John Mayer gets some really bitchin’ typography

February 25, 2010 10:11 AM

John Mayer gets some really bitchin’ typography. House Industries (last MeFi mention: 1999!) designs a limited-edition tour poster for the crooner who constantly steals the show on TMZ. “[U]ntil they come up with a JPEG format that makes metallics shimmer like a Solid Gold dancer’s outfit, there just isn’t a substitute for physically walking around a serigraph and watching the light bouncing off metallic and fluorescent inks.”

Irony alert: You will experience these metallic and fluorescent inks via JPEG.

posted by joeclark (35 comments total)

Don't care a bit for John Mayer (and hence would never hang anything with his name in my home) but that is absolutely beautiful.
posted by pinky at 10:15 AM on February 25, 2010 [1 favorite]

Holy crap. Too bad it's John Mayer; that looks amazing.
posted by zsazsa at 10:16 AM on February 25, 2010

Very neat (unashamed John Mayer fan), but not amazing.
posted by lemonfridge at 10:16 AM on February 25, 2010

Like the font. Hate the poster. Why do people make promotional items that are unreadable?
posted by gurple at 10:17 AM on February 25, 2010 [4 favorites]

So pretty...
posted by The Whelk at 10:19 AM on February 25, 2010

I'm with gurple on this one.
posted by brundlefly at 10:21 AM on February 25, 2010

If I go my entire life without ever hearing about John Mayer in any context, I've still heard about him too much.
posted by Astro Zombie at 10:23 AM on February 25, 2010 [8 favorites]

Pretty tacky, especially for someone who claims to have such discriminating taste.
posted by Atom Eyes at 10:26 AM on February 25, 2010

That's some sexual napalm, that's what that is.
posted by yeti at 10:27 AM on February 25, 2010 [5 favorites]

Ah, nice to see that Mr. "I’ve got a fuckin’ David Duke cock!" is still playing world tours. What a douche.
posted by naju at 10:34 AM on February 25, 2010 [1 favorite]

That's gorgeous.
posted by misha at 10:35 AM on February 25, 2010

Why do people make promotional items that are unreadable?

So you have to stare at longer for it to make sense, and then once it does, you won't forget it as easily.

Interesting poster and all, but what I found interesting is that Matt was working on an edit function back in 1999 --

I'm spending much of today coding some enhancements to MetaFilter, one of which is the edit functionality....
posted by mathowie at 12:09 PM on November 7, 1999
posted by filthy light thief at 10:35 AM on February 25, 2010

I'm sure the poster is far more impressive in-person. At least from a color effect standpoint.
That said, speaking as one who learned his craft studying the works of people like Herb Lubalin, I can only give an upbeat "Meh" to the typography. It's nice and classic/clean, but not exceptional...unless one compares it alongside a lot of contemporary typography. Then it's quite nice.
posted by Thorzdad at 10:38 AM on February 25, 2010 [1 favorite]

(last MeFi mention: 1999!)

Technically, last MeFi mention (or shoulda mention?) 2009.
posted by turducken at 10:50 AM on February 25, 2010

naju: "Ah, nice to see that Mr. "I’ve got a fuckin’ David Duke cock!" is still playing world tours. What a douche."

Came for this.
Leaving satisfied.
posted by yiftach at 11:06 AM on February 25, 2010

If I go my entire life without ever hearing about John Mayer in any context, I've still heard about him too much.

There are two John Mayers. The first, the Your Body Is A Wonderland, Jessica Simpson-dating douchebag, is a douchebag.

This is the other John Mayer. This one I can handle.

As for the typography, I'm with the meh crowd. Sure, the print quality looks cool. But, for graphic design to be awesome you need to understand it right away. This might be art, but it's still crowded and unintelligible. I don't like the transparency either. It looks unfinished and clashes with the bold, deliberate nature of the colour, materials and typeface.
posted by jimmythefish at 11:10 AM on February 25, 2010 [3 favorites]

Ah, nice to see that Mr. "I’ve got a fuckin’ David Duke cock!" is still playing world tours. What a douche.

Yeah, he's actually pretty good at the music thing, so people will probably continue to buy tickets, and I'm not sure that the spectacle of things like unfiltered moments of sudden if grossly expressed racial self-awareness on stage make the show less appealing for many people, though I sure wasn't interested in that revelation.

It's nice and classic/clean, but not exceptional...unless one compares it alongside a lot of contemporary typography. Then it's quite nice.

Can anybody elaborate a bit on this? I'd love to hear more about the classic type vs the contemporary type that's being referenced for comparison here...
posted by weston at 11:15 AM on February 25, 2010

Yea but is the poster's dick racist?
posted by basicchannel at 11:17 AM on February 25, 2010

> [U]ntil they come up with a JPEG format that makes metallics shimmer like a Solid Gold dancer’s outfit, there just isn’t a substitute for physically walking around a serigraph and watching the light bouncing off metallic and fluorescent inks.

Here you go. You're welcome.
posted by ardgedee at 11:24 AM on February 25, 2010 [5 favorites]

Came for this.
Leaving satisfied.

TWSH.
posted by shakespeherian at 11:33 AM on February 25, 2010

Oh, Atom Eyes, you just don’t understand the House Industries æsthetic. May I suggest their book?
posted by joeclark at 12:05 PM on February 25, 2010

No, actually, it's about as beautiful as a punch in the eye. I admire the craftsmanship, but that poster - JPEG or not - gives me a fucking headache.
And although it should go without saying, John Mayer sucks. Because of his terrible music, not his persona.
posted by ghastlyfop at 12:11 PM on February 25, 2010

Like the font. Hate the poster.

It's not a font, it's a typeface. The font is the thing (computer code, piece of metal etc.) that creates a typeface.

I'm sorry to do this yet again but it has become a nervous tick.
posted by i_cola at 12:12 PM on February 25, 2010 [1 favorite]

I wouldn't fuck that poster with David Duke's dick.
posted by electroboy at 12:27 PM on February 25, 2010 [1 favorite]

The first, the Your Body Is A Wonderland, Jessica Simpson-dating douchebag, is a douchebag.

And "Daughters," and "Say," and "Heartbreak Warfare," and "Waiting for the World to Change," and .....
posted by blucevalo at 12:36 PM on February 25, 2010

i_cola: "It's not a font, it's a typeface. The font is the thing (computer code, piece of metal etc.) that creates a typeface. "

While you're technically quite correct, I think this battle is long lost. Even good graphic designers I know use "font" and "typeface" interchangeably now. And really, why shouldn't they? There are fewer and fewer real life cases where the distinction is important or useful.
posted by Joakim Ziegler at 1:03 PM on February 25, 2010

"That's Enough, John Mayer"
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 1:05 PM on February 25, 2010 [1 favorite]

Holy hell ardgedee. Thank you. That was... well I don't know what that was or what that site is, but thank you.

Oh, uh, I like the font, not keen on the poster, less than keen on Mayer.
posted by like_neon at 1:35 PM on February 25, 2010

Well, I guess the 1970s are alive and well after all.
posted by spilon at 1:48 PM on February 25, 2010

Wow. That is some pretty cool typography. (And behalf of black women everywhere, let me just say: John, we don't want to fu@#! you either.)
posted by notjustfoxybrown at 1:55 PM on February 25, 2010

Good, I'm not the only one who thought it was unreadable. Terrible design.
posted by empath at 2:21 PM on February 25, 2010

Yeesh.

But equating "unreadability" with "poor design" is just wrong when it comes to music promotional graphics - as even a casual search will show you.

The ultimate aim is to sell your entertainment product by making it seem exciting. A graphic that is visually interesting but initially hard to read forces the viewer to take some time to figure it out, makes it more important in their mind.

No, this is yeesh simply because it's visually ugly, garish... I imagine it'll look better with the actual golds and fluorescents though.
posted by lupus_yonderboy at 5:49 PM on February 25, 2010

'...where the distinction is important or useful...'

Then they'll come for the pixels per inch / dots per inch. Then it'll be all tabular numerals with no proportional.

Having seen enough fuck ups & costly reprints because someone isn't talking the same language I'll try and do slightly better than just 'good'. These days I teach this shit so I'm expected to get it right.
posted by i_cola at 7:16 PM on February 25, 2010

I'm not feeling it either. It reminds me of a cheesy (JudithKrantzHaroldRobbinsIrwinShawJeffreyArcher) bookcover from the 70s, and all that that implies... come to think of it, so does John Mayer. +1 for House! Brilliantly conveyed!
posted by LuckySeven~ at 9:00 PM on February 25, 2010

I hate Mayer almost as much as I hate Clapton.
posted by readyfreddy at 2:31 AM on February 26, 2010