Ex-Cop play their own special blend of black metal-meets-noise, mostly black metal though. They are crazy, create damn fine music and have unparalleled taste in beer. A relatively new band, Ex-Cop is made-up of members from Cellphone (rip) and Waterbear. Though they have not had an official release, they do frequently perform at unknown underground venues near you. It’s probably someone’s basement, hotter than hell, sweat-dripping and flying everywhere. Hell, there is probably a naked guy straddling an air conditioner, flopping his dong about and throwing food coloring at the audience. There is beer, music, deep film discussion and extreme levels of intoxicated pedal-falling-off bike-riding. But that’s the way Ex-Cop rolls. Peace to Mikkeller.
The Poster
About the design
If you hadn’t guessed it yet, this is heavily inspired by the work of the legendary Saul Bass and more specifically his work for the 1959 classic film Anatomy of a Murder. I’ve always adored hand-crafting type and I dig it when it’s sloppy. I had no master plan with this and wanted it to appear D.I.Y. Sure, this poster design could be refined, but I wanted to preserve it, as-is. A testament to experimenting with typography. Over time, I plan to hone my hand-craft-type skills and expand, in my own way, on the work of a legend. Note the “ex-cop” outlined body/figure assembled out of .38 special bullets — matching the .38 special revolver. All Ex-Cop, all day long.
When I think of the members of Ex-Cop, I think of the 1950’s-1960’s. I am ridiculous nostalgic and obsessed with the 50’s & 60’s. A time when I didn’t exist, but love to think of what it must have been like. Shout-out to Mad Men.
This is not a typical black metal aesthetic but who says it needs to be.
great work joe — truly. enjoyed the writeup as well!
awww, thanks lil’ guy…I like it when you comment on things.
You know, if you got this blog thing going, I could comment on your stuff too!!!
Get christopher-hansen.com going (keep the frilly unicorns) before Carl steals it and makes it blucore media.
I don’t know why I’m awake right now, mad tired dunny.
hugs and back rubs,
your leg enthusiast and workmate,
joe
From one designer to another, nice work and also cool to see people take inspiration from Saul Bass then from, say…David Carson (whom I like as well, but is overused personally). Definitely original compared to the “usual” BM decor (which is agonizingly stale and lame) and stands out from all of that. Nice touch with the cops body/limbs matching the .38 bullets. Can’t wait to see what comes next duder. Keep it up!
Hey Dan, thank you kindly!
Yeah, totally agree with you on the Carson sentiment. You’re absolutely right on the BM aesthetic too. Most of it just tries to fit within the boundaries and ends up looking like ass — or the logo is really well made then the rest of the design becomes an afterthought and ends up underdeveloped.
This piece was more of an experiment than a polished piece. I do like how it turned out and I need to push this style further.
Saul Bass was the man!
Thanks again for reading and commenting man, I appreciate it immensely.
You should get a blog going Dan! I’d love to see what you’re up to.