Ticket To Ride

Will working on this Sabres 40th Anniversary exhibit installation we have had to dig through the BHE+M archives. Here are a few first season ticket stubs (1970-71) that I thought I would share.

The tickets were not as fancy as they are now. They only came in two colors- red and green- and we liked it that way... just a like a cold Utica Club! Only $4.00 a game ticket price, I wonder what the beer cost back then?

I am a fan of this poster/ticket layout- just some typeset text, well balanced, even with all it's bad kerning issues. The abbreviated months are very dated looking as you don't see a lot of FEB'RY or OCT'BR being used these days....

There is just something very elegant about this haphazard simplicity (or I have been up too late scanning tickets).











ALL ABOUT THE EXHIBIT: Come see the full exhibit commemorating 40 years of cool Buffalo Sabres hockey moments based on items from the Buffalo Hockey Experience + Museum's permanent collection. It all goes on display at HSBC Arena for the first pre-season Sabres game and will be up all season, 2nd floor, on either side of the big center bar overlooking the entrance. To find out more, stay tuned!

Fifty Mission Cap

Work continues on the install of the Buffalo Sabres 40th Anniversary Exhibit (see info below). The OtherWisz Creative team spend the third day on site finishing installing photos (while wearing gloves) in the second case. We also mounted the large wooden logo (from the Aud Club), we installed the really cool puck tower (commemorating Hasek's 70-save game in 1994), built the 500-puck stack and put in the helmet mounts.

Internally we are finishing up editing content and planning the rest of the install. The case maufacturers are killing our schedule as they built the glass for the cases at the wrong size and it had to be redone. They are ruining my fine-tuned install schedule and we all have to keep altering our plans.... but we are adapting.









ALL ABOUT THE EXHIBIT: Come see the full exhibit commemorating 40 years of cool Buffalo Sabres hockey moments based on items from the Buffalo Hockey Experience + Museum's permanent collection. It all goes on display at HSBC Arena for the first pre-season Sabres game and will be up all season, 2nd floor, on either side of the big center bar overlooking the entrance. To find out more, stay tuned!

The Model

Work continues on the install of the Buffalo Sabres 40th Anniversary Exhibit (see info below). The OtherWisz Creative team spend two days of display set-up including: Step 1- the "massing". This was getting the risers and the mannequins set up to see how the space will be filled. We put all the jerseys (except for the rare Horton jersey which still in storage) on them to see how great they will look.

Then next came Step 2: outlining all memorabilia location with masking tape and putting in the mounted photography. We had to quit early today, but we'll be back at it on Monday with plans to get everything in by next Thursday. Hopefully... we still have a lot to do, but it is looking really great so far.

Here are some snapshots from the last few days including J. holding Ryan Miller's Winter Classic mask, some masking tape layout and some hockey jerseys getting mannequin-ed.

ALL ABOUT THE EXHIBIT: Come see the full exhibit commemorating 40 years of cool Buffalo Sabres hockey moments based on items from the Buffalo Hockey Experience + Museum's permanent collection. It all goes on display at HSBC Arena for the first pre-season Sabres game and will be up all season, 2nd floor, on either side of the big center bar overlooking the entrance. To find out more, stay tuned!

Tower of Power

For the Sabres 40th Anniversary Exhibit (see below), to compliment some of the awesome memorabilia from the BHEM collection, we created some pucktacular pieces to represent some of Buffalo's hockey milestones. Here is a sneak-peak: a little item I refer to as HASEK'S TOWER.

This stack of 70 pucks are speared on a steel stand we had custom built. It was designed by our OtherWisz team, welded and 'pucks a-drilled' in Holland, NY and it was delivered today! This display item (shown here, not in the display case yet) will be a part of a Dominik Hasek section at the start of the second case. This cool tower-o-pucks was designed specifically to commemorate a legendary 70-save game starring the Dominator.

The game is told as... On April 27, 1994 in the Memorial Auditorium, the Sabres were playing in the 6th game of their first round playoff series versus the New Jersey Devils. Ending at 1:52 AM the next morning, the game went into 4 overtime periods as both Hasek and Devil Brodeur dueled to the finish. Dave Hannah scored on Buffalo's 50th shot to win the game 1-0. Hasek ended up making 70 saves in a single game, 39 in the overtime periods alone. Last season (2009-10) THE average shots per NHL game was only 31.something-something... Fantastic Sabres moment remembered in a cool stack of pucks.

ALL ABOUT THE EXHIBIT: Come see the full exhibit commemorating 40 years of cool Buffalo Sabres hockey moments based on items from the Buffalo Hockey Experience + Museum's permanent collection. It all goes on display at HSBC Arena for the first pre-season Sabres game and will be up all season, 2nd floor, on either side of the big center bar overlooking the entrance. To find out more, stay tuned!

Freeze! Rock!

The first step to our Sabres 40th Anniversary exhibit installation is almost complete. The backdrop to our 2 display cases are being made to look like skated-on ice. These will be the background to the memoribillia that will be on display. Our design team came up with a great technique to recreate ice and our designer Dan spent a few nights perfecting the 'ice.' We painted the back of the cases and the back of plastic sheets white. Then the front of the sheets were attacked with sandpaper to dull the finish and add the skate marks.

Today we installed the backgrounds and tomorrow we add more 'full case' marks. I think so far it looks great and I will post more as we continue. Our deadline is to have it up and looking great for the first pre-season Buffalo Sabres game later this month.

We're Gonna Win That Cup

Hockey. Hockey. Hockey. That is all we have been thinking about as we continue to work on the design and installation of an exhibit highlighting 4o-years of Buffalo Sabres history that will be on display in HSBC arena for the entire 2010-11 hockey season. The items in the cases are on loan from the Buffalo Hockey Experience + Museum (click me) and it will feature a fantastic look at 40 years of Buffalo Sabres' hockey.

This is the largest scale project we have worked on here at OtherWisz Creative besides web projects. We started with the curating of the pieces and writing the story it tells you the viewer. Next came the design and layout of the two 108 x 80" display cabinets and five trophy cases. J. -- with an extensive background in trade shows and museum displays -- had a huge role in the design & layout. We also designed graphics, wrote the text, selected the photos used and are in the process of installing the background to the cases today.

Next week is the fun part- the installation of the displays. This will include setting up the mannequins for the jerseys, hanging banners, mounting photos and items and then placing the sticks and other pieces of Sabres history into the display.

Now I can safely say that I know more about hockey then I ever thought I would know as we have been immersed in this project over the last few months. I know all about the 1976 game vs. the Soviets, the All Star Game that took place in Buffalo in 1978, Hasek's 70 Save game in 1994 and much, much more.

I will post some photos as we progress further.

Sudden Impact!

It is not that I have nothing to say.....
or Don't call it a comeback ('cause it ain't)!

Work has interfered with life (and blog postings). The office has been flooded with projects including a really cool museum-type installation, a Flu-shot campaign, a bunch of websites and a few other things. I am not complaining- it is a good problem to have- I just want to get a little more free-time, so I can blog, sleep, stay away from the computer, etc.

So stay tuned sports-fans.

To keep you tied over- here is the latest rock poster I did for another rockin' Wolf Tickets show. This one has a great 1960s-era LIFE magazine photo of 'Broadway" Joe in stripclub prior to NY Jets Spring Training that year. Oh, the horror and the beauty of it all.

Then there is this.......


BONUS VIDEO BEATS: from Mick Jone's basement!

Box Set

Wide Margins: An Exhibition of 'Zines and Self-Published Works from the Sublime to the Silly is currently on view at the WNY Book Arts Center. It runs from July 16-September 3, 2010 & includes hundreds of home-made, self-published works of literary and graphical self-expression. Zines were the blogs before the internet. They were made with typewriters, glue, scissors, tape, copy machines, old computers, press type, pencils, paper, markers, photos, stats, stickers and often staples.

Both my 1990-era pubs -- the Sign O' The Times (SOTT) and Slack Magazine, done by Wizard Graphics-- are highlighted in a glass display case. Thanks to WNYBA's Amy & Jessica for curating this super show. This is really a fine collection of hanging, stacked and piles & piles of literally a shit load of publications. Make sure you get down before Sept. 3 to check this show out- it is very cool!

I missed the opening reception as I was out of town, but I biked down the Saturday afternoon to check it out. I was pretty psyched to see the show. I took these snapshots -- heavy on the Wizard Graphics case -- for your viewing pleasure.

HELPFUL LINKS-
Facebook page- click. BuffaloSnooze preview- click. WNY Book Arts page- click. Slack Magazine online website.



The full Slack & SOTT case. Click on this image collage for big view....very nice. This display includes tee, Slacker in Space original comic art in stat & negative form, a poster, business card, watch, rubber stamp and original issues of SOTT and Slack Magazine.


Side view of full SOTT- Slack case- protected under glass!



Edits to Issue #1 of SOTT includes hand notes on laserprint proof.



Poster for Slack fundraiser at 3rd Room & one-of-a-kind original SLACK watch.


Various SLACK Magazines with Slack in Space comic by Don Keller.



SOTTs from 1991.



Zine case 01- colorful, fancy zines.


Zine case 2- very professional looking zine-age.


Hanging row of the great Duplex Planet zines.



More colorful Duplex Planets.



Hanging zines and tools (electric typewriter & 'pre-zine' print press).



Beer Frame- a classic from back in the day.


Artbabe!!



Stacks-o-Zines.



Event posters in WNYBAC window on the corner of Mohawk & Washington, Downtown Buffalo, NY.



Saturday morning, post opening party clean up.


BONUS BEATS- WNYBAC is a great addition to the Queen City -- they have been around for one year now. Please support this non-for-profit if you are a fan of the printed arts-- especially the antique hand-made, letter-pressed versions of book and all things printed. Become a member!

Start Choppin'

Born in the Summer of 1993, Slack Magazine flourished in Buffalo NY's underground Zine world alongside such luminaries as the Sacred Cow, Snot and The Avenue Player. Sputtering out in February '96 with one last great splash (The Beer Part II), Slack Magazine lived it's life for 20 issues and included slam-bang-gonzo journalism, reviews, ridicule, satire & early computer graphics littered with scans from borrowed postcards, magazines & newspaper clippings. Written and edited by some of Buffalo's greatest creatives (writers-DJs-photographers-drunkards) of the 1990s, Slack has finally dusted itself off & entered the digital age right here.

I gathered all the digital issue of Slack and posted them in it's very own URL at SlackMagazine.com Slack now lives in the digital age, enjoy this slice of Buffalo, NY 1993-1996.

Check it out, kids!

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

Don't squish that logo. Don't flatten it down, don't bring the sides in. Please never re-size that logo misproportionately. Stop puling on a corner when you have placed it in Illustrator, or (God forbid, you are designing in) Photoshop. Side note: Photoshop is a photo editing program, not a layout program. You should stop designing in Photoshop, while we are on the subject....

Back to the logo you are hurting..... Don't force it to fit. Don't manipulate the logo in any way.

Show some respect to the designer who developed the logo. If you cannot get the logo on the page without changing it in any way-- besides scaling it proportionately-- then don't. You are showing disrespect to the craft.

It you can't do this, then please stop practicing graphic design. If you don't know that this is wrong-- screwing with that logo the way you are-- then you have no business doing what you are doing.

And I mean it. Just stop it.

Bustin' Loose

I am joining DJ Jeffro for a little night of music at Staple's this Saturday night in historic Allentown (across from Nietzsche's). Come on down folks! Funk, funk, funk and (mostly) all vinyl, baby.

Doing It To Death

Featuring DJ Jeffro with guest DJ Dr. Wisz of Deja Blu

According to the creator of this funky night, DJ Jeffro:

What is Doing It To Death? Nothing crazy, just a laid back night of hard hitting horns, snares that are mighty tight and alright, and ridiculously raw grooves that are pure dynamite. Aided and abetted by The Funkmaster Generals.... Otis, Stevie, James, Sly, Curtis, Zig, Booker, Maceo and Arlester.

Grooves that are so ON the money that you'll be amazed you got in for NO money.

4+ hours of classic soul & funk music from the 60's, 70's and early 80's. Stax, Motown, Curtom, King, Tamla, Desco, Hi, Daptone, and more.

Saturday, July 26, 2010

11pm- close

100% free, 200% funky

keep on keepin' on.

Do You Believe in Magic?

Ideas That Work MAGIC

While thinking about designing some new self-promo materials, I dug out an early self marketing piece from way-back-when. This is probably the 1st 'mailer' I ever did for myself. It was from 1990 & it was a small folded postcard that opened to reveal the magic of Wizard Graphics-- my first company.

The cover stars the WG Wizard! State-of-the-art, art! My wizard dude was an early computer illustration chunkily mouse-drawn in Adobe Illustrator 88 by building simple shapes over scanned clip art (borrowed from a Clipart book-- hey, I told you it was 1990!). I added some shading (available in percentages of 10), shrunk-down star art on a black background and a very magical font exclaimed: Ideas That Work Magic. Bam! Impressive, eh? These were printed at the copy shop on glossy card stock, roughly hand-scored (as you can see below), folded and scotch tape sealed.

Looking back in time, the other side seems like rather bold & brash filler. The plain back was meant to look like a real postcard and includes a decorative script that read:

Having a great time, wish you were here! Business has boomed and we are quite successful. Call us and find out how we can help you and your business get a new, sharp look for the '90s. See you soon...!

Oh baby...!

The inside is all black like the cover and has a clipart top hat showering money (!!!) and a sharp-dressed 70's clipart dude. These pieces of stock art were both once used in a cut-and-paste sales flyer I had created at my first graphics job at Appliance Parts Distributors, late 80s (see back when here).

The fancy WG business card pops out since it has that expensive purple gradient on it (again, see old post about the history of my own personal biz cards including the original wizard, of Wizard Graphics). The sharply written, prince-esque marketing hoopla reads "Wizard Graphics Can Create Magic 4 U," "Design & Layout - Appearance & Appeal," "Creativity is the Key To Make It Happen," and the hit-'em-while-you-got-'em, call to action "Call Today."

My first design business supplied the following graphic design services (we have come so far):
promotional pieces
advertisements
business cards
business forms
newsletters
letterheads
invitations
brochures
envelopes
posters
menus
slides
fliers
logos
signs
and
much
more!

1990- there were no websites as of yet and the 'slides' mentioned were for event presentation (because Power Point was in it's infancy). I was starting to use computers back then and Pagemaker made laying out 'business forms' a snap. I once did an order form for Kreher's Egg farm -- my roommate was an Egg Farmer for a bit in the early '90s.

I sent these out in the US mail, maybe 50-60 pieces, to business addresses I looked up in the telephone book. I don't remember how I gathered this hand-made, targeted list of potential companies deserving of 'magic design'... but I sent them out and waited. A good portion of the list were bars and nightclubs in the Elmwood Village and Allentown, as well as a few existing clients. I think I had officially had a part-time job as a freelancer for about 4-5 years at this point.

Was the first self-mailer a success? Well for 1990 standards, not bad really: marketing-wise there is a loose concept, it delivers the list of services, it displays the fancy biz card and the call to action. I remember, I did get some work from an existing client, so it did win me a design project... You know, it was first stab at self-promo and I am still doing this 20 years later.

FOOTNOTE: This is not the earliest example of graphics I have dug out, did this poster from 1987-- the pre-computer days of Buff State....