Joe Mills

Consume and Create Sticker

I have decided that I am going to move forward with this “Consume and Create” theme for my work. Well, let me be more specific…I have always wanted an identity for my business. While my posters are one side of my business, I wanted something that would tie everything together. Almost like the Joe Mills “brand”. It has been a quest of mine and I think I’ve stumbled upon something that I can live with…and it has been right under my nose this whole time.

I have always been fascinated with the reasons we consume and the reasons we create. Consumption is something that we all must do, but, in my mind, it has taken over. I believe that creating is one of the few things that cannot be taken away from us. No matter what your financial or social situation, as humans, we have been given the power to create. The joy of creation is one of the reasons I create in the first place. It is so much a part of me and what I believe is important. Yet, many people don’t create. Many people believe that consumption is the way to live.

So, I have turned to this idea of consuming and creating in my artwork. The index of my web site says “create”. I made an artwork based on this idea of consuming and creating. I even made a small video for an education class I tool a few years back. It has found its way into the background of my web page and on my sticker giveaway. It only seems natural that it becomes the Joe Mills identity.

This brings me to the title of this post…the Consume and Create sticker. I have just begun putting it together, and it will become the first sticker I sell. Basically, it is a bottle of plain old vanilla Consume and a sweet, hot bottle of Creation sauce. When I read that in print, it seems rather cheesy, so I am trying to erase the cheese by making a very clean and finely crafted sticker. I’m just glad that I have settled on something…

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No Waiver Park…On Sale!

No Waiver Park is now on sale! Posters arrived this week. They are $5 if you pick it up…an extra $2.50 if you want it shipped. Click here to order through Paypal.

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Hands for Haiti Fundraiser Art and Show

Chicago 2010 will be making a fundraising appearance at the Hands for Haiti Fundraiser Art and Show at Enigma Cafe in Evanston. Here is some information on the event:

Cafe Enigma is hosting the “Hands for Haiti” Art Fundraiser and auction February 20th 2010. It will feature artwork from many Chicago artist including Matt Tutor,Angel Pelipada, Mike Paro, Eric Iverson, Esteban Alcozer, TRUE, Dense83, Tine Mendoza, Olegario Flores, Rex Flodstrom, Erin Rembert, Phicks, Madeline Goldman-Rohm, TYPE ONER, Scott Richardson, Peter Weiss, and more… We hope you can make it out and help the cause! there will also be live art TBA, music, and food! 50% of the money raised will go to doctors without borders.

If you are interested in attending, here is a map to find the place:

View Larger Map

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Student Mosaic

I do not normally use this space for student work, but this is worth the post. My 6th grade students from 2007-08 worked on a mosaic celebrating the architecture of Hyde Park. It has finally been installed, and I snapped a couple pictures today. It is located on an underpass between the Museum of Science and Industry and the lake. It is one of many mosaics on the underpass. If you are ever in the Hyde Park area, take a few minutes to check it out. It is certainly one of my proudest accomplishments as a teacher.

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The Expensive Print for Pixel Chicago

Recently, someone asked me for a print of one of my older artworks, Pixel Chicago. Since it was only one print, I knew the price would be more expensive. He was more than happy to pay the extra money for the work, so I went ahead and got one printed. The stock of the print is much thicker than the posters I ordered for Chicago 2010. Plus, the paper is much more glossy. Even though I think the print looks good, I still believe the quality of the poster prints is much cleaner. Still, it begs the question…what kind of prints should I sell? For a good piece of artwork, people will pay the money, but your market is much smaller. I am not going to make much of a profit off the one above, but I could get about 100 of them made for a smaller price per print. The overall price of the poster would go up and I would still make a good profit, but at what cost? Will people not be as interested if the price is much higher? Isn’t it more important at this point to get my artwork “out there”? Should I believe that people will buy my artwork no matter the cost because I have confidence in my work? I could spend about $50 more over the cost of 100 prints and get 500 posters and be able to sell them for a much lower price. Plus, more people are now interested. It is this high wire act I am playing with myself between looking like a professional artist with great, inexpensive artwork and looking like some hack who is just trying to sell a bunch of posters. It is the ongoing debate with myself, but I can’t help thinking that the inexpensive poster is the best route for me…at least for now.

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New Artwork – No Waiver Park!

I have proved to myself that I can hold down a paying job AND complete another long term artwork. I just completed No Waiver Park this morning. It definitely builds on the style I used with Chicago 2010. Ever since I got back to doing artwork over 5 years ago, I never knew if I would reach this point or if I even wanted to reach this point, but having a style is a good thing. I am certainly happy with the way this turned out. I had this idea for a crazy amusement park for over a year, and it finally came together this year. I had different drawing altogether before.

This just never seemed right to me. Although, as I look at it now, it still feels like I could have turned it in to something. The direction I chose, though, I think worked out perfectly. I decided to break up the attractions so they could shine on their own instead of making them completely overlap each other. Plus, I ramped up the amount of children so it really felt more energetic and vibrant. I’m not sure how this compares time-wise or detail-wise with Chicago 2010, but I definitely felt more productive with No Waiver Park. I took an Illustrator class in the fall that added some tricks to my repertoire…

Now, the big question is…do I get posters made? It is certainly not as identifiable as Chicago, but I need to step out of my comfort zone and take some risks. It is not like I have to make them now, but I need to keep it in mind. As far as artwork goes, I have 3 poster ideas ready to go. One is another city landscape…Sydney. I have another landscape of monsters attacking a city. And, I have an idea for a group of crime fighters called The Misfits. I have a sticker idea that is only worth creating if I really want to get them printed. Finally, I have a t-shirt idea that I need to start sketching. I’m holding off because I seem to have a t-shirt idea every month that I either end up not liking or actually creating…and then not liking. No matter what…I can’t let go of making t-shirts.

As far as promotion goes, I’m going to join a few more portfolio sites. I am going to submit an application to the Chicago Art Open. And from there…I need to start researching the spring and summer fairs and festivals to see what is worth my time…

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Chicago Bluegrass and Blues Festival and an Update on the Business

Image courtesy of the Chicago Bluegrass and Blues Festival

It has been a while since I have given a comprehensive update on how the “business” is running, and I figured now would be the perfect time. My first announcement is that I will be a vendor at the Chicago Bluegrass and Blues Festival this Saturday. It is being held at Congress Theater from 11am to Midnight. I will be selling the “Chicago 2010″ poster, and a poster called “Cube Man”. Tickets are still available. I am not sure what to expect as a vendor selling my artwork to the “masses”, but it is the logical second step for me. This will give me a good idea about how successful I might be outside of my circle of family and friends. If all goes well, it gives me more incentive to hit the art fairs and festivals in Chicago over the summer. Or, I could try to hit other music festivals like Pitchfork. This festival is perfectly timed for me!

Speaking of “Chicago 2010″…I have been very happy with how my poster has been received. Us artists can be relatively sensitive, but at some point, you have to just take a leap of faith. I think it has helped that I picked a subject matter that is instantly recognizable. I was concerned that it might seem too “cartoony” for people, but the style seemed to be the right choice. It has given me more incentive to do other work in that style. Although, I will not be doing something as recognizable. I have thought about doing other cities, but I do not want to get stuck doing just cities. The Chicago poster was pretty personal to me, so I’d like to stick to subject matter that I have a personal attachment to. If I do work on another city, I’d probably do Sydney. Finally, if you ever do want to get posters made, I would go with Large Format Posters. They are somehow linked to another company called UPrinting. I was extremely happy with the results of the poster from a production standpoint. For someone who has never gone to “print”, I was understandably nervous. Designing on a computer screen and designing for print are two different animals. Yet, when I opened up that box, I was floored.

And lastly, my one bit of promotion so far has been my joemills.com sticker. If you are ever in the market for some inexpensive, “quick” stickers, I would go with Sticker Giant. They do produce 4 color stickers, but I was not ready to jump in that far just yet. I just wanted a little something to put in my poster sleeves with my web site on it. These stickers did the trick. Which reminds me…I had a hard time finding poster sleeves, but came across Clear Bags after some searching. They have poster sleeves of all different sizes. It is amazing how many unforeseen costs exist when you are trying to make money away from a 9 to 5 job…

I’ll give a post-festival post later…

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New Vlog About the Completed Chicago 2010 Poster

I just created a short video journal to give people a better look at the Chicago 2010 poster. You can see it here.

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Making Some Changes

I’m trying a little different style with my web page in preparation for selling posters. I’ve created a posters page that has the “Coming Soon!” title looming on it. I hope to change that in the coming weeks.

I am also trying a slightly different theme. Instead of my paint to pixel splash page, I am changing to a consume vs. create theme. This has been an over-arching theme to my reasons for even bringing the arts back in my life, so I felt that it was important to make that the first thing people see when they look  at my portfolio. Hopefully, people understand that I am not denouncing consumerism. It is more of a celebration of my need to create vs. my need to consume. Is that a little deep for a portfolio?

I’ve also added a couple new t-shirt designs. The cube man and a quote for a baby t-shirt.

Yes…I’ve been busy.

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Update on The Business…Chicago 2010!!!

It’s been a while since I’ve updated my “business” but school definitely got in the way. Thankfully, I just finished Chicago 2010. I’ve been working on this off and on since the middle of June. I had a different look for this before that point, but I went in this direction and I’m more than satisified. This is definitely my style. It matches with my earlier comic book designs and it is something I have fun doing. The work tends to take longer, but I enjoy the end product much more.

How does this work with my earlier business ideas? Well, it definitely does not fit with t-shirt designs even though I plan on keeping my store. It might work with gig posters, but that is hit or miss. It is not really fine art which is too bad. It really is illustration. Posters…maybe? Most illustrators work with companies and do, well, illustrations. I guess the trick is to get noticed or just keep plugging away. I plan on making Chicago 2010 into posters and hopefully selling them at Chicago Bluegrass & Blues Festival in December. I’d also like to go around to local shops and see if they’d like to buy some posters. And, I can just try to connect with folks on Behance, IllustrationMundo, and Deviant. I know that is not much of a business plan, but I am building a portfolio. No matter what, I love this style and I can see myself making more illustrations like this.

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