Here's our next Framer's Corner with Amy Doty!
One of our favorite things to design at Frame of Mind are concert posters. The concert poster works as a visual history of rock n' roll centering not only on the musician, but the artist and venues as well. Concert posters have become a popular collectible that have taken on a life of their own. The popular art of concert posters allow collectors to acquire by music genre, by musician, by poster artist and even by venue or promoter. Concert posters have become such a hot item, that they are celebrated with clubs, groups and even annual conventions.

Concert posters today commonly use a three- or four-color theme in their designs, with bold outlines and intricate images. This works well for a framer, and allows us to pick up where the artist left off in their design. Simple bold colors that compliment each other are usually found in our large array of mat samples. Bold outlines or a continuous design in a background can help a frame designer to accent these design elements in a frame. 

One such design that came across our table recently was a piece by artist Ruben Rude, for a Primus concert held in Maplewood, Minnesota in 2018. The artwork depicts a monotone elephant with butterfly wings for ears. 

The poster doesn’t take on a typical square border, but allows the elephant shape to stand as it’s own border. We love when artists do this, because it allows us to think outside a box opening. The designer in this instance, Amy Doty, Frame of Mind owner, decided to play off this design and made the mat borders mimic the shape of the elephant. 
Using Illustrator to copy the shape of the poster, Amy was able to make an opening in the mat that fit this shape allowing a 1/2” space between the image and the mats. She kept with the monotone color scheme, and picked up on the outline color used in the poster, a dark blue. She was able to make an accurate match to this color with an Artique mat called Ink.
 
She wanted the trunk of the elephant to be a strong focal point of the design, and found a frame that matched the raw outline strokes and color with a frame from Universal Arquati, drawing from their Ferro collection. The Ivory color in this family of frames was not only an ironic name for the piece, but the color was a very nice match, and the distressed edges helped to draw in the stroke work of the poster. 
 
In the end, our customer got a frame that made you feel like it was an extension from the artwork, and was a unique one of a kind design. The customer loved the piece, and has something to remind them of this concert for years to come. 
Stay tuned for more Framer's Corners!
1706 Brooks Street
Missoula, MT 59801
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