Peter Murphy Poster Sacramento 2009

“None more black”

For years I wanted to do a black-on-black poster. Black ink, black paper, only fully visible when the light hits the ink of the design. But you can’t just do a thing like that for anybody. For one, a poster is still a way to promote a thing. So it needs to be made for something that’s going to sell out on its own anyway. Second, it of course has to fit thematically with the artist it’s for. And at least in 2009 and as of press time, Spinal Tap weren’t doing shows.

Concept and Process

Enter: Peter Murphy, king of goth from his post punk days in Bauhaus up through the decades to now. I finally had a good fit. The imagery is a mix of hard edged Eastern European line and bauhaus-inspired flourishes (including a few instances of the famous Bauhaus symbol hidden in the design itself) to more recent references to his solo career (Marlene Dietrich, smoking from an eye which is a mouth, dead center.)

Simplicity Brings its own Challenges

You actually cant simply print black on black and expect magic. I tried out a number of combinations of papers an d inks until I cracked the code for the cocktail that worked. It would be a toothsome matte black recycled stock with an inky rich black achieved with all fountains on full. This gave the optimal combination that kept the integrity of the concept without looking ineffective and inert. This poster announced itself. If you were in the room with it you could feel it. It didnt just look like a black piece of paper, it had a presence. And since the light activated the gloss of the ink, the poster appears to shimmer as you move around it in real space. This is one of my most underrated pieces, but the ones that get it really get it.

Below is a detail of the art itself….