Scope and Contents The first prints of series 1 were commissioned under a promotion that The Firecracker Press advertised offering 100 prints for $100. Conscious of the expense, Billiken Club promoter Chris Grabau took a chance. The quality of print and professionalism of The Firecracker Press impressed Grabau, and The Firecracker Press would continue to produce the majority of promotional prints.  Series 1 prints used woodcut or linoleum cut techniques. Concerts included:Jessica Sonner w/ Paul...

Scope and Contents The prints of series 2 were created with a photopolymer print process.  They were designed to work individually, but can be combined to form a larger connected image. This process involved designing and printing some sections of the print out of order, and carefully working to keep side alignments. In an effort to control costs, this series advertised multiple shows on each poster. A red stripe separating the two show dates was pre-printed on all sheets used in this series in an effort to...

Scope and Contents Prints in series 3 are woodcuts. In an effort to keep costs low, series 3 saw the adoption of a standardized and slightly smaller size format of roughly 8.5 inches wide by 20 inches tall. Series 3 was also the first series to incorporate handset lead type – a practice that was carried on into series 4. This series also continued (for the most part) advertising multiple shows on each poster. Concerts include: Dark Meat with Bunnygrunt; The Felice Brothers with AA Bondy; Darker My...

Scope and Contents Series 4, the “Alien New Wave Series” was envisioned as a science fiction narrative. It is the story of a secret space agent who falls in love with a living weapon, and steals her away from the space empire. This narrative is told with visuals that still manage to invoke the bands involved in each performance and carry on a motif of juxtaposing human and non-human elements. Series 4 was printed exclusively on fluorescent paper, which added to the difficulty of finding suitable ink colors....

Scope and Contents Series 5, which combined woodcut and photopolymer techniques, also introduced the dimension of artists’ books to the posters. Each print can be folded into a small book by following directions presented on The Firecracker Press website. This presented design challenges, as the print must work as a whole poster, work as a book, and not lose its ability to advertise the bands and the club. Additional technical challenges included running perforated “stripes” down the center of the poster to...

Scope and Contents Series 6 was the final series produced by The Firecracker Press before the Billiken Club went on hiatus. The prints were created with extensive use of pressure printing, which The Firecracker Press incorporated to introduce more color and variety of image without significantly increasing the price of the print for the Billiken Club. Concerts included: War on Drugs w/Cavemen; Vivian Girls w/ Widowspeak; Richard Buckner; Emperor X w/So Many Dynamos; The Felice Brothers with Gill...

Abstract

The Billiken Club collection is seperated into 6 series based on the concert seasons for which the posters were created.  Series 1: 2006—2007 Concert Season; Series 2: 2007—2008 Concert Season; Series 3: 2008—2009 Concert Season; Series 4: 2009—2010 Concert Season; Series 5: 2010—2011 Concert Season; Series 6: 2011—2012 (truncated) Concert Season.

Scope and Contents

Colored ink on uncolored paper advertising a Billiken Club all ages show featuring Earl Greyhound with The Natural Selection.

Scope and Contents

Colored ink on uncolored paper advertising a Billiken Club all ages show featuring Earl Greyhound with The Natural Selection.

Scope and Contents

Colored ink on uncolored paper advertising a Billiken Club all ages show, in conjunction with the Filipino Student Association, featuring 5 unnamed artists.