A VIEW IN TO A DAY OF MY BELT PRODUCTION

This is a video view into my process… and a break to play Donkey Kong.

Thanks to my friends Justin Tripp, Sean Nagin, Brian Close, and John Dennis.

TIJUANA TAXI… DRIVER OF SALES.

Nothing funny here… sorta: Just good art & design for commercial purposes. These days we would never see new music so deliberately branded with major corporate brands. But there is something wonderful about it. Direct and smart. If you have a favorite major brand (EVERYONE DOES, do stop being falsely PC!) then perhaps good free music cobranded with your favorite music genre or artist would give a little bit of a smile or a warm feeling. Wait… weird! But you know what I mean!!!!!

Additionally: These album covers, in this modern era, would be seen as culturally insensitive since the band members and other elements reinforce stereotypes. But to play “devil’s” advocate, don’t mariachi bands do a good job all by themselves of dressing the part of the stereotype? No?  I understand it is a cultural uniform. So is it that they characters in the illustration are having fun and being festive/happy? Doesn’t seem so harsh to me, but what do I know. That being said… it is still amazing commercial art and design.

A bit of the back story: Back in the 60’s there was a trend of “Tijuana” style jazz records inspired by the the sounds of mariachi bands in Mexico. Herb Alpert is the best know artist of this style and one of it’s pioneers. It became a parody of itself since the sound became the tracks for game shows and elevators everywhere. A lot of great albums were created in the genre… but the album art is often AMAZING!

At the peak of this trend in music, MARK 56 Records, with producer George Garabedian, created albums as promotional sales pieces that they cobranded with top South Western US brands. Taco Bell, Alpha Beta Super Markets, Der Weinerschnitzel, and more, all saw it a worth while collaboration and thus led to the production of some incredible album cover illustrations / designs.

NOTICE: the illustration of an early style Taco Bell restaurant. I used to go to one exactly like that when I was a child. And it did have a lavarock fire pit like the one the musicians are around. The restaurant had actual stone archways, and old replica style outdoor oil lamps with lightbulbs. Taco Bell was a fun restaurant when I was a kid. And yes, Taco Bell did have an actual bell at the top of each location, but I don’t know if they ever worked.

OLÉ!!! … no bueno?

FOCUSED…

!!!!!

ON THE SEW….

GOOD AND BADVERTISEMENTS…

My LOVE / HATE relationship with the fiendish and fantastic world of advertising and marketing. A true art!?!?!

I love classic ads. From the early days of ON THE GO MAGAZINE with my friend Jimmy, we would fill the empty ad pages with ads we loved! Jimmy worked at old Mitchell & Ness store on Walnut street in Philly and upstair was a old archival “store” with every magazine known to man going back as far as magazine had been published. They would on occasion have fill up bins with old magazines for like 99cents. Of course it tended to be magazines that no one seemed to want. I am sure plenty of people would have bought them had they know they were even there. Ahhhh… the days before the internet.

Anyway… Jimmy and I would buy tones of cheap stuff for the ads alone. From Good Housekeeping to Ebony, to Playboy and our favorite magazine “Sepia”. We had ads from the late 1950’s up to the early 1980’s. But the best ones were always from 68-78. The creative ad guys ad designers were having a sexually charged field day on those politically INcorrect times.

So… reaching into our archives… I am posting just a few gems from the era, both sexually awkward and dietarily unhealthy.

this is as good as it gets!!! Good packaging, good design, menacing illustration, and a concept that fits perfectly with the idea of how many men feel on alcohol. 100 PROOF RAGING BULL. Kudos.

“LUSTY LIFE!” in a can. And here I was working so hard on my intellectual appeal! Stupid me!

Paint your fence in style!!! Drink malt liquor while you work!

SPACE SEXY!!! Cult45 even works on space chicks!!!… EVERY TIME!
Now do as the ad says… find that display in a store near you… put a couple “extra” six packs in cold storage… and then get ready “completely unique experience”… “that is out of this world.”

Pepsi is an important element to YOUR successful education! Read on…

When I think of flashy player attire I always picture medieval weaponry! Sword, mace, and cheap flashy shoes clearly equals lady killer, of sorts.
This just speaks for itself.

The filter on your cigarette is as good for you as the filter on your tap water. And if you send in $5 dollars (and tow Tareyton wrappers) you can have a water filter on your tap as well as on your cigarette.
ahead of their time on the health kick hustle… and right on time with their horrible lies.

______________________________________________________

This next ad BELOW says A LOT in between the lines! Very unintended racism in their words, while fully knowing their marketing and profit is race based. (in my opinion)

Below is a double page advertisement, from the original BELL Telephone company, that was in EBONY Magazine. It appears to be selling trust in it’s new armored pay phones because so many have been vandalized on “street corners” to the tune of $12 million dollars!

So the pitch is like it’s a public service. Bell seems to be saying that they will fight on with more vandal proof pay phones on your  “street corner” and want you to snitch on anyone that you see vandalizing them (aka robbing them for the petty change) or call and report vandalized phones so they can repair them.

Mind you, this is a double page ad in an oversized EBONY Magazine. I wonder if this ad ran in Esquire, Good Housekeeping, or Playboy? Not too many pay phones on “street corners” in the suburbs… or affluent city blocks. So this public service is a not so subtle fight for corporate profits. Hey… that is fine but don’t dress it up as concern, and public defense!

Maybe I am reading in to it too much. But being 30 years into the future here in 2013 we all know how the new armored pay phone went on to rake in the profits for a couple more decades and did little to help any community it was in. Hell… the only reason we used those damn phones is because BELL cut the home service off for lack of payment on their GROSSLY over priced services. Remember those long distance charges just to call 12 blocks away. Being blindly charged for calling other counties like they were foreign countries. Keep in mind this is an expensive double page ad. Only the auto companies were doing that, and their product costs thousands. Hmm.

Too deep? Too soapbox? Too liberal? Too bad! Click to enlarge and read… between the lines.

^^^ WHAT ARE THEY REALLY SAYING?!?!?!? Or what should they have said. ^^^

sophisticated caveman style

AMAZING , and apparently substantiated, statistics of the Playboy “reader”.
This is why PLAYBOY is exactly where you want to advertise your malt liquor, cheap cars, and spit water cologne. But then again this was from a 1969 issue. I am sure by the mid 70’s the “better” brands were paying a bit more attention.

“… what a man wants a man gets…” Errr uhhh…

Membership has its privileges!!!
READ THIS AD!!!

BAR TO GO!!!
***women not included!

uhhhhhh… what? What am I supposed to buy here? Or believe? Or relate to? Dogs? Blizzards? Fresca? Summer? Winter? OH YEAH… Johnny Carson! No?

all you really NEED is caffein laden acidic sugar water to wash down all the discomfort food! Mmmmm chitterlings!!! (BURB)

this months belt focused flavors…

Here is a mixed bag of flavors from the past month or so. Playing with techniques and textures. A true full range of colors.

Love these colors. My hand painted white and rose paisley… buckle and belt

favorite colors as of recent. Citrus spring!!!

conservative tones with custom speckled D-rinds

burlap tones. 5 layers of material and custom painted O-rings

Orange is the color of life!!! My hand painted orange and rose paisley… buckle and belt