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bright with type that was a welcome scream. I fell
for his work pretty hard, as evidenced by my early
attempts at gigpostery in which I unabashedly tried
hard to ape his angles. It wasn’t until I got the
White Stripes gig and produced silkscreens at a
rapid clip that I finally managed to develop my own
voice. That’s usually the way for the folks though,
you emulate your heroes until you figure it out (like
Buck Owens copying George Jones until he figured
out his own distinct twang).”

Design trends come and go, each having their

time in the spotlight. While the last decade saw

some hugely popular scenes based in minimalism and

Swiss-inspired design, there currently seems to be a

strong resurgence in highly technical and incredibly

detailed draftsmanship...

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GLEN BROGAN REVEALS THE SECRETS OF CREATING POSTERS WITH PLENTY OF DETAILED CARTOON FUN

CARTOON COMPOSITION

01

SKETCH START

Computer Space is a poster that Glen Brogan created for his first ever

solo show at Gallery 1988 in LA, in the summer of 2013. This shows his “rough

drawing of all the characters in the piece, over some even rougher drawings of

the background elements.”

02

CONSIDER COLOUR

This is the completed background, which Brogan does so he can make

sure the colour and placement of characters will look right. “Composition is

definitely something you get a feel for after a while,” he says, “and I think the

starting point is to recognise the different visual weights of various design

elements, like big versus small, dark colours versus light; things like that.”

03

FIND YOUR STYLE

I think it’s important to do things that you can really only do in your specific style,” says Brogan, “and things that work to the advantage of that style. So for

example, since I work with a retro cartoon look, I can draw a house using crazy angles that might not make sense if it were to physically exist, but doing so makes

for a more interesting drawing overall. I really try to abstract characters and objects in creative ways, which I think comes off as more visually pleasing.

© Glen Brogan

DESIGN ARRESTING POSTERS