were actually asked by a real person…I didn’t just make it up to tell you random stuff about myself).
Sam or Samantha?
I answer to both (and you can email me at either one… @eightsevencentral.com). Back in the day, I used to be fairly specific about one or the other but now I basically go with whatever. I’ll typically refer to myself as Samantha whenever I talk in third person or talk to myself if that helps you narrow it down. I’ve also been known to answer to Sarah or Amanda when people get confused and somehow think it’s my name.
What do you do there?
We’re figuring that out more each day. They’ve been calling me the account manager/project manager with the idea being that I can help everyone stay on top of deadlines and details on the web side of things. What that actually boils down to is still a bit of a mystery. We’re mixing some of my previous agency experience with their love for web design to meet in the middle so everyone’s happy and on the same page, clients included.
What do you do when you’re not a work?
The type of things all people do when they’re not at work – hang out with friends, crafts, bike, read, bake, music, write, church, freelance, clean and spend time with my husband.
Wait, you’re married?
Yes, I am. On Sunday it’ll be a whole year of marriage. I’m married to Scott Gratton, he’s one of those skinny musicians that can play everything. I might be biased, but I think he’s pretty cool.
So, what are the guys like when no other girls are around?
Why I’m asked this question, I’m not really sure. I am still a girl, believe it or not, so I’ve never really witnessed that. Topics tend to focus on the following: weekends, sports, food, books, travel, hunting, music, work.
But really, do they talk about gross things all day?
Okay, I can see that this is a real point of interest. I came mentally prepared for the worst and it hasn’t been as bad as I thought in that area. There have been things I’ve rolled my eyes at and even the occasional “um, yeah, no more” but, they’ve all been nice to me for the most part.
What’s your favorite thing about being at 8|7?
Good question. It’s hard to pin that down in just a few weeks, but I do like that everyone seems to generally care for one another and for what they do. You don’t find that everywhere. I’m excited to see where things go from here.
If you are looking for something to do this Thursday (or even if you have plans) Badowers is showing off their new remodeling and branding. The party goes from 5 until 8, with the official after-party taking place at the nearby Alpine Lounge.
Lining up Badower’s new vision with an appropriate visual identity was the challenge. We felt that the way it was before referenced a very specific era and spoke to a definite iconic visual language that has nothing to do with how Badowers saw themselves moving forward.
After developing a compass statement for the new vision, we felt that we needed to go further back into history to help determine the future of the Badowers identity. We needed to rediscover a typeface that reflects the simplicity, durability and timelessness of men’s wardrobe staples. Furthermore, accessibility, simplification and functionality needed to enter men’s social conscious before the notion of what a timeless wardrobe staple could be established. For example, the looms of the industrial revolution made material more accessible. The Gold Rush and mining lead to denim as a widely used functional work pant. Men were moving away from the embroidered and jewelled and towards simple and formal comfort. Many sanserif typefaces came into existence around the same time as these historical markers with the same accessible, simple and functional purpose. By applying the actual scale of a man to the letter forms, we narrowed our selection to the typeface that you now see Badowers using. The colors dark grey (90% black) and white are used for their functionality.
We were also asked to help create a look book. Not to be confused with a catalog, the look book’s purpose is to build excitement around Badowers. It gives us a glimpse into who Badowers is as well as allowing the viewer to project themselves into the lifestyle environment it creates. In this look book you may notice a white line running throughout the some of the spreads. This line references a “dynamic thread” connecting the range of classic wardrobe staples that Badowers has to offer.
Our own Garrett Cornelison was tapped as the photographer to shoot the look book. With the help of Jen Morrow, he scouted the coolest spots along Ingersoll within an 8 block radius of the store. David Bartells, the model, showed up around 5am so they could capture some of the moody early morning light over the eastern horizon. Here is a sneak peek of what will be available to all who come Thursday night.
Last week, admittedly, was a long week. We were buried under the crushing demands of providing warmth, decency, comfort, and entertainment to every self-aware citizen of the up and coming city of Des Moines. As such, tempers were running high and we decided to publish this without properly explaining to what we were referring. Our goal is to inform, not to throw hissy fits.
DPI (dots per inch) refers to the resolution of a rasterized image. 72 DPI is a very low resolution and we occasionally get customers who give us their artwork in this form. This pirate sword looks ok when it is a thumbnail, but when we attempt to embiggen the image in order to print it onto a tee shirt, this is what we end up with. 
So what if we increase the resolution of the image from 72 DPI up to a more reasonable 300? As an informed reader, you have surely already asked and answered this question in your own mind, but if not, please accept our explanation. When we increase the resolution to the aforementioned magnitude, we are actually multiplying the number of dots per square inch by about four. In other words, splitting each pixel into four smaller pixels. The difference is nearly undetectable.
Hopefully what you will take away from this is that when you want a tee shirt made, the artwork we need should begin as a high resolution (at least 150 DPI) image or a vector graphic, able to be resized at will. If everyone does this, it will help prevent our glorious youthful hair from going grey prematurely, and we all win.
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Whenever we hire a new employee, we feel it’s only fair to parade them in front of the 15 or so people that semi-regularly read our studio posts before working them so hard both physically and emotionally that not only are they regularly rubbing tiger balm on their sore bulging forearms, but also loathing their very existence as well.
Such is the case for our newest victim, Caleb Kucera. He enjoys kayaking, crossword puzzles, and light flirting. Like all of the other people that work at 8/7 Central, he will only be spending most of his time here, and is already quite accomplished with something that has nothing to do with screen printing. Caleb plays drums and stuff for the band Hanwell who have been spending a lot of time recently with Logan Christian at Midday Studios working on a new EP called “Post Post”.
Of course, we would be remiss to leave you hanging with the knowledge that this young local talent is recording something potentially groundbreaking but not give you a tasty sampling of what’s in store. So with no further verbiage, here is Hanwell’s latest offering “Fictions Parts I and II“.
As part of our attempt to seem involved in the Des Moines art scene, we will be featuring several local artists in upcoming blog posts.
Jolynn Anderson is one of these so called “local artists”. We very much respect her work, some of which you can see at on display at Mars Cafe right now.
1.Tell us a little bit about yourself, where you grew up, what got you initially interested in art-making and in particular the process of screen printing?
I went to school in Van Meter, IA from kindergarten through 12th grade. I now live in Waukee and go to school at Grand View University in Des Moines. Art has always interested me, but I never really made art until I started college. To be honest, It was the type of thing where I just didn’t really know what else to do. I had done a few little drawings and ceramic pieces in high school and managed to get an art scholarship. I was so nervous to start art school, thinking I wouldn’t be any good at it, but decided to give it a shot anyway. By accident I ended up in a printmaking class, because it happened to work out with my schedule and I absolutely fell in love with it. The first year that I took it I did a lot of relief printing as well as experimenting with collograph printing. It was suggested to me that my drawing style and the way that i was working might lend itself well to screen printing, and it did. It seemed a confusing process when it was explained to me, but it turned out to be so perfect for my imagery and color. I have never had a lot of equipment available to me, presses etc., but it has never stopped me from making work. Screen printing has this amazing ability to be SO makeshift and still turn out beautifully. I like to rig up contraptions, and I think that is what I love about the process so much.
2. We have seen quite a few great artists and designers come out of the studio art program at Grandview. Will you discuss some of the strengths of their program?
I have loved going to Grand View from the very beginning. I think that art programs in small schools get a bad rep just simply for being small but I really do believe that “bigger is better” is a huge misconception. You can really get out of a program what you put into it. Grandview is tiny, but the art and design faculty is fantastic. I have learned so much from them as well as from other students. It takes a lot of work on your own, but really and truly the people around you are your very best resources for learning. Fancy equipment and large facilities are great, but great people are even better. I really think that the art faculty at Grand View is ithe program’s greatest strength.
3. You seem to approach your subject matter with a sense of humour. You seem to build and develop characters within your compositions. Talk a little about your process and what interests you in terms of subject matter.
Using the term “humorous” I would say is quite accurate in describing my work. The work is funny, and it is meant to be. Most of the figures in my work are meant to represent personalities I have experienced. Some of them are generalizations, and others are representative of specific people I have encountered. It could almost be described as satirical, though not really in a political way. Some of my favorite artists are political cartoonists like Posada, even though my work rarely addresses political matters. The style in which I draw comes from a multitude of influences. I have always loved the work of Paul Klee and Hieronymus Bosch in terms of imagery and style of mark-making. As far as the actual ideas and attitude of my work, I have been greatly influenced by the Victorian era. When you really look into it, the Victorian era was a bizarre and humorous period in history in a number of ways. Victorian clothes, architecture, art, and specifically poetry are all really quite funny to me. W.S. Gilbert and Edward Lear are two of my favorite Victorian poets and drawers. I am also a huge fan of “The Yellow Kid,” who is this little kid in a yellow nightgown who was among some of the earliest comics. Really, saying that my work is heavily influenced by the Victorian era is one of the best ways I know to describe it.
4. Where can we see your work over the course of the next year? Talk a little about recent shows you have been in solo or otherwise, and what is to come.
I currently have a show at Mars Cafe that will be up through the rest of August. There will be a closing reception this coming Friday, August 19th at Mars starting at 6:00 pm with live music starting around 7:00. All of the framed work and Mixed Media pieces will be priced 30% off. I have also been in a number of shows throughout this summer. I was at the Des Moines Arts Festival in June of this year, and it is really a fantastic event. I have also done a few smaller things here and there, in West Des Moines and most recently in Fort Dodge. They have a great new event this year called “Market on Central” that happens six Saturdays of the summer. I will also be selling work at “Market Day” in Des Moines for the month of October. They always have really great stuff there but I have never been a vendor before. So I am very excited to be a part if that this fall.
We have been inspired lately by the famed Illustrator Harry Clarke. In honour of his ability we have two silk-screened posters of one of his illustrations from Edgar Allan Poe’s Tales of Mystery and Imagination. First two people to tweet #harryclarke to us, gets one free! Also for a comprehensive look at the rest of his illustrations for the collection, click here.
Harry Clarke Illustration
This morning when Shawn, one of our designers/printers/all around awesome guys woke up, he wanted to make a difference in the world. So he started a new recycling program. We have a lot of old junk that is probably valuable to someone taking up spaces on our shelves. Not wanting to throw it away but also not wanting it to be here, he pulled up Google Maps and started zooming in. Eventually the scroll wheel stopped moving, and an address in the Kansas City suburbs showed up.
Then he printed a shipping label, and gave it to Chuck, our UPS guy, who happily sent it south. So if you happen to clean chimneys in the KC area, we are sorry about that.
But please put the contents to good use. Thanks,
- The Management.
Alexander-The-Intern is finally starting to pull his weight around the shop. Check these guys out.
They are invitations to hang out with some of the happiest people you’ll ever meet. Just make sure you drink your coffee first so you can keep up. We thought they looked great, and also wanted an excuse to mention Former-Lt.-Governor-Joy-The-Intern’s-Grandma somewhere on our site.