New Masters of Poster Design

6 ★ NEW MASTERS OF POSTER DESIGN

With the path cleared by Frank Kozik and Art Chantry, Aesthetic

Apparatus left Wisconsin and headed west to the design

hotbed of Minneapolis, fully formed and ready to “break your

heart and drink your blood,” as they threaten on their website.

Mixed in with their tight design chops is a self-deprecating

wit that can be seen in a large portion of their work. Ibarra

and Byzewski boast that their work has “secretly snuck into

the hearts and minds of a small rather silent group of socially

awkward music and design nerds.” They have benefited

immensely from that great connector of music and design

nerds—the Internet—and note that “our business functions as

it does because of the Internet. When we‘re not printing

posters or designing, we‘re packing up online poster orders,

keeping up with clients via email, or presenting work to

them, also via email. If there were no Internet we never

would‘ve existed like we do today, which is pretty funny

because we really don‘t understand how the Internet works.”

DESIGN FOCUSED

Not quite ready to assume the mantle of leadership of the

new poster movement, Ibarra and Byzewski do, however, see

themselves as part of that movement. They add, in analyzing

the current crop, that “some people have said that we have

inspired folks in regard to the recent wave of design-focused

rock posters. Neither of us believes that we did anything new

or inventive in regard to our art or our studio or whatever, but

it’s always flattering to think that someone actually enjoys what

we’re doing.” You won’t have to look far in this book or at a local

rock club to see that influence.

As for their own inspiration, they find joy in recounting the

amazing hand-printed runs of thousands of posters by Anthony

Velonis and the other artists of the Works Progress Administration

(WPA). They are one of the few firms to admit that they wear

their influences on their sleeves—or at least leave them

exposed on their posters. “Artist-wise, our influences are pretty

easy to guess: Saul Bass, Jeff Kleinsmith [profiled on page

140], Art Chantry, Andy Warhol, Robert Rauschenberg, Raymond

Loewy, Paul Rand, Reid Miles, Charles S. Anderson, Tibor

Kalman, Yee-Haw Industries, The Bird Machine [Next Wave on

page 242], Seripop [profiled on page 154], and Ames Brothers.”

INK UNDER YOUR NAILS

Ibarra and Byzewski have an unusual angle on the process,

as they print all of their posters by hand. This can lead to interesting

results. “Probably the most annoying part of poster making is when

the printing goes horribly, horribly wrong. Or when all is said

and done and you’ve printed the poster and you step back to take

a look at the finished product and you just hate it. It’s heartbreaking.

That just happened to us the other day.”

Getting their hands dirty and engaging in the entire process has led

Ibarra and Byzewski to challenge themselves to produce the most

creative solution not only in terms of design but also on press.

The inevitable hits and misses have turned into success after

raging success, although their remarks belie their learning process.

The blurring of lines between print and production extends

to those between designer and client. After working for local

clubs and building up a solid base of trust, Aesthetic Apparatus

makes all creative decisions themselves and sends the final

art to the club before going to press. They elaborate, “Honestly,

they have never asked for any changes or revisions or anything.

We don’t even know if they proofread these anymore. I don’t

even know if they look at them.”

Certainly someone can’t keep their eyes off the posters, as they

have a pretty difficult time keeping them on the walls of the clubs

and their print runs sell out notoriously fast. If you see something

you like, you had better figure out that Internet thing real quick!

“If there were no Internet we never would’ve existed like we do today, which is

pretty funny because we really don’t understand how the Internet works.”

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AESTHETIC APPARATUS

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MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA, USA

THE TIME IS RIGHT

Working side by side at Planet Propaganda, a top U.S. design firm, Dan Ibarra and Michael

Byzewski decided to form a haven for their interest in screen-printing. Originally conceived

as an outlet for fun and one-off side projects, they quickly became so successful that

making the choice to turn Aesthetic Apparatus into their full-time gig was a no-brainer.

Building their business around limited-edition screen-printed concert posters, they were

one of the first firms to benefit fully from the explosion of this market.

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