Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Visual Arts A few questions with Methane Studios
Posted by Wyatt Williams @wyatt_williams on Wed, Sep 22, 2010 at 10:54 AM
Mark McDevitt and Robert Lee are the force behind Methane Studios, a design company that's been producing screen printed gig posters in Atlanta since the '90s. "Fuel to the Fire: The Poster Design of Methane Studios" opened earlier this month at SCAD's Gallery See, an exhibition of their most distinctive poster work. We caught up with Robert earlier this week to ask him a few questions.
What's your background?
Mark and I met In art school (Columbus College of Art and Design) where we both majored in illustration. We shared a passion for traditional illustration as well as music. Mark took some print making classes in school as well. Both of us moved to Atlanta from Ohio where we landed various jobs in the screen print industry where we honed our skills in the craft. I had always been in a band of some sort and Mark asked if he could screen print a poster for some of our shows. He did so in his garage for awhile until we met the owner of a new venue in town called Echolounge. The owner, Janet Ridgeway, wanted screen printed posters for her venue and asked us if we would help her out. It was perfect timing for us and for her. A match made in heaven.
What role did the music scene at Echolounge play for you?
Echolounge gave us our start for sure. It gave us the exposure to bands around the country as well as allowing us to get better as designers, printers and illustrators. Music has and will always be an influence on us. We try to represent the band and their music in a fitting way so it's necessary to listen to their music and lyrics. We may not get out as much as we used to to hear the bands live but make it a point to stay in touch with what's going on in the musical landscape. It' always a thrill to get the thumbs up from the bands we do work for.
How much does a band's sound weigh into your design?
The band's music is usually a big influence in the designs we create. Sometimes we may base the concept on a particular city the band is playing in as well. We vary in styles to best suit the particular band. We don't make the band fit the style. The style usually adjust to fit the band and their music.
- Test Prints
Who do you admire? Any artists or designers that particularly influence your work?
We both admire a wide range of artists, from polish poster designs to pop artist, from jazz record cover art to vintage cereal boxes from our child hoods. We are big fans of artists ranging from Charlie Harper, David Weidman, Jim Flora, Alex Steinweis, Robert Rauschberg, Jasper Johns, David Stone Martin and Ralph Bakshi.
"Fuel to the Fire: The Poster Design of Methane Studios" runs until Oct. 1 at SCAD's Gallery See.
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