Some of you know that one of my favorite design styles is that found in beer and wine labels, brewery, and tavern signage. I don’t get to indulge in it as much as I’d like. However, I decided I’d be self-indulgent a little and combine a bit of my daily life (that of artist and designer) with this style. So, here’s a little treat to myself and perhaps others, who enjoy these things, may have fun with.

The Student Utility Building. I’m not sure if it’s a point of pride that college was the best five years of my life because, well, it wasn’t pre-med nor law school… it wasn’t supposed to be longer than four years at tops. What can I say? I liked electives.

At any rate, even though I lived in the same town as the college the SUB – Student Utility Building – was still my second home. You could go to the bookstore, grab a soda and chips, order finger steaks for lunch, or just grab a quick game of foosball or watch tv with friends. I certainly have fond memories of our SUB and the many hours I clocked there (including one really bad snowstorm that prevented me from making it home until after midnight).

So, I’m going to indulge myself by commemorating something I think a lot of others who loved college will relate to… the college SUB in all its student comfort goodness.

Available at the TornadoRepublic.com

I’m not sure if it’s just funny or poking fun but seriously… what will an Emo kid do if he doesn’t like it? Write me a sad poem?

Black printing on a black shirt using black machinery, in a darkened room where emotional high school students read poetry and toil away cranking out tshirts.

Occasionally the goth kids bust in to start trouble – wearing their own black shirts printed with black ink using black machiner… hmmm, maybe Darwin was right?

www.TornadoRepublic.com

Maybe it’s my age? My mom used to tease me, when I was a boy, that many of the styles I liked were throwbacks to things that were popular when she was a kid – that styles often repeated themselves in the next generation. It’s just that we believe it’s original each time.

Well, I’ll be honest – I think I see her point. I love vintage style gear. Faded colors, torn and tattered artwork that looks like it’s been to more than a few KISS concerts or maybe left soggy in the back of a 1976 ElDorado after a swim in the lake during a hot Summer.

I love this stuff. The more it looks like the wash machine mangled it – the better I like it.