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Every 13 years, Nashville is invaded by billions of noisy, flying red-eyed critters that emerge from the ground when the temperature reaches 67 degrees for a week. The cicada grubs tunnel up from the deep, climb trees, split out of their shells, sprout wings, and then make an infernal racket for about 4-6 weeks. Their sole purpose is to sing, fly, mate, lay eggs, and then die. This year, experts say it will happen around the end of April or early May.    The last time this happened was 1998—and it was truly apocalyptic. At that time, Joel Anderson (founder...

We've been working on the first six posters for the Spirit of Franklin/Leipers Fork Collection, but six more are still undecided. We plan on having the a total of twelve done by summer, so don't forget to contact us on Facebook (or comment below) soon and let us know which Franklin landmarks you would like to see poster-fied!  The first six are (at least for now): Franklin Town Square Battle of Franklin Franklin Theatre  Carnton Plantation The Factory  Leipers Fork Downtown   Below are some of the thought process/development on the Franklin Town Square poster.   After starting with the...

We just wrapped up a poster project for the Baton Rouge Area Convention and Visitors Bureau. The piece was commissioned by Zehnder Communications, a Louisiana-based advertising firm. The people at Zehnder had seen our Art & Soul of America poster series and wanted us to do a hip, vaguely retro poster that would highlight 10-12 Baton Rouge landmarks/tourist attractions. This would be part of a larger PR campaign to get both tourists and business leaders to come to Baton Rouge. Here is a break-down the creative process to reveal the anatomy of a poster design from start to finish: First,...

We’ve always been fans of Hatch Showprint, Isle of Printing, and Yee-Haw Industries—classic Tennessee letterpress print shops that consistently produce striking illustrated poster designs. Computers have really changed how designers and illustrators create. Thanks to Photoshop and desk-top design programs, it seems like most contemporary commercial art is full of drop shadows, highlights, layers, stock photos, and lettering that was just typed—not really typeset or styled. What we wouldn’t give to get our hands dirty every now and then and create something from start to finish that was never touched by a pixel, mouse click or megabyte!    We work...

We designers tend to geek out about stuff like illustrated posters and postcards—(especially when they are printed on cool paper!) So when the coolest paper company on the planet asked us to partner with them to create a new promotional calendar, it was like being handed an authentic Boba Fett costume and being asked to make a personal appearance at a Star Wars Convention.  We have long since been fans of the French Paper Company’s amazing products—made famous by their promotional materials designed by Charles S. Anderson (no relation to Anderson Design Group founder Joel Anderson.)    French Paper encouraged...