THE ORIGIN OF CONCEPT /
This series of posters is a wholly-unique concept I developed over a number of years and finally brought to life during the first Covid lockdown of 2020. It was inspired by my love of ephemeral advertising design (especially travel and music event posters) and the game of disc golf.
I’ve been an avid disc golfer for over 20 years, and a collector of posters since I was about seven. I especially love hand-pulled, screen-printed posters because they need to be uniquely-designed and printed compared to digital printing. So when you see a successful screen-print, it means a lot of time, thought, labor, and love went into its creation.
Poster: Sandy Point Disc Golf Ranch & Resort / Lac Du Flambeau, Wisconsin
THE MAGIC INGREDIENTS /
Each poster depicts a specific park, course, course hole, and memorable elements that makes it special, such as a clean or difficult throw line, terrain, vegetation, or wildlife. My goal is to artistically-capture the magic of each hole, not recreate a photo or plagiarize any specific vintage travel poster.
For the Wisconsin posters, I’ve partnered with Mike Batka, the owner of Glide Disc Golf in Madison, Wisconsin to concept and sell the posters. Mike’s years of experience and insights in the disc golf world have been invaluable in finding the best solutions for each poster.
Each poster contains a general template so the entire series maintains a cohesive look and feel. The center image shows the unique perspective of the course hole. Posters are 18” x 24” and printed in 2-3 colors on French 100 lb uncoated cover stock; styles and colors of paper vary.
Poster: Elver Park / Madison, Wisconsin / West Side
GETTING IT RIGHT /
While It’s preferable for me to visit and play the course I’m designing a poster for, it’s not always necessary or realistic. With YouTube and drones, I can be up close to a course without physically being there.
After extensive research on the course, surrounding community, and native flora and fauna, I sketch original concepts and eventually work up to a final vector image, the ideal file format for transferring to screen printing. The trick is not just depicting a scene, but describing an authentic story about the current situation.
Poster: Capitol Springs County Park / Madison, Wisconsin / South Side
THE PROCESS /
Once the hand-drawn sketches have been refined and the composition is locked in, the artwork is transferred to Adobe Illustrator, where I digitally redraw the entire piece so each color layer can be separated and printed.
Once printed with hand-mixed, water-based inks, the posters are trimmed to final size, hand-numbered, and ready for sale. “First Run” printings are labeled as such and limited to 100 prints and are therefore, rarer than future prints of the same poster.
All posters are printed on French Paper by Screen Door Studio.
Poster: Hiestand Park / Madison, Wisconsin / East Side
THE GOAL /
The attention and support of this project has been tremendous, and I’m honored for the opportunity to create these pieces for such great courses, people, and a sport I love. My goal is to create at least one poster for at least one course in every state and other special courses throughout the world!
I’d love to create a poster for every course in the U.S. (and every hole), but I’d probably have to live to 150 to complete the task, because today there are around 9,000 courses just within the United States, and it seems new ones are being built every week. But that won’t stop me from trying!
Poster: Hornets Nest Park / Charlotte, North Carolina
WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE COURSE?
Interested in having a poster created for a course you love, manage, or own? Let’s Talk!
Due to the popularity of this poster series concept, posters require 1-3 months for completion. All projects include research, concepts, design, printing, finishing, and shipping. Accommodations may be made for timely events.
