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Logos, Labels, and Lego – 15 Questions with Artist and Illustrator, Matthew LaFleur

March 24, 2014 · by Oliver Gray

Confession time: I’ve always irrationally loved logos. I stare at and analyze them, wondering why certain geometric decisions were made, debating how much thought and effort and money went into the design. My inner wizard knows that there is latent power in an energetic swoosh, or a colored jumble of Catull letters, or a piece of fruit with a bite taken out of it. A logo is a microcosm; all the people, all the knowledge, the entire identity of a company or brand squished and squeezed and condensed down into its most simply recognizable form.

I first ran into Matt(hew) LaFleur on Twitter, one lazy Thursday evening during #beerchat. His handle, @DoodleMatt, caught my eye first, but his unique drawings quickly pulled my gaze another direction. I’m a decidedly terrible illustrator despite years of mid-meeting practice, and I’m always enamored by the skill of people who can create beautiful things with little more than paper, pens, pencils, and patience.

I followed Matt’s doodle blog for a while, not-so-secretly admiring his work. After seeing Matt’s unique takes on classic movie monsters, the clever whimsy of his Western-inspired sea creatures, and discovering that he designs and draws labels for his homebrew, I knew he was the right person to ask to design a new logo for Literature and Libation.

Slight issue: I have no idea how to design a logo. When Matt asked me what I was looking for, all I could say was, “I like antiques” which is about as helpful as saying “I like turtles.” I knew I wanted something but had no specifics about the some and only vague ideas as to the thing.

Fortunately Matt is wildly more professional that I am, and after a few emails back and forth he suggested I send him some photographs of the elements I had in mind.

This is what I sent:

A ruined archway in Cashel, Ireland; A-style mandolin blueprints; the inside of an old pocket watch

Apparently (amazingly) this was enough to give Matt some ideas, and he quickly came back to me with a sketch of his design concept:

When I saw this for the first time, hanging out mid-conversation in my Gmail, I was convinced that Matt had somehow reached into the squishiest parts of my brain and pulled out exactly what I had been unable to find in my own mind. His superpowers affirmed, I signed off on the final, and here it is now in all its glory, making my corner of the internet look oh so much better.

Old and New

I didn’t want our exchange to end there, so I decided to get to know Matt a little better using my preferred method: asking silly questions.

1. I’ve already quasi-introduced you, but can you tell us a little bit about your artistic background?

I cannot remember a time that I wasn’t drawing. I was a child of the eighties, so I drew many, many pictures of Pac-Man and ghost war zones. I thought Garfield was hilarious (hey, I was young and stupid) and I used to trace and then draw the namesake, and Odie, all of the time. It wasn’t until a kid moved into the house across the street and introduced me to comic books that I saw what illustration really was. But most of my art was funny, character-driven stuff. I went to Syracuse University and received a BFA in Illustration. Their illustration program, as well as their basketball team, are incredible.

2. When someone commissions a piece from you, how you go about conceptualizing/capturing what the client wants?

It depends on the type and delivery method of the finished illustration. Sometimes I’m told pretty much exactly what to draw. Other times I’m let loose. It takes a boatload of research, first of all. Lots of sketching. Adding a bunch of stuff to the art, then stripping a bunch of stuff away. In the end, it’s a gut thing, with a healthy does of letting the pencil go where it wants to go. How’s that for ambiguous?

3. What design software do you love to hate, or hate to love?

I love to hate Adobe Illustrator. I know, ironic, right? I just can’t stand coloring by shapes, gradients. For me, there’s no spontaneity. I’ve seen amazing work in AI, but I can’t swing it. Someone says “Can you provide an AI or EPS file?” and I break out in hives.

4. You draw label art for your homebrew, and designed a label for Middle Brow Beer; any plans to design for other breweries?

Soon, Arcade Brewery here in Chicago will release their first public brew, a scotch ale. They had a naming contest on Facebook, and the winner came up with “William Wallace Wrestle Fest.” Part two was a contest to design the label art. At the 11th hour I had an idea, submitted it, and was named a finalist. I won, up against 3 other sweet submissions. I’ve gotten to know the Arcade guys pretty well, and I’m anxious to see these beers on the shelves. There are a couple other things in the works. One is still up for grabs, so I’m waiting if I get the call. It will involve a huge museum, a big illinois brewery, and a giant among Chicago chefs. Fingers crossed.

Not a label, but another was a tshirt design for a collaboration of Burgers and Beers from Chicago mainstays Kuma’s Corner (burgers), DryHop Brewers (beers), and the Illinois Craft Brewers Guild. They wanted artwork that incorporated the logos of all three. We came with the idea of a giant bear rampaging through downtown Chicago… hard to pass that up.

5. If you could redesign the label of any commercial beer out there, what would you pick?

I have illustrated many labels for my homebrew, as well as a couple commercial ones. I know how hard it is to come up a label design, but I haven’t had to think too much about the face of a long line of bottles at a store. While there have been more than a few that I personally didn’t like, you have to admit that they sometimes really stand out on a shelf. Like the beer inside, the art outside is a subjective thing. Not everybody is going to dig it. But the brewery loves it.

6. Are there any surprising limitations (other than size) when designing bottle labels?

The curvature of the bottle was something I didn’t account for when designing and illustrating labels. The art has to be visible without someone having to rotate the bottle.

7. Who is your favorite Disney Princess, and why?

Ooh, you go right for the jugular, Oliver. Can I say Jessica Rabbit? I really like the recent heroines: Merida from Brave, Anna & Elsa from Frozen, even Rapunzel. Tough and flawed. Old school princess fave would have to be Belle. Smart, unselfish, and ready to fight wolves. Goes toe to toe with giant, angry beast thing. Brunette.

8. If I came over to your house on an average Saturday afternoon, what would you be doing?

Well, I probably wouldn’t be there. I’d be at my eldest daughter’s cello group class. Truth. Juggling a 9 to 5, freelance illustration, and family is something I’m still trying to figure out. If I wasn’t at the class, I might be at the drafting table, with my two daughters in the room doing crafts, drawing, or coloring one of my black and white illustrations in Photoshop.

9. If your life – as it is right now – was turned into a LEGO set, what would it look like?

It would probably be the lamest LEGO set ever.

LaFleur Minifigs sold separately.

10. If you developed a weird, selective allergy and were only allowed to drink one style of beer for the rest of your life, what style would you pick?

As trite as it may sound, I’d have to go with IPA. Session, imperial, double, black, rye, Belgo, I’ll take ’em all. November rolls around and I’m ready for stouts and heavier stuff, but then the February sun comes up and I’m enjoying IPAs. Once you get hooked on them, everything else pales (see what I did there?)

11. Mac or PC or Linux or something else I’m not aware of?

Mac. Since 1992.

12. How do you feel about No.2 Pencils?

Dark enough to make a good mark, hard enough to keep a decent point for a good 5-7 minutes. Good for testing. I prefer a softer, darker lead, though.

13. What’s the oddest thing anyone has ever asked you to draw?

“What I’m looking to do, is have [an old timey] bike being towed with a rope by a boy with a deer skull head.” I really liked how this piece turned out, but I was really clueless about how it was going to look.

14. What is the answer to life the universe and everything?

42.

Did I win?

Seriously, do something that truly makes you happy, and do it forever. If you love what you do, then you’ll never have to work a day in your life. Money is great. Happiness can’t be bought.

15. Where can everyone find you and your work?

Thank you so much for this opportunity to talk about something I love to talk about. Myself! No, I mean making art for a living. You can find me all over the iPlace. If there’s a social media, I’m there. Instagram. Twitter. Facebook. Pinterest (great for research and inspiration). My website is lafleurillustration.com. I also have an infrequently updated doodle blog.

Conversations with Beer Bloggers – Oliver Gray from Literature and Libation

February 27, 2014 · by Oliver Gray

In an attempt to get these newfangled moving pictures into a social media full-nelson, I agreed to do an online interview with videomaster Josh Short of ShortOnBeer. This was my first attempt at using my DSLR as a webcam. I think it went pretty well.

It should be noted that I speak so quickly and twitch my face so nervously that Google+ couldn’t keep up, and the framerate is less than ideal. Still sounds pretty great though.

Hope you enjoy!

Brew Interview – 10 Questions with Ramiro Silva, Master Beertographer

October 28, 2013 · by Oliver Gray

I obsess over the verbs that ride shotgun with my hobbies. Beer is especially ripe with intriguing infinitives: to open, to pour, to drink, to toast. Each one carries the weight of all the inscribed actions, all those potential manifestations of the “to do” within “to brew.”

My most recent verb obsession (surprisingly unassociated with the 2nd Amendment) is plainly: to shoot. Beertography has become my favorite sub-love within my main love, and I spend more time than I’d like to admit thinking about how to set up bottles, cans, glasses, and caps.

I always look for those masters who’ve already done, or are doing, what I hope to do. I like having a point of comparison, something I can measure my own work against to see how far I’ve come, how far I still have to go, and how I might get there.

Ramiro Silva is one of those guys. His beertography (and other boozetography) is what I aspire to one day to with my own single lens reflectivity. If you were ever looking for the “how” part of excellent beertography, check out his blog at the end of the post.

I asked him some questions (forewarning: this chat has some technical photography jargon and stuff. If you have any questions, feel free to ask them in the comments):

1. Tell us a little bit about your self, your background, and what you do for a living.

I’m a supervisor for a utility company in Seattle, WA. My background is in electronics; I’ve worked as a designer for the Boeing Co., a bench technician for the California State Lottery, and an electronic technician for the US Navy. I’m married with two kids, two dogs, and an adorable granddaughter. My interests include photography, homebrewing, and cooking, and I’m a big fan of guitars, craft beer, whiskey, and cigars. I started my photographic journey in 1978 and began enjoying beer not long after that. I feel fortunate to have watched both industries grow into what they are today.

2. Can you describe a typical beertography shoot?

By the time I get to a shooting session the concept has been developed. I’ve selected my beer and glassware, gathered my props, chosen the surface and background and have a general idea of my lighting plan. I start by setting up the scene and loosely positioning my lights. Next, I work on my composition by finding my perspective, selecting my depth of field, and tweaking the scene. Once I have my composition set, I dial in my lighting. I setup my back lights first, then my main light, and lastly my accent lights. The last thing I do is remove any unwanted reflections from the bottle/glassware. When the session is over, I kick back and enjoy a craft beer.

3. What kind of equipment do you use?

What I use for beertography is a Nikon D700 full-frame DSLR. For lenses, I typically use a Nikon 80-200mm f/2.8 or a Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8, and occasionally extension tubes. Lighting equipment consists of Alien Bees B800 flash units, various light modifiers and reflectors. An often over looked piece of equipment is the tripod. I always shoot with one and I use aFeisol CT-3401 with a Markins ballhead.

4. You’re obviously a very talented photographer. Why take pictures of beer and other liquors?

It’s a challenge. It’s not easy making beer visually interesting; from a photographic standpoint it’s not a great subject. Great photographs typically have an interesting subject, but how do you make beer appear interesting? That’s the first challenge. Lighting is the other challenge. Great lighting is a key ingredient to great images and I approach this in a similar manner as I would portrait work. Because the subject is highly reflective the challenge is managing the reflections, eliminating those you don’t want, creating those you do, while creating interest and dimension.

5. Do you take photos of other things, too?

Of course. Over the years I’ve focused on different types of photography; portrait, landscape, wildlife, concert, sports. I enjoy them all, but not nearly as much as beer/liquor photography. I think it’s because I feel more at home in a studio environment where I have time to develop the concept, tweak the scene, and control the lighting. Plus, finding a subject is easier for me…they’re waiting at the bottle shop.

6. What do you think the most important aspects of good beertography are?

For me, it’s subject, composition, lighting. If these aspects are strong you will have a compelling image no matter what genre of photography you’re shooting.

The subject should be interesting and clearly defined, and the viewer should know exactly what to look at. Try to separate your subject from the background by blurring it or by making it brighter than the background.

Use basic compositional techniques. “Rule of thirds” places your subject off center and tends to makes your image more interesting. “Fill the Frame” by getting closer or zooming in. It draws your attention to the subject. Change your “Perspective”, move your camera left, right, up, or down and try to present a view not typically seen. “Simplify the scene” by removing distracting elements from the foreground or background.

Light is the most important – and often overlooked aspect – of photography (in my opinion). I break down light to three components; quality, color, and direction. “Quality” refers to soft or hard light. Hard light produces crisp shadows while soft light produces soft shadows. “Color” can be warm, neutral or cold. You can use this creatively to produce a mood. “Direction” refers to where the light is coming from; front, back, or side. Direction is used to define shapes, create shadows, and reveal textures. There isn’t a “correct” setting when it comes to lighting. You make choices to achieve the look you want.

7. If you had to pass along one piece of advice to the rookies out there, what would it be?

Keep grinding, there is a lot to learn. For me, great photography boils down to three things; interesting subject, strong composition, and great lighting. Focus your efforts there and your images will improve. Know this: you won’t master photography by reading a book or taking a class. It’s a lifelong journey of learning…enjoy the ride.

8. Are there any beers you really want to take pictures of, or do you just work with what you have available?

I work with what I can find at my local bottle shops. Knowing that great beertography needs an interesting subject, I select beers based on bottle shape, label design, beer color, or whatever I’m in the mood to drink. Once I select a beer I work on developing a concept. There have been times when the concept comes first then I hunt down the beer to compliment that.

9. Have you done any work directly for companies (or breweries) or is this just a hobby for you?

It’s just a hobby at this time. Breweries often compliment me on my work and if they want to work on a project together I would be thrilled. That goes for you beer bloggers and journalists as well!

10. Is there anything you’d like to tell the people of the craft beer world?

If you haven’t tried beertography give it a shot, pun intended. You never know what’s going to light your fire.

Follow me on my journey with your favorite social app:

Google+: https://plus.google.com/104263271542304648793/posts
Twitter: https://twitter.com/silvatone
Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/96437087@N04/
Instagram: http://instagram.com/silvatone
Tumblr: http://themashpit.tumblr.com/

Visit my blog for beertography tips and behind-the-scenes look at my shooting sessions.

http://themashpit.blogspot.com/

Beer Chat: Caroline Sisson on Beer and Social Media

October 18, 2013 · by Oliver Gray

My first real job involved beta testing video games for Compact Disc Interactive, otherwise known as the Philips CD-i. This understated black box – an all-in-one movie, internet, and gaming machine – predated the PS3 and XBox 360 by 15 years. It failed, commercially, due to some management kerfuffles, a stupidly high price tag, and a consumer base who wasn’t ready for one device to take over every TV-related function. But it set some solid paving stones into the unrefined dirt that Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft would all step on years later as they built their flagship consoles.

I had this awesome experience (which for better or worse fueled my lifelong video game obsession) because my Dad, John Gray, was the president of Philips Media Professional. He was responsible for the development of new titles, sourcing of hardware, and myriad other fancy corporate executive things that I never fully understood. I just knew that I got to play video games before anyone else did, because my dad had a kickass job. The archived NewsWire article about his original appointment can be found here, for anyone interested.

I have a soft spot for family business. I wouldn’t have gotten into IT or homebrewing (and I guess in turn, never started this blog) if my dad hadn’t taken his vocational machete to the thicket long before I got to the jungle. He taught me to appreciate work and fun in the same way he always did, and I owe much of my success to his mentoring.

Caroline Sisson is the daughter of Hugh Sisson, the founder and owner of Heavy Seas Beer. She’s just like me, really; given a chance to see into (and appreciate) a world that those on the outside find fascinating, because of her ties to her father. I know there exist a sort of jealousy and disdain for that kind of inborn nepotism, but Caroline seems to echo her father’s love of the business and the beer.

I asked her some questions.

Tell us a little bit about yourself, your background, and your role at Heavy Seas.

My name is Caroline Sisson and I’ve been working in the marketing department at Heavy Seas for just a little over a year. I got into the beer business mainly because my father, Hugh Sisson, is the founder of Heavy Seas Beer and I grew up learning about/exposed to the craft beer culture.

I’m a graduate of Susquehanna University with a business marketing degree. I do a lot of different things within the company, which keeps my job exciting:

I handle our social media
I write & publish our monthly email newsletter
I post & promote our beer events and work events

How did growing up with a Dad who owned a brew pub/brewery affect your opinion of beer? Where you predisposed to good beer? Did you have a “bad phase” in college that maybe your dad wouldn’t have been so proud of?

Growing up, I thought it was really cool that my dad made beer for a living, but I don’t think I really “appreciated” or realized how cool it was until college. While I was still in college, I would work brewery tours and some events during my breaks, so I was exposed to craft beer at a younger age than many of my friends. But I definitely was just like everyone else; a broke college kid who could only afford Natty Light on the weekends for $12 bucks a case or whatever it was at the dingy little beer store in the small town where I went to college (and my dad knows about this phase). After I graduated and started working for the brewery, that’s when I really started learning and experiencing the wonders of craft beer. I’ve learned a lot in my time, and have been fortunate enough to attend national beer events like the Great American Beer Festival and SAVOR, where I’ve tasted some amazing beers. I love craft beer now, and have realized that “once you go craft… you never go back”.

Give us a day in the life of a social media manager at a brewery.

I usually start off by looking over our events calendar and reviewing what’s coming up, so that I can plan tweets, FB posts, etc., accordingly. I spend time looking over each tweet or post to see if it was effective. For example, how many retweets or favorites did I get on Twitter, or how many people liked or shared a FB post. Our ultimate goal is to reach as many people we can. I also spend some time monitoring others breweries on social media to see what works for them.

Do you have a specific strategic plan, or do you have a more organic approach?

Overall, we try to make every tweet, post or anything shared on social media unique to Heavy Seas. By that I mean, it reflects our personality, our interests, our goals, things that we are excited about, etc.

Do you think social media is important for a brewery beyond promoting events and appearances? If you had to rank the importance of the social media platforms, which would be at the top, and which would be at the bottom?

Absolutely – I think social media is a great way of connecting and interacting with our consumers; the people who drink and appreciate our beer. I’d say that Facebook & Twitter are tied for first. Although I tweet on a daily basis, and post on Facebook on a weekly basis, both are strong tools that we use to communicate to our followers and share information. Instagram is another area where we want to grow.

I know a lot of craft enthusiasts use Instagram. How do you feel about #beertography? Do you like to see shots of your beer out there in the wild?

Definitely! I can’t always retweet or share every photo taken of our beer, but it’s flattering to see people enjoying our product so much that they want to take a picture and share it with the social media world.

What’s your favorite thing about interacting with the beer community?

Making friends with people who love craft beer & share a passion for it.

Is there anything specific you’d like to tell the beer drinking world?

Life is too short to drink shitty beer.

Caroline often attends Heavy Seas events, and I’m sure you’ll run into her if you’re planning to attend any of the upcoming shindigs connected to Baltimore Beer Week. Caroline has also kindly offered to answer any questions you guys might have, so ask away in the comments. I’ll compile them and send them to her for follow-up.

Here’s a picture of me and her at my visit to the brewery (just so you can recognize her if you see her in person):

I’m the one wearing the hat. No, not that one. The one on the right.