Tuesday, September 4, 2012

"The City Rolls On" a window display and other new stuff


I am very excited to announce my first gallery related project in a few months.  "The City Rolls On" will be a window display, and other new stuff created by yours truly.

I was originally contacted by the good folks at Arts On South, to see if I would be interested in participating/installing a show of some kind in one of their participating properties.

(more info on Philadelphia's amazing Arts On South here)

They wound up pairing me with the Bikery, which is the South Philadelphia chapter of Philadelphia's very own Neighborhood Bike Works.  Being an avid biker myself, I was pretty stoked to be able to show in their space, and more importantly contribute to their programs by donating 30% of all proceeds from the show to them.

One of the programs that really got me excited was their after school program for children.  They basically help young kids build a bike of their own from scratch, explaining each little piece and how to maintain it along the way.  They also tie into the physical curriculum other lessons about where a bike can take you: to the library, to a job, to the grocery store, etc. and why these places are important.

The Bikery (508 s. 5th st) is located on 5th street between South st. and Lombard st. in Philadelphia.

There will be an opening reception from 6-8 pm on Friday September 28th and Friday October 26th.

I have been snapping some preview shots as the work progresses on instagram (@bradford_makes) with the hastag #thecityrollson, which you can check out below:

Monday, July 2, 2012

"Cruel Summer"


I've been having having a lot of fun on the computer lately re-visiting and re-approaching
digital illustration.  The above experimental illustration is entitled "Cruel Summer" to me the
idea of the sun looking like a partied-out junkie is pretty funny.

Also, those Oakley's with the gradient lenses!! can't lose

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Keg & Kitchen Branding



I was (relatively) recently commissioned to brand a new gastro-pub/restaurant venture in Westmont, NJ called Keg & Kitchen.  Though I have worked with the owners before, this is the first time that I have taken on this large of a job completely by myself.  Above is the result of what I feel was a successful collaboration, and something that I am very proud of.  After my initial logo presentation we decided to go in this direction because it has a traditional pub feel to it, but with a comical twist.  I chose Goudy Old Style as the font that would be present throughout their printed matter because again, I thought it had a traditional feel, worked well with the logo, and kept things nice and simple (also why we kept everything in black and white).

The logo itself is basically a collage of copyright-free victorian illustrations that I have collected in various old clip art books.  This was also unfamiliar territory for me, but it was one of those things that I just felt was a good concept and sort of ties into the work I've been doing with my side project The Everlasting Tradition.

This was an extremely fun and challenging project to work on (its actually technically on-going) and I would like to thank Janet and Kevin for working initially contacting me, and trusting me to create an identity for the restaurant.  cheers

**My sincerest of apologies on my lack of punctuality with this post, summer has been too good to me thus far.  There's also a huge update for my portfolio website coming down the pipeline.

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Aloha Utopia Promotional Video




Cosmic Galapagos from Kelsey Allen on Vimeo.


While myself and Jen were working on the various screen prints and installation for "Cosmic Galapagos" (pics to follow shortly), we decided to take one of our collaborative drawings and color it digitally as opposed to screen printing in. We then wound up working with our friend Kelsey Allen on a promotional video for the show featuring the same piece with two different versions: the first was the "regular" version, and the second one featured inverted colors to give a nod to the closing reception, which will be completely black lit. Check out the initial line drawing, as well as each colored version and the video above.


I would like to say Thank You very much to: Shawn Hileman and his awesome space Masthead Print Studio, as well as Kelsey Allen for interpreting our drawings in such an interesting way. Thanks guys!


CLOSING RECEPTION: Saturday, April 14th from 6-10pm at Masthead Print Studio 340 Brown Street, Philadelphia PA

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Aloha Utopia presents "Cosmic Galapagos"


I am pleased to announce the next installment of Aloha Utopia, a side project and on-going collaboration between myself and Jennifer Gin (Philadelphia-based artisan and pattern connoisseur). This marks the first time that we have collaborated on not just an exclusive set of prints but also an installation, which will be hosted at Masthead Print Studio (340 Brown St. Philadelphia, PA 19123).

This new set of prints started the same way that the previous prints did, with a collaborative drawing. However, this go around we tried to push and pull different aspects of our drawing styles to compliment the piece as a whole. We have been learning a lot about the collaboration process, and how we work together as a team. Hope to see you out at either the opening or closing!

Aloha Utopia presents "Cosmic Galapagos" at Masthead Print Studio
Opening: Saturday March, 24th 6-10 pm
Closing: Saturday April, 14th 6-10 pm

**The closing reception will feature an alternate form of lighting (black light!) to create a completely new viewing experience.


Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Guest Blogging ...

I recently got a chance to do some guest-blogging over at lostateminor.com, I basically just wrote about my friends, but I enjoy writing so it was fun.

check out my posts here:

Sunday, February 5, 2012

The Divine Lorraine @ Little Berlin, Friday Feb. 10th



I made this un-official flyer to celebrate The Divine Lorraine playing their first gig in a long time. They will be playing this Friday at Little Berlin (2430 Coral Street) here in Philadelphia, PA. There's also alot of other great bands playing, as well as visuals/projections provided by Eye Gate II, its going to be a great show.