{"id":7029,"date":"2015-02-19T15:02:17","date_gmt":"2015-02-19T21:02:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?p=7029"},"modified":"2015-02-19T18:31:12","modified_gmt":"2015-02-20T00:31:12","slug":"love-peace-and-soul-on-gig-posters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/love-peace-and-soul-on-gig-posters\/","title":{"rendered":"Love, peace and soul \u2014 on gig posters"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Antoinette Isama<\/p>\n

Chicago\u2019s nightlife scene peddles its wares through posters that are pasted on poles, thumbtacked on cork boards and attached to messages on the Internet. It\u2019s a must that these posters pop; they are vital to drawing a crowd for live performers and shindigs alike.<\/p>\n

A monthly dance party at Wicker Park\u2019s Double Door<\/a> has been practicing that art of attraction through its posters since its first night on the turntables.<\/p>\n

\"poster-38\"<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>
Williams channels pop culture surrounding soul and funk music through his art, from imagery of a young Michael Jackson, to Afro picks. (Scott Williams)<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\"poster-17\"<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>
“For the work I do in the digital world, I get the most satisfaction out of solving design problems for users,” Williams said. “Whether it’s getting them connected through service or telling brand stories.” (Scott Williams)<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\"poster-50\"<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>
Soul Summit Posters emulate vintage back-of-the-book magazine advertisements such as this one, featuring Aunt Esther and Fred Sanford. (Scott Williams)<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\"poster-44\"<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>
Williams usually selects opaque, natural 100-weight paper and paper from the French Paper Company for the posters. (Scott Williams)<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\"poster-33\"<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>
\u201cWe run the gamut of soul, funk and R&B,\u201d Williams said. \u201cIt\u2019s a good balance between obscure 45s and James Brown, Sly Stone, or big tunes from Motown.\u201d (Scott Williams)<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\"poster-51\"<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>
Williams stresses making the posters affordable for attendees. “We’d rather people have them on their walls than overpriced and sitting in my basement,” he said. (Scott Williams)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

DJs Dave Matta, Duke Grip and Scott \u201cSloppy White\u201d Williams formed Soul Summit<\/a>, a free dance party that specializes in early soul music, in late 2009. On every third Saturday of the month, Chicagoans are given a history lesson<\/a> while dancing the night away to both rare and familiar records ranging from the \u201860s to the early \u201880s, as well as funk records. Soul Summit also features guest DJs and bands, which sometimes requires a cover at the door.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe run the gamut of soul, funk and R&B,\u201d Williams said. \u201cIt\u2019s a good balance between obscure 45s and James Brown, Sly Stone, or big tunes from Motown.\u201d<\/p>\n

Williams is a graphic designer by trade and has run Scott Williams Design<\/a>\u00a0for over 20 years. An ardent for poster art, he is Soul Summit\u2019s art director and takes care of the artistic side of the party with the visual feel of the \u201cvintage-soul\u201d posters.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith poster design,\u201d Williams said, \u201cI enjoy calling the shots and design for what I think is cool and fun.\u201d<\/p>\n

Inspired by the ads in the back of old magazines such as \u201cPopular Mechanics,\u201d Williams\u2019 original designs channel in on what encompassed the culture surrounding soul music, and what was hip during that time period. The poster for the Aug. 17, 2013 party featuring guest DJs Frank Raines and King Otto embraces just that \u2013 Afro picks. The navy-colored print features options of combs needed to keep the hairdo lifted and stylish. The kicker is how seamlessly he includes the information about the dance party in the design \u2013 one would think it just a part of the art.<\/p>\n

Humor is another element in some of the Soul Summit posters. For the Aug. 16 party last summer, the two-color poster is a faux handbag advertisement that encourages self-defense with each handbag; with appearances from Aunt Esther and Fred Sanford from TV sitcom, \u201cSanford and Son<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Soul Summit\u2019s posters are screen-printed<\/a> by hand \u2013 an art in of itself \u2013 by East Garfield Park\u2019s Delicious Design League<\/a>, a design studio that specializes in illustration for print and the web. Williams takes each design in black and white and picks the colors for printing.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith screen printing it\u2019s important to keep the colors at a minimum,\u201d he said. \u201cThe more colors on the poster, the more expensive printing them will be.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jason Teegarden-Towns, founder of Delicious Design League, worked with Williams since the beginning of Soul Summit.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor a color poster, the average cost not including paper is about $1 per color, per print,\u201d Teegarden-Towns said.<\/p>\n

Williams generally prints 75 to 100 posters per party and sells them for $10 each<\/a>. Once the stock gets low on a print, the price will go up.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe aren\u2019t concerned with \u2018making a lot of money\u2019 on the prints,\u201d Williams said. \u201cIt\u2019s more about using them as a promotional vehicle for the party and making sure they\u2019re affordable mementoes for attendees.\u201d<\/p>\n

Selected as \u201cGig Poster of the Week<\/a>\u201d at Chicago Reader<\/em> five times alone in 2014, Williams is grateful for the response he has gotten from his designs. He even has a small international following, with supporters purchasing posters from France, Spain and the United Kingdom.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m flattered that people dig my posters and take the time to frame them,\u201d he said. \u201cEspecially since this is something I spend countless hours on.\u201d<\/p>\n

To Williams, in addition to the vintage quality of his designs, the music is what is the most important for Soul Summit. Attendees take away the essence of soul music when they purchase Williams\u2019 posters at each party or online.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe era of soul music is timeless,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Soul Summit will be back at Double Door on Feb. 21 featuring guest DJ, Adrian Younge. Find more information\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Photo at top: Scott Williams’ poster design for Soul Summit’s Feb. 21 party featuring Adrian Younge.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Antoinette Isama Chicago\u2019s nightlife scene peddles its wares through posters that are pasted on poles, thumbtacked on cork boards and attached to messages on the Internet. It\u2019s a must that these posters pop; they are vital to drawing a crowd for live performers and shindigs alike. A monthly dance party at Wicker Park\u2019s Double […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":81,"featured_media":7030,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194,243],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7029","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts-culture","category-winter-2015"],"yoast_head":"\nLove, peace and soul \u2014 on gig posters - Medill Reports Chicago<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/love-peace-and-soul-on-gig-posters\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Love, peace and soul \u2014 on gig posters - Medill Reports Chicago\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Antoinette Isama Chicago\u2019s nightlife scene peddles its wares through posters that are pasted on poles, thumbtacked on cork boards and attached to messages on the Internet. 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