WILCO GIG POSTERS
ROLES: illustrator, graphic designer, screen printer
TIMELINE: february 2019 - april 2022
PROJECT TYPES: illustration, graphic design,
gig poster, screen printing
COLLABORATORS: creative director, screen printers
yankee hotel fotrot 20th anniversary tour
I was honored to contribute a poster for Wilco’s anniversary tour celebrating their landmark album, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. Each stop on the tour featured a poster reinterpreting the album’s iconic cover of Chicago’s Marina City towers.
As an obsessive listener of YHF, one of the most striking elements of the record for me are the noise passages, like those found on Poor Places (listen to the live version below). This studio experimentation served as the primary inspiration for my design.
Instruments are used to create dissonance, fading in and out of the mix. Sounds are repeated and muddy, while others are punchy and cut through it all. It’s controlled chaos. A swell through your speakers.
Approach
After repeated listens, the ideas of construction, deconstruction, and architecture began to take shape. Researching the original plans and blueprints of the towers revealed visually rich renderings, that I then redrafted and would abstract into collages. I quickly sketched how some of these elements might come together and sent the idea off for approval from the band’s art director and manager.
Early sketching
Final sketch and early composition exploration
After getting the green light, I got to work on redrafting the plans, focusing on contrasting shapes and compositions. I printed them and used a copier to grow, shrink, and blow out certain elements to give everything a rougher, grittier touch.
I scanned the copies in and began to process and push the images further in Photoshop, cutting and collaging elements together. To complete the poster, I added the lyrics from Poor Places, and the repeated, “Yankee…Hotel…Foxtrot,” from the end of the track. Then it was off to the printers (shoutout Baker Prints in Chicago).
This project challenged me to flex my conceptual and compositional skills in a very rewarding way. YHF remains one of my favorite albums and holds a special place in my heart, so it was a real treat to lend a hand.