Croatoan Design

Here’s a poster I made this week for Scott and...

Sat, 18 May 2013 07:58:22 -0400

Here’s a poster I made this week for Scott and Charlene’s Wedding at Undertone in July. Craig Dermody’s music is described as “the flipside to the sunny image of Neighbours’ fictional Erinsborough”, so here’s my rotting alternative to life on Ramsay Street.

I had great fun drawing a zombified Kylie and Jason.

This gig is going to be great - check out the facebook event page here.

Here’s at poster I made for GTA Rollergirls. GTAR were so...

Fri, 17 May 2013 10:34:12 -0400

Here’s at poster I made for GTA Rollergirls. GTAR were so welcoming when I arrived in Toronto last year and I loved taking photos at their bouts, so it was really great to be able to make a poster for them.

Here’s the facebook event page for more info on the season opener double-header.

Last night I took some photos at the Shape Function at Clwb Ifor...

Thu, 09 May 2013 17:49:12 -0400

Last night I took some photos at the Shape Function at Clwb Ifor Bach, featuring the amazing Thee Oh Sees with support from Cardiff’s Threatmantics and The Milk Race.

Such an amazing, deafening gig from one of my favourite bands; I haven’t done any gig photography for a while so it was great to get back into it with this!

I recently designed a logo for the Jamazons, a team in the...

Mon, 22 Apr 2013 14:19:33 -0400

I recently designed a logo for the Jamazons, a team in the Peterborough Roller Derby League, Ontario. This past weekend they played the season opener in their new kit!

I love derby, so when Hilary - who used to skate with the Brawlers back home in Cardiff - asked if I’d be interested in designing a logo for her team I jumped at the chance.

It’s pretty amazing to see a whole team wearing the finished product!

Photos by the excellent Simon Spivey - you can see the full album on facebook here

Poster for Jen Long’s Kissability showcase stage at The...

Sun, 21 Apr 2013 16:01:48 -0400

Poster for Jen Long’s Kissability showcase stage at The Great Escape festival, Brighton, in May 2013.

I designed the poster for Jen’s stage last year, so it’s nice to be asked again and develop a bit of a look for her label’s presence at the Great Escape, using their colour palette. I also finally put a cat on a poster for Jen, which I’ve been threatening for around three years now.

Should be a smashing night - here’s the facebook event page!

Poster for Purling Hiss at Undertone, Cardiff in May. The...

Fri, 19 Apr 2013 10:34:12 -0400

Poster for Purling Hiss at Undertone, Cardiff in May.

The lovely people at Joy Collective asked me to make a poster for this gig. The rough, fuzzy recordings of Purling Hiss reminded me of the sound quality on pirate videos I’d buy on holiday in Spain as a kid - one of which was an incredibly ropey version of The Exorcist. So here’s my version of Pazuzu, the demon that possesses Regan in the movie.

Poster for Fair Ohs and my good buddies Kutosis at The Moon,...

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 16:23:55 -0400

Poster for Fair Ohs and my good buddies Kutosis at The Moon, Cardiff, in June, which should be a pretty awesome show. I went a bit surreal with this one!

Here’s the facebook event page.

Here they are - my first 100 posters! What’s your...

Tue, 02 Apr 2013 11:16:53 -0400

Here they are - my first 100 posters! What’s your favourite?

For the stat-minded among you, there are 54 gig posters, 19 club nights, 5 roller derby bouts and one severed hand.

I’d like to say a big thank you to everyone who’s ever asked me to design a poster for them - I love making them and I love working with you all.

Thanks also to everyone who’s supported me or complimented me on my work over the last few years, and anyone who’s bought prints, t-shirts or even got tattooed. It really means a lot.

See you soon for number 101!

I’m happy to announce my 100th poster as Croatoan! Last...

Tue, 02 Apr 2013 11:15:11 -0400

I’m happy to announce my 100th poster as Croatoan! Last week’s Bobby Conn poster for Clwb Ifor Bach was my 99th, so I’ve made a new print inspired by one of my favourite movies to celebrate my big 100.

“We belong dead” is a line from The Bride of Frankenstein, uttered by The Monster himself at the climax of the movie. I figured it was about time I took this guy on, so here he is in all his gory glory.

The print is available at my Society6 store, and you can also get t-shirts and tote bags from Cotton Cart.

Poster for Bobby Conn at Clwb Ifor Bach in June. I wanted to...

Fri, 29 Mar 2013 14:25:11 -0400

Poster for Bobby Conn at Clwb Ifor Bach in June.

I wanted to make something as brash and eye-catching as the man himself. I had a lot of fun seeing what elements I could leave out of a Bobby portrait while getting across his look and his outspoken personality.

Show details and ticket link here!

Remember I designed a poster for the Darkened Rooms screening of...

Thu, 14 Mar 2013 14:23:54 -0400

Remember I designed a poster for the Darkened Rooms screening of Dawn of the Dead? Well now you can get my zombie shopper on a range of men’s and women’s t-shirts and this rather fetching tote bag over at Cotton Cart! Who wouldn’t want to make a stylish zombie-based intertextual comment on consumerism?

Poster for the next Swansea City Roller Derby bout, where the...

Thu, 14 Mar 2013 14:01:51 -0400

Poster for the next Swansea City Roller Derby bout, where the Slayers will take on the Portsmouth Roller Wenches. You have to love the bout titles that roller derby throws up!

We talked about a jammer jumping over some downed blockers; I thought it would be interesting to see that jammer from the perspective of someone eating the floor.

Poster for Modern Life is Rubbish in Cardiff, March 2013. This...

Thu, 14 Mar 2013 13:54:44 -0400

Poster for Modern Life is Rubbish in Cardiff, March 2013. This one’s a fundraiser for Clic Sargent, a charity for children and young people with cancer. So go along for a dance and raise money for a great cause while you’re doing it.

Poster for the Cut Ribbons and Holland joint headline UK tour,...

Mon, 04 Mar 2013 07:59:35 -0500

Poster for the Cut Ribbons and Holland joint headline UK tour, spring 2013.

Dawn of the Dead poster development: pencils, acrylic inks,...

Wed, 27 Feb 2013 15:14:00 -0500

Dawn of the Dead poster development: pencils, acrylic inks, digital colour, finished article. Made a couple of minor changes as I went - the hand on the right didn’t look grabby enough in the original pencil.

Poster for the Darkened Rooms presentation of DAWN OF THE...

Wed, 27 Feb 2013 14:26:00 -0500

Poster for the Darkened Rooms presentation of DAWN OF THE DEAD!

My good friend Tom Betts is working with Chapter Arts Centre and 2D Cinema to screen classic movies in locations specific to the film - The Shining in a hotel, for example.

He first mentioned showing Dawn of the Dead in a shopping mall to me around 27 years ago (ok, maybe 2?) and I thought it was a brilliant idea. Now it’s finally happening! And I got to do the poster!

A cinema quad poster for one of my favourite films? This was a bit of a dream job for me. This EC comics-style idea kind of fell out of my head onto my pad and I love how it turned out. I painted the image with acrylic ink (enjoying using inks and brushes at the moment) and coloured it in Photoshop.

If anyone wants me to make more horror movie or horror-inspired artwork, drop me a line at adam@croatoandesign.co.uk, because I really love doing it and I get to watch zombie movies as (ahem) research.

Darkened Rooms facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/DarkenedRooms

Tickets from the Chapter website: http://www.chapter.org/29950.html

Poster for February’s Simply Rad night at the Queen of...

Thu, 21 Feb 2013 18:19:41 -0500

Poster for February’s Simply Rad night at the Queen of Hoxton in London, with Psalms, Wild Swim and Le Masque. Enjoyed making this look vaguely classy, as befits a Jen Long party.

The fifth issue of Zero Core is hitting the streets now! Zero...

Wed, 06 Feb 2013 10:54:53 -0500

The fifth issue of Zero Core is hitting the streets now! Zero Core is a free quarterly magazine that I produce with Jen Long (BBC Radio 1) and Marc Thomas (Plastik Magazine), looking at the best new music, design and photography.

In our fifth issue we’ve got features on Daughter, Young Fathers, Foxygen, Lucy Johnston, Jack Hudson, TTNG and more. You can take a look on Issuu here, but the print edition is the real deal. Check the list of stockists on our website here - you can also order back issues to complete your collection!

Follow @zerocoremag on Twitter and like us on Facebook.

Poster for Swansea City Roller Derby’s ‘A’...

Wed, 06 Feb 2013 10:54:23 -0500

Poster for Swansea City Roller Derby’s ‘A’ team The Slayers vs Severn Roller Torrent. I have a lot of fun working in the White Stripes palette for Swansea. Last time I stuck to three colours but for this one I varied it a little so I could do more with shading.

This is the first time I’ve done posters for two things happening on the same day! This bout takes place in the afternoon, and the Tiger Bay Brawlers take on London’s Brawl Saints in Cardiff in the evening. That’s a pretty sweet day of derby!

Click the image for the facebook event page.

Last summer I went along to the video shoot for UFO by Toronto...

Fri, 11 Jan 2013 14:16:37 -0500

Last summer I went along to the video shoot for UFO by Toronto band Absolutely Free. Exploding Motor Car made a crazy ‘quad’ video for the track, which you can read about and see here.

Here are some photos I took on the day - the band got dressed up in these great homemade space helmets and got filmed being shaken around as they tried to keep straight faces and sing. This ended up being a pretty minor part of the video but it was a really fun day.

See the full set on Flickr here and on Facebook here.