Please state your name and where you're from.
My name is John Knoerl and I hail from Canton MI. I just graduated from Grand Valley State University with a degree in Advertising.
How did you first get into gig posters?
I first got into gigposters about a year ago. I’ve always been really into music and stumbled upon some really cool ones and my interest just grew from there. I figured since I have always had a passion for both music and art, why not do something where I could combine them?
What was the first gig poster you printed?
The first poster I printed was for a buddies band called Robots In The Garden. It was basically just to get my feet wet and try it out. The first real paying job I did was for the band Passion Pit. They were having a show in Chicago that I got the opportunity to make a poster for. It was a lot of fun and I learned a lot from it.
How do you design your prints before printing them? Where do you get your imagery? (Don't give away all the secrets haha)
Most of the time I have an idea that I start with and just keep working at it from there on the computer. I just sit down at the computer and work at the idea I have, sometimes it comes quickly and sometimes the poster takes a while to come together. No matter what though, the poster usually never looks like what I think it is going to at the start. I find almost of my images through Google or other stock photo websites. I also sometimes scan cool pictures I find in books and drawings that I do. Then once the picture is in Photoshop, I manipulate it until it has the feel and look I want it to have.
How did you first start finding work and clients?
I first started by looking at tour dates of the bands that I listen to and then if they had a show that was coming to MI I would email the bands management and see if they would give me a shot at making a poster for the. When I first started out, it was hard because I didn’t have a lot of samples that I could show the bands, but now I have a good amount of work done that bands can look at to see what kind of work I do.
Who are some of your biggest influences... both design/art related and non-art?
I am a huge fan of poster artists like Aesthetic Apparatus, The Silent Giants, Young Monster, Nate Duval, Delicious Design League and more. They are all really great and I love their work. Another influence is just other cool/good looking design. Whenever I see a cool package or a cool design anywhere it makes me want to be better and to try harder so that I can create something that looks great too.
A lot of your posters are for indie rock bands, do you listen to those artists a lot? If not who are you into musically?
My musical taste is pretty big. I listen to anyone from City and Colour (acoustic) to Suicide Silence (heavy metal) and everywhere in between. Recently I’ve been getting into indie music a lot though, and those are the type of bands that generally have posters done for shows. I like having such a wide taste in music though because it allows me to do different types of posters and really understand the feeling I need to convey through the poster depending on the type of music.
What would be the name of your first hip-hop mixtape be?
Haha hmmm… I would say ‘John Knoerl Part I: Let Me Introduce Myself’. That’s just where I am at with my work.
A big thanks to John for the Q&A. You can see a lot more of his work on his blog at www.nerlsaysdesign.wordpress.com and buy some of his prints on his Etsy site, http://www.etsy.com/shop/nerlsays
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